By Michael G. Reel
Changing Our Narrative
Journalist and author James S. Hirsch recently sat down with Reel Urban News for an in-depth conversation about sports, race and the current state of our nation. Hirsch introduced us to his newest sports muse, wrestler and U.S. Olympic hopeful Zion Clark.
Hirsch, a former reporter with the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, perhaps is best known for writing the critically acclaimed bestseller, Hurricane: The Miraculous Journey of Rubin Carter.
“I met Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter in 1998; I wrote a book about his wrongful incarceration for 20 years,” said Hirsch. “He was ultimately vindicated. They made a movie about Rubin’s story, starring Denzel Washington.
“The movie not only exposed the injustices of our criminal justice system but it was also a story of one man’s determination to overcome a great wrong.”
Although Hirsch’s formative years were shaped in the all-white suburbs of St. Louis, the writer and social observer stands in the corridors of the civil rights movement and has written extensively about race in America in his books, Riot and Remembrance: The Tulsa Race War and Its Legacy and Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend, the 2010 biography of Negro League star and baseball Hall of Famer Willie Mays.
Now residing in Boston, Hirsch spoke passionately about the influence of the modern-day athlete and their ability to create societal change. “Sports have always provided a great platform for people of color to protest and to express their views about what is going in the world.
“But there is still great institutional resistance to those voices as we saw with Colin Kaepernick. The Day has changed. When sports resume you’re going to see black athletes and white athletes take a knee and not be afraid of retaliation.”
Hirsch was in Southern California working with wrestling phenom Clark, the Columbus, Ohio native born with an extremely rare birth defect, Caudal Regression Syndrome.
“He was abandoned at birth by his mother,” said Hirsch. “He was born with multiple strikes against him. No parents. No home. No legs. No money. And he was black.”
Faced with these setbacks, the 22-year-old Clark has accomplished a great deal. “And despite all those odds against him he turned out to be this elite athlete,” Hirsch explained. “He was a championship wrestler in high school as well as a speed bike racer; now he has dreams of participating in the Olympics – both the Paralympics as a speed racer but also as a wrestler in the regular Olympics, which has never been done before.”
Fresh off the mat and still pumped up, Clark brought his A-Game to our exclusive interview.
“I took the last couple of days to heal myself up. I was banged up to the point my performance was starting to dip down and I wasn’t getting my shots off the way I wanted,” explained Clark.
Following rest and what Clark described as a deep tissue massage, he was ready for action. “I felt fast and dangerous – more than usual, which is good. I want to be able to sell that feeling so when I walk into any room, when I walk into any cage, or I walk onto any mat, it doesn’t matter where I’m at – they’re going to feel my energy knowing that I’m here for a war, I’m here to battle.”
Despite a lifetime of battles, Clark remains focused on his personal and professional goals. “I’ve come a very long way with the tenacity that I have – it hasn’t always been there and I wasn’t always completely motivated but I have the right family situation and the right setting I was put into. And by the grace of God. I give all praises to the Big Man. If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t even be here!”
When Clark is not on the mat he can be found speaking with other young African American men who also come from backgrounds of disadvantage and challenge. “If you’re black and grew up in poverty or grew up in the ghetto, it’s going to be hard and when you have our complexion you’ve got to keep your back straight and keep your head held high.
“In the final moments of our time with Hirsch and Clark, who spoke with Michael Reel of Reel Urban News, the wrestler shared his reason for writing the forthcoming book. “I want to be able to share my life, my perspective and my viewpoint,” explained Clark. “I’ve already reached millions of people with my name alone – with the book people can get a deeper understanding of me. What I’m doing is wildly different.”
