[Peace] Tonight: Dave Zirin to speak at UIUC

[Karen Medina]

Tonight:
A People's History of Sports in the United States:  250 Years of Politics, Protest, 
People, and Play


Sportswriter Dave Zirin comes to UIUC: 
Mon., Oct. 6,
7pm, Greg Hall, room 317

>   Dave Zirin speaks on his new book:   A People's History of Sports in the 
United States
>   A rollicking, rebellious, myth-busting history of
>   sports in America that
>   puts politics in the ring with pop culture!
>
>   250 Years of Politics, Protest, People, and Play
>
>   About Dave Zirin and A People's History of Sports:
>   In this long-awaited book from the rising superstar
>   of sportswriting, whose blog "The Edge of Sports" is
>   read each week by thousands of people across the
>   country, Dave Zirin offers a riotously entertaining
>   chronicle of larger-than-life sporting characters
>   and dramatic contests and what amounts to an
>   alternative history of the United States as seen
>   through the games its people played. Through Zirin's
>   eyes, sports are never mere games, but a reflection
>   of—and spur toward—the political conflicts that
>   shape American society.
>
>   Half a century before Jackie Robinson was born, the
>   black ballplayer Moses Fleetwood Walker brandished a
>   revolver to keep racist fans at bay, then took his
>   regular place in the lineup. In the midst of the
>   Depression, when almost no black athletes were
>   allowed on the U.S. Olympic team, athletes held a
>   Counter Olympics where a third of the participants
>   were African American.
>
>   A People's History of Sports in the United States is
>   replete with surprises for seasoned sports fans,
>   while anyone interested in history will be amazed by
>   the connections Zirin draws between politics and pop
>   flies. As Jeff Chang, author of Can't Stop Won't
>   Stop, puts it, "After you read him, you'll never see
>   sports the same way again."
>
>   ************************************
>
>   RESISTING EMPIRE                                     
>   www.resistingempire .org                             
>   A National Speaking Tour Sponsored by Haymarket      
>   Books                                                
>                                                        
>   Chicago stop features...                             
>   Camilo Mejía, author of Road from ar Ramadi: The    
>   Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant                  
>   and Joe Allen, author of Vietnam: The (Last) War the 
>   U.S. Lost                                            
>                                                        
>   7:30pm, Saturday, November 15                        
>   @ DePaul University, Student Academic Center (2320   
>   N. Kenmore), Room 154                                
>                                                        
>   Here and around the world, people want to see an end 
>   to the Iraq War and a change in the                  
>   reckless direction of U.S. foreign policy. U.S.      
>   aggression has inflicted a humanitarian              
>   catastrophe— from Iraq, to Afghanistan, and        
>   beyond—with millions of people killed or           
>   turned into refugees. American troops continue to    
>   suffer and die, while schools and                    
>   hospitals fall apart.                                
>                                                        
>   A new resistance needs to be built from the ground   
>   up. To build it, we need to hear the                 
>   stories the mainstream media refuse to tell: the     
>   stories of war resisters, unembedded                 
>   journalists, and activists. Resisting Empire starts  
>   with us.                                             
>                                                        
>   About the tour:                                      
>   Resisting Empire will be visiting over 30 cities     
>   between October 15 and November 15 --                
>   visit www.resistingempire .org for a full schedule;  
>   and become a fan on Facebook to invite               
>   friends and help spread the word!                    
>                                                        
>   Sponsored by: Haymarket Books                        
>   Co-sponsored by: AlterNet, Iraq Veterans Against the 
>   War, and Nation Books                                
>                                                        
>   Contact:                                             
>   For event requests and general tour inquiries,       
>   contact info at resistingempir e.org                    
>   Media requests, contact Sarah Macaraeg at            
>   sarah at haymarketbook s.org, 773-583-7884              
>   Review and exam copy requests, contact Aaron Hess at 
>   aaron at haymarketbook s.org                            
>                                                        
>   For Carpool from Champaign-Urbana, contact Andrew    
>   Zimmerer at: azimmer2 at illinois.edu