A Most Beautiful Thing: The True Story of America's First All-Black High School Rowing Team

Cooper begins Chapter 11 by writing, “Summer has come to an end, and we are one week out before race day at the St. Louis regatta” (142). Throughout the summer, Cooper, Alvin, Malcolm, and Preston have been attending Alpart’s weekly entrepreneurship course, and he invites them to his house for dinner after the final class. While there, they have a meaningful discussion with Alpart’s wife, a law student training to be a criminal defender, about policing in their community. They each share their own stories about negative, and sometimes violent, interactions with Chicago police, and Alpart’s wife reminds them to “never talk back to the cops, especially as young black men” (145). When Cooper returns home, he admits that “[his] heart feels heavy thinking about [his] community” (146). He explains that he has had his face “pressed down on a police car numerous times” even though he has never “sold drugs, punched, shot, or disrespected anyone in any way” (146).

At the team’s first practice meeting, Coach Jessica welcomes some newcomers, makes an announcement that Cooper is the new team captain, and hands out uniforms to the top five rowers. At the end of the first week of school, the team leaves to race in the St. Louis regatta. During the six-hour drive to St. Louis, they are reminded that this is a big event when they see a number of other rowers hauling their boats on the highway. On race day, they immediately take note that the event is much bigger than Chicago’s and that the facility is much nicer. As their race starts, Cooper points out that they are neck-and-neck with the other teams and that he “can feel the boat moving as fast as it ever has” (155). Despite their boat taking on a significant amount of water and Cooper’s pants getting snagged on the seat, they cross the finish line in third place.

On the way to school on the Monday morning after the St. Louis regatta, Cooper sees some former Manley basketball players and notices how bad they look. He argues that it seems like the ones who do not go on to play in college “fall apart quickly” after high school (158). Cooper recruits two new rowers for the team, and Malcolm’s uncle, Pookie G., has transferred to Manley just to be part of the team. The new rowers are important because the team will now have a whole new nucleus. Cooper learns that Preston is now into the drug trade, and Preston eventually stops coming to practice. Cooper also learns that Alvin has a hernia and needs surgery and that Malcolm’s father has forbidden him to continue rowing. Malcolm explains that his dad, a follower of the Nation of Islam, “doesn’t care for Jews” and does not like the fact that Alpart is “trying to change black kids’ lives” (164-65).

After a few weeks, the new rowers—Pookie G., who will be a coxswain, Josh, and Dwayne—are up to speed, and even though they are not as powerful as Alvin, Malcolm, and Preston, Cooper feels like they are ready for the upcoming Iowa race. He explains that Iowa will be a head race, meaning that the teams have a moving start and finishes are based on times and that it will be 4,000 meters. When they arrive, the team feels more unwelcome in Iowa than they had at other races, and Coach Jessica comes running to inform them that there was a miscommunication and their race is starting right now. Once in the water, the officials tell them that they need to sprint to the starting line because all the other teams are long gone. Pookie G., whom they had thought might be too softspoken to be coxswain, suddenly comes alive shouting instructions, and the team finally crosses the finish line. Coach Jessica tells them that they just “sprinted four miles straight,” racing all college teams, and finished last by only two seconds (171). She adds that the only reason they did not finish first was “because of that 2,000 meter pre-race sprint that shouldn’t have happened” (171).