Wheelchair Warrior: Gangs, Disability, and Basketball

By: Juette and Melvin and Berger and Ronald J.

Sign Up Now! Already a Member? Log In
You must be logged into Bookshare to access this title. Learn about membership options, or view our freely available titles.

Synopsis: Melvin Juette has said that becoming paralyzed in a gang-related shooting was “both the worst and best thing that happened” to him. The incident, he believes, surely spared the then sixteen year-old African American from prison and/or an early death. It transformed him in other ways, too. He attended college and made wheelchair basketball his passion—ultimately becoming a star athlete and playing on the U. S. National Wheelchair Basketball Team. In Wheelchair Warrior, Juette reconstructs the defining moments of his life with the assistance of sociologist Ronald Berger. His poignant memoir is bracketed by Berger’s thoughtful introduction and conclusion, which places this narrative of race, class, masculinity and identity into proper sociological context, showing how larger social structural forces defined his experiences. While Juette’s story never gives into despair, it does challenge the idea of the “supercrip. ”

Book Quality:: Publisher Quality
ISBN-13:: 9781592134762
Publisher:: Temple University Press
Date of Addition:: 07/11/13
Copyrighted By:: Paralyzed Veterans of America
Adult content:: No
Language:: English
Has Image Descriptions:: No
Categories:: Nonfiction, Disability-Related, Biographies and Memoirs, Social Studies, Medicine
Submitted By:: Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:: This is a copyrighted book.