Victoria L. Harrison's "Fight Like a Tiger," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: Fight Like a Tiger: Conway Barbour and the Challenges of the Black Middle Class in Nineteenth-Century America by Victoria L. Harrison.

The entry begins:

This is a fun exercise! First, the basics. Fight Like a Tiger follows the life of an ambitious former slave, Conway Barbour, and his adventures in search of upward mobility in the middle decades of the nineteenth century. The book argues that the idea of a black middle class traced its origins to the free black population of mid-century and developed alongside the idea of a white middle class. Barbour’s story, across four decades and several states, epitomizes that development.

He was something of a rascal, often willing to color outside the lines to reach his goals. As the story takes place across decades, (and cost is not an issue here) we might need younger and older versions of some of the main players. Donald Glover would be terrific as Barbour’s younger self; I have always envisioned Denzel Washington as an older Barbour. Charming and rather untrustworthy fills the bill.

Lupita Nyong'o would be perfect as Barbour’s first wife, Cornelia, a former slave herself. Alfre Woodard would be...[read on]

Learn more about Fight Like a Tiger at the Southern Illinois University Press website.

My Book, The Movie: Fight Like a Tiger.

--Marshal Zeringue