Morgan Campbell examines legacies and bloodlines in his memoir, My Fighting Family

In his memoir, My Fighting Family, Campbell shares the complex familial dynamics, as well as historical influences, which have since shaped his understanding of himself as a husband, a father and a Black Canadian-American.

My Fighting Family is a detailed history of one family's battles across the generations and reckons with what it means being a Black Canadian with strong American roots. Sports journalist and writer Morgan Campbell traces his family's roots in the rural American south to their eventual cross-border split and the grudges and squabbles along the way.

From the south side of Chicago in the 1930s to the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War and Morgan's life dealing with the racial tensions in Canada — My Fighting Family is about journeying to find clarity in conflict.

Calling all writers! The 2024 CBC Nonfiction Prize is now open

Campbell is a journalist and a senior contributor at CBC Sports. He was a sports writer at the Toronto Star for over 18 years. His work highlights where sports intersects with off-the-field issues like race, culture, politics and business. His memoir My Fighting Familyis his first book.

Campbell spoke with The Next Chapter's Ali Hassan about the influence his family's legacy has had on his life and writing today.

Two formidable forces shape your family dynamics. Claude Jones is your maternal grandfather and then Mary Jane Gibbs is your paternal grandmother — you call her Granny Mary. What did Claude Jones and Granny Mary think of each other?

Claude Jones and Mary Jane Gibbs, they went to high school together [on the] far South side of Chicago. They might have known each other even before that because my mom's family and my dad's family all went to the same church, St. James