Episode 96 Notes and Links to Frank Guridy’s Work
On Episode 96 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Dr. Frank A. Guridy, and the two discuss, among other topics, his childhood in New York City and his early love of history, fostered by his parents and directly and indirectly based on his family’s immigration stories, his early and lasting introductions to influential writers and professors, as well as his book on African diasporas and connections to Cuba. The two spend the bulk of the interview discussing Frank’s latest book on Texas and its “sports revolution.”
Frank A. Guridy specializes in sport history, urban history, and the history of American social movements. His recent book, The Sports Revolution: How Texas Changed the Culture of American Athletics (University of Texas Press, 2021) explores how Texas-based sports entrepreneurs and athletes from marginalized backgrounds transformed American sporting culture during the 1960s and 1970s, the highpoint of the Black Freedom and Second-Wave feminist movements. His first book, Forging Diaspora: Afro-Cubans and African Americans in a World of Empire and Jim Crow (University of North Carolina Press, 2010), won the Elsa Goveia Book Prize from the Association of Caribbean Historians and the Wesley-Logan Book Prize, conferred by the American Historical Association. He is also the co-editor of Beyond el Barrio: Everyday Life in Latino/a America (NYU Press, 2010), with Gina Pérez and Adrian Burgos, Jr. His articles have appeared in Kalfou, Radical History Review, Caribbean Studies, Social Text, and Cuban Studies. His fellowships and awards include the Scholar in Residence Fellowship at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the Ray A. Billington Professorship in American History at Occidental College and the Huntington Library. He is also an award-winning teacher, receiving the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award from the University of Texas at Austin, and, more recently, the Mark Van Doren Award for Teaching at Columbia. His current book project, Between Conflict and Community: The Stadium in American Life, tells the story of the American stadium as a community institution that has been a battleground for social justice since its inception.
Buy Frank Guridy's Books
Frank Guridy's Columbia University Home Page
Review of Forging Diaspora: Afro-Cubans and African Americans in a World of Empire and Jim Crow
Kirkus’ Reviews Review for THE SPORTS REVOLUTION:
HOW TEXAS CHANGED THE CULTURE OF AMERICAN ATHLETICS
At about 2:50, Frank talks about his early relationship with languages, his parents as immigrants and/or bilingual and symbolism-as seen through reading and listening to The Bible
At about 8:10, Frank talks about the “Trujillo legacy as profound” in his family, as well as how his family’s history impacted his decision to become a historian
At about 10:00, Pete and Frank talk about historical traumas and troubles in reconstructing some histories, and the two discuss infamous incidents in Trujillo’s dictatorship, including the pivotal word “perejil”
At about 13:05, Frank responds to Pete’s question about his early reading habits; Frank describes an early penchant for nonfiction/history, including sports biographies-Giant Steps by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was one that “really spoke to [him]”
At about 16:35, Frank describes the unique and impressive reading culture of New York City, as well as how the subway served as a microcosm of NYC life-Frank calls it a “great place of learning”
At about 18:30, Pete wonders about any moments of discovery for Frank as he became someone who would read and write and study history for a living
At about 20:20, Frank recounts Horace Campbell’s intriguing and creative teaching that involved Rastafarianism and pulled Frank in as a future historian; he also cites other inspiring works from Angela Davis, Walter Rodney, C.L.R. James, and many others
At about 23:15, Frank explains his unders
View all episodes
