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Through the Banks of the Red Cedar: My Father and the Team That Changed the Game by [Maya Washington]

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Maya Washington

Through the Banks of the Red Cedar: My Father and the Team That Changed the Game Kindle Edition

by Maya Washington (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

691 ratings

Editors' pick Best History

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A warm and invigorating memoir about a daughter’s love for her father and her appreciation for how he and others changed the game of football forever.

Gene Washington’s football career ended long before his daughter Maya was born. She never saw the legendary powerhouse as anything but her dad. She didn’t yet grasp the impact he’d had on the sport—and on America. To understand his historic role in the integration of college football, witness his influence on generations that followed, and fully appreciate his legacy, Maya had a lot of catching up to do.

Maya retraces her father’s journey from the segregated south to Michigan State during the peak of the Civil Rights Movement and his journey as an NFL pioneer after the 1967 draft. She reflects on how her father’s childhood—and the racism he faced—shaped her upbringing and influenced his expectations of her. She also discovers how unbreakable the emotional bond between teammates can be. But above all, Maya and her father get to know each other. As their own bond deepens, so does Maya’s connection to the sport that changed the trajectory of her father’s life…and hers.

Print length

233 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Little A
Publication date

January 1, 2022
File size

14264 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

An Amazon Best Book of the Month: History

“An immensely moving tribute to her father, former Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Gene Washington…Readers will be enthralled and heartened by this unique look at the way sports can influence society.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“The book should appeal to college football enthusiasts, especially those interested in how racial issues impacted the sport during the 20th century.” —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

If you are inspired by films like Remember the Titans and The Blind Side, then you’ll likely find yourself loving Maya Washington’s memoir about her father’s legacy in the world of American football.

Maya grew up knowing that her father, Gene Washington, had been a star college athlete at Michigan State University and a professional football player for the Minnesota Vikings, but it wasn’t until she began having candid conversations with her father and his former teammates that she discovered how they broke racial barriers in the 1960s and ultimately changed the game forever.

I found myself drawn to Maya’s warm and engaging voice as she traces her father’s journey from the segregated Jim Crow South to the North and captures what it was like for him to be one of the few Black players on the team. Maya develops a newfound appreciation for the game and a deeper connection to her father. I was moved by how Gene Washington helped pave the way for aspiring young Black athletes today and I bet you will be too.

—Carmen Johnson, Editor

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08QJ7HWP4
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Little A (January 1, 2022)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 1, 2022
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 14264 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 233 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1542016665
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #100,945 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #12 in Football Biographies (Kindle Store)
- #25 in History of Sports
- #40 in Biographies of Social Activists

Customer Reviews:
691 ratings

About the author

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Maya Washington

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Maya Washington is an award-winning narrative and documentary filmmaker (writer/director/producer), actress, writer, poet, creative director, photographer, and arts educator. She is dedicated to social-impact stories that illuminate aspects of the human experience that are untold or rarely seen or that might benefit from new approaches to issues of diversity and inclusion. For more information visit www.throughthebanksoftheredcedar.com.

Customer reviews

5 star		55%
4 star		26%
3 star		14%
2 star		3%
1 star		3%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Amazon Customer

Amazing Non-fiction Story

Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2021

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This is an amazing non fiction read. It is well written and put together like a story so it continued to be a page turner for me because I wanted to get to the ending. More importantly, you get to read about the 50's & 60's from an original viewpoint. While I know and understand the history of that era, it was great to learn more about it from the author's view point. I was able to learn some new things, historically, and I want to thank the author for that. I went to a high school in Pasadena. CA from 1964 to 1966. I was in the white minority at that high school as black students were the majority at that time. Jackie Robinson actually graduated from my high school. That is why the info in Maya's book was so significant to me. Thank you.

27 people found this helpful

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Greg V.

Not bad, but not great

Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2021

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The story was more about the author than I expected. I has hoping for a lot of anecdotes that would provide insights into the life of black football players in college football and the NFL in the early days and there were a few but not nearly as many as I would have hoped for. Certainly nothing that provided deep insights into the lives of these players. The book as also repetitive using the same comment or story in multiple chapters. It also seemed to be written partially to promote the authors documentary of the same name. There were very few chapters where I wanted to keep turning the pages to see what happened next. Most of the time the book was too easy to put down which is why it took me a week to read it. It's reasonably well written for the content, I just wished there were more substance.

21 people found this helpful

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Scott J Pearson

Personal history about racial integration and the early NFL

Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2021

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The author Maya Washington’s father is Gene Washington. (In order not to confuse, I will refer to them in this review by their first names.) Gene was among the first black football players on nationally prominent college and NFL/AFL teams in the 1960s. He grew up in Jim Crow Texas, but played football for Michigan State University. Not only did he help to integrate the sport; he also laid the groundwork for football becoming so central to American culture. In this story, Maya tells his story and his friends’ stories while sharing how she – notably, not an avid sports’ fan before this project – grew closer to Gene throughout this process.

By trade, Maya is not a writer but a filmmaker. This book is preceded in time by a documentary with the same name. (The documentary is being aired privately at the time of this writing in late 2021.) Using the same research, she shares their collective story in a literary format. The book touches on deep themes like racism, economic mobility, family, the need for social dignity, and the rights of athletes to be rewarded for their work.

Gene played with the Minnesota Vikings and Denver Broncos for several seasons with a career limited by injury. In concert with recent trends, he is being (rightly) acknowledged as among a generation who laid the foundation for integrated college football, for the Minnesota Vikings franchise, and for the early growth of the NFL. Of course, his daughter’s perspective allows his personal side to be brought to light as well, and that thread makes this story especially heartwarming.

This historical tale will appear particularly to football fans and more broadly to all those who yearn for a more just society. Football is a big industry in American society, and aspiring football players can learn through Maya the complexities of its ascent. Female football fans might also appreciate her account, which speaks of feminine roles in this traditionally masculine of sports. Stories and voices like these need to be recorded before this generation of American heroes dies. Their work, courage, and sacrifices have helped us all become better.

13 people found this helpful

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Richard J.

Spartan History and the Challenges Faced By Our Black Spartans.

Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2021

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Being a Spartan who's family has attended MSU for over 100 years this book brought back memories and answered many questions regarding the astigmatism of institutional racism. The next generation of my family to, hopefully, attend MSU is of mixed heritage. Due to the trailblazing done by Gene, Bubba, and Maya my family will have the opportunity to attend my Alma Mater. The stories brought to life the people I had admired and who my family were classmates with from 1986 through to 2021. Maya, you made me feel pride as a Spartan and sad as an Amercan who has seen this countries continued racism and impact of historical racism. I hope this book may serve as motivation for my fellow Spartans to stand up and actively fight racism.
I thank you Maya for bringing this labor of love to print. You are a captivating storyteller!

12 people found this helpful

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Jim Lurie

Not just a football book

Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2022

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This is a story about more than a football team. It is the story about how that team facilitated, if not forced, the full integration of NCAA football in the face of continuing systemic quotas and, in the South, absolute segregation. To anyone who was around in the mid-sixties, the surface story will be familiar. Washington covers that story, but goes far deeper, tying it to the still-continuing underlying changes in race relations which were to follow.

Her research is deep. But it is not confined to secondary sources. Her father, Gene Washington, was a key member of the Michigan State team along with fellow All-Americans Bubba Smith, Clinton Jones, and George Webster, all of whom were first round selections in the 1967 NFL draft. She had access to these and other players and coaches (and their friends and relatives), making the book almost first person.

Disclosure: I was there, being a 1968 Michigan State grad; none of this story is fictional. A wonderful and important book.

5 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

BMS coach

A thoroughly enjoyable and informative book

Reviewed in Canada on December 6, 2021

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I do not profess to be a football fan but this story was gripping and at many points heart rending for me as it wove the sad story of unjust and ingrown racism in America through the lives of black athletic pioneers, who managed to persevere and by God's grace somehow prevail.

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