Rhythms of Resistance and Resilience: How Black Washingtonians Used Music and Sports in the Fight for Equality

The stories of the Black men and women who combated racial prejudice in Washington, DC, with sports and music

In the Nation’s Capital, music and sports have played a central role in the lives of African Americans, often serving as a barometer of social conflict and social progress--for sports clubs and ball games, jam sessions and concerts, offered entertainment, enlightenment, and encouragement. At times, they have also offered a means of escape from the harsh realities of everyday life.

Rhythms of Resistance and Resilience tells the story of these musicians and athletes who have used their skills and their determination to achieve success in the face of discrimination. Jackson begins with pioneers such as James Reese Europe, who formed the first musicians’ union in the city and fought as a member of the Harlem Hellfighters in World War I, and ends with giants of the twentieth century, such as Duke Ellington and Georgetown University basketball coaching legend John Thompson Jr.

Readers interested in the history of Washington, DC, the civil rights movement, racial justice, music, and sports will draw important lessons from these stories of the Black men and women who found in sports and music spaces to combat racial prejudice and bring people in the District of Columbia together.

Maurice Jackson teaches Atlantic world and African American history at Georgetown University. He is author of Let This Voice Be Heard, and coeditor of African Americans and the Haitian Revolution and DC Jazz (Georgetown University Press, 2018). He was the inaugural chair of the Washington, DC, Commission on African American Affairs, appointed by the mayor.