Athlete and Activist

28 Sports Stars Who Changed the Game

Author: Jules Boykoff, Alex C. Davis, and Amira Rose Davis Illustrations by Martin French

Beautifully illustrated profiles of athletes who made a difference

Cloth – $24.95

978-0-252-05991-9

eBook – $14.95

978-0-252-04933-0

Publication Date

Cloth: 10/06/2026

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About the Book

Time and again, great athletes seem to do the impossible. Their skills amaze us. Their work ethic inspires awe. Their talent is next level. At the same time, an athlete’s fame gives them a platform to speak out on important issues. With words and actions, a basketball star or Olympic legend can reach millions of people with their message.

Athlete and Activist highlights sports figures who risked their popularity and even their careers to stand against injustice. Each profile takes readers inside the issues that motivated an athlete’s activism. Striking portraits by award-winning illustrator Martin French add a visual dimension to the dramatic stories. Throughout, the authors show athletes using different kinds of activism. Some spoke out. Others performed silent gestures. Still others let their success speak for itself.

A different kind of sports history, Athlete and Activist is an inspiring look at heroic acts beyond our favorite games.

* Publication was supported by a grant from the Howard D. and Marjorie L. Brooks Fund for Progressive Thought

About the Author

Jules Boykoff is the author of five books on the Olympics, including, NOlympians: Inside the Fight Against Capitalist Mega-Sports in Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Beyond and Power Games: A Political History of the Olympics. Alex C. Davis is a writer, editor, and art director who has collaborated with media personalities, novelists, visual artists, songwriters, pastors, professors, and entrepreneurs. Amira Rose Davis is an assistant professor of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas in Austin and cohost of the Feminist Sports Podcast, Burn it All Down. Martin French is an illustrator, designer, and educator based in Portland, Oregon. He is the Department Chair of Illustration and a professor of illustration at the Pacific Northwest College of Art.

Reviews

“Athlete and Activist celebrates not just the athlete but also the person. These stories show what it means to stay in the fight, on and off the playing field. Everyone has a role in the struggle for justice. Everyone can contribute.”
—Wyomia Tyus, Olympic gold medalist and coauthor of Tigerbelle: The Wyomia Tyus Story