Jack Johnson’s Family Wants Obama Pardon  HOUSTON (AP) —
Relatives and hometown supporters of the nation's first Black
heavyweight boxing champion are turning to YouTube to convince
President Barack Obama to posthumously pardon him of a 1913
conviction for accompanying a White woman across state lines.
Jack Johnson, nicknamed the "Galveston Giant" after his Texas
hometown, was at the center of racial tensions after winning the
title in 1908. When he defended his title by defeating white
boxer Jim Jeffries in 1910, dubbed the "Fight of the Century,"
the victory sparked deadly race riots across the county.  Three
years later, Johnson was convicted by an all-White jury for
violating a Jim Crow-era law that made it illegal to transport
white women across state lines for "immoral purposes." He was
sentenced to a year in prison.  His family and other supporters
say he did nothing wrong and that the century-old conviction
continues to tarnish Johnson's image. Lawmakers have asked for a
pardon three times in the pas