My Fighting Family by Morgan Campbell

Morgan Campbell comes from "a fighting family," a connection and clash that reaches back to the south side of Chicago in the 1930s. His father's and mother's families were both part of the Great Migration from the U.S. rural south to the industrial north, but a history of perceived slights and social-class differences solidified a great feud that only intensified over the course of the century after the families came together in marriage and split up across the border.

Morgan'smaternal grandfather, Claude Jones a legendary grudge-holder, as well was an accomplished musician, peer of Oscar Peterson, and fixture of the Chicago jazz scene was recruited to play some shows in Toronto, fell in love with the city, and eventually settled in Canada in the mid-1960s, paving the way for Morgan's parents to join him amid the tumult of the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights movement. Morgan's paternal grandmother, Granny Mary, however, remained stateside, a distance her schemes and resentments would only grow to fill.

That fighting spirit wasn't limited to the family's own squabbles, though it animated the way every generation moved through the world. From battling back as a group against white supremacist newcomers who violently resisted Black neighbours, to Morgan's pre-teen mother burnishing her own legend by cold-cocking some racist loudmouth bullies, the lesson was clear: sometimes words weren't enough.

In Canada, the Campbells started a family of their own, but the tensions between in-laws never ceased, even as divorce and disease threatened the very foundations of the life they'd built. Bearing witness to all of this was young Morgan, an aspiring writer, budding star athlete, and slow-jam scholar, whose deep American roots landed him an outsider status that led to its own schoolyard scraps and exposed the profound gap between Canada's utopian multicultural reputation and the very different reality.

Having grown up bouncing between these disparate identities and nationalities, real or imagined Black and Canadian, Canadian and American, Campbell and Jones My Fighting Familyis a witty, wise, rich, and soulful illumination of the journey to find clarity in all that conflict. (From Penguin Random House Canada)

• 26 works of Canadian nonfiction coming out in spring 2024
• Morgan Campbell reflects on his family legacy in his memoir My Fighting Family
• Morgan Campbell examines legacies and bloodlines in his memoir, My Fighting Family

MorganCampbell is an Ontario-based journalist and asenior contributor at CBC Sports. He was a sports writer at the Toronto Star for over 18 years. His work highlights where sports intersectwith off-the-field issues like race, culture, politics and business. His memoirMy Fighting Familyis his first book.

Interviews with Morgan Campbell

The Sunday Magazine24:29From the south side of Chicago to the north side of Mississauga: Growing up African-American in Canada

Morgan Campbell is one of Canada's most incisive sports journalists, frequently writing about the intersection of sport, race, culture, and politics. Now he's turning his critical eye to his own kin in a new memoir called My Fighting Family. Campbell joins Piya Chattopadhyay to talk about his family's multi-generational battles and grudges, and describes his experience growing up Black in Canada with a family that has deep American roots.

The Next Chapter15:42Borders, battles and bloodlines: sports journalist Morgan Campbell talks My Fighting Family

In his day job, Morgan Campbell covers the sports beat which includes documenting how sports intersect with race, culture, politics and business. But he shifts focus from the playing field to the personal in his new memoir My Fighting Family.