The article explores the rise of Black cricket players from the West Indies in Boston during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These athletes competed against all-white teams in the Massachusetts Cricket League, with Black teams dominating the competition by the early 20th century. The new anthology, "Race and Resistance in Boston: A Contested Sports History," co-edited by Robert Cvornyek and Douglas Stark, seeks to reveal these important yet lesser-known stories, contrasting the larger narrative of race in Boston sports, particularly during Black History Month.
The 1931 final was played between two Black teams, Windsor and Standard, highlighting a dominant presence in the Massachusetts Cricket League that contrasts typical Boston sports narratives.
Cvornyek states, "These stories resonate within the African American community. They never left the community. We would never say we discovered these stories."
Stark mentions, "You always hear about the Red Sox as the last team to integrate... we tried to find a kind of counter-narrative, a more complete story."
The anthology, published for Black History Month, emphasizes lesser-known Black sporting achievements in Boston, challenging conventional narratives on race and sports in the city.
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