Wheelchair Warrior: Gangs, Disability, and Basketball

by Melvin Juette, Ronald J. Berger

Overview

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.”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781592134762
Publisher:	Temple University Press
Publication date:	03/28/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
File size:	706 KB

About the Author

Melvin Juette is Community Service Coordinator of the Deferred Prosecution Unit of the Dane County District Attorney's Office in Madison, Wisconsin.

Ronald J. Berger is Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

Table of Contents

Preface 
Introduction

Part I: Beginnings 
1. Roots 
2. In the Company of Peers 
3. Gangs 
4. The Shooting

Part II: Transitions 
5. Road to Recovery 
6. Breaking Away 
7. A Motley Crew

Part III: Resolutions

8. Fundamentally Sound 
9. Lost and Found 
10. The Best of All Victories 
Conclusion 
Notes 
Index

Editorial Reviews

"Juette’s story follows his evolution from boy to man, from gang member to wheelchair athlete, and it’s a story of determination and inspiration that will touch everyone who reads it."—Booklist

From the Publisher