Professor Shawn Quirk
English 100
April 15, 2013 Champion of the World 1. Maya Angelou recalls listening to the broadcast of the boxing match, because if Louis won, it was not only a win for him, but it represented a win for the black race during time of harsh racism. If he lost, they were still the slaves, the lower human beings. It was all for the people, they took it very personal. If he won, it was a black guy beating a white guy. It would give pride to them all. Sixty years later, in sports, if a black athlete is successful it does give them pride, but not considered personal if he loses. 2. Paragraphs 16 and 17 are the most important paragraphs because they show the significance of what this win can mean. Blacks didn’t want Louis to win, they NEEDED it, to keep the whites off their backs for a bit. They were counting on Louis to help them fight the coming consequences of there ever even being a match between a white and a black man. The paragraphs are related to the last when its time to pay the price of their win over a white. They can’t be caught alone on the roads at night or a white person might take out their anger of the loss on them, almost as if there was no winning. 3. She states that they won and proved that THEY were the strongest people in the world. Almost like giving of small peak into the future of the success that was