Editing Jack Johnson (boxer) (section)

===Popular culture===
{{excessive examples|section|date=September 2018}}

The first filmed fight of Johnson's career was his bout with Tommy Burns, which was turned into a contemporary documentary, ''[[The Burns-Johnson Fight]]'', in 1908.

Folksinger and blues singer [[Lead Belly]] referenced Johnson in a [[The Titanic (song)|song]] about the [[RMS Titanic|''Titanic'']]: "Jack Johnson wanna get on board, Captain said I ain't hauling no coal. Fare thee, Titanic, fare thee well. When Jack Johnson heard that mighty shock, mighta seen the man do the Eagle rock. Fare thee, Titanic, fare thee well" (The Eagle Rock was a popular dance at the time). In 1969, American folk singer [[Jaime Brockett]] reworked the Lead Belly song into a satirical talking blues called "The Legend of the S.S. Titanic." 

In the trenches of [[World War One]], Johnson's name was used by British troops to describe the impact of German 150&nbsp;mm heavy artillery shells which had a black color.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.firstworldwar.com/atoz/jackjohnson.htm|title=First World War.com – Encyclopedia – Jack Johnson|publisher=Firstworldwar.com |access-date=November 27, 2014}}</ref> In his letters home to his wife, [[Rupert Edward Inglis]] (1863–1916), a former rugby international who was a Forces Chaplain, describes passing through the town of [[Albert, Somme|Albert]]:

<blockquote> We went through the place today (2 October 1915) where the Virgin Statue at the top of the Church was hit by a shell in January. The statue was knocked over, but has never fallen, I sent you a picture of it. It really is a wonderful sight. It is incomprehensible how it can have stayed there, but I think it is now lower than when the photograph was taken, and no doubt will come down with the next gale. The Church and village are wrecked, there's a huge hole made by a Jack Johnson just outside the west door of the Church.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rupert Edward Inglis |url=http://www.inglis.uk.com/RUPERT%20EDWARD%20INGLIS%20thiepval.htm |publisher=inglis.uk.com |access-date=16 April 2011}}</ref></blockquote>

Johnson's story is the basis of the play ''[[The Great White Hope]]'' and its 1970 [[The Great White Hope (film)|film adaptation]], starring [[James Earl Jones]] as "Jack Jefferson" and [[Jane Alexander]] as his love interest. Both Jones and Alexander won Tonys and were nominated for Oscars.

Also in 1970, [[Jimmy Jacobs (handballer)|Jimmy Jacobs]] and [[Bill Cayton]] brought together much of the rare archive footage of Johnson which they had saved and restored, and made the film ''[[Jack Johnson (film)|Jack Johnson]]'', with Johnson's words voiced by [[Brock Peters]], and music by [[Miles Davis]]. Davis' score later became the 1971 album [[Jack Johnson (album)|named after the boxer]]. It features the actor Peters (as Johnson) saying:

{{blockquote|<poem>
I'm Jack Johnson. Heavyweight champion of the world.
I'm black. They never let me forget it.
I'm black all right! I'll never let them forget it!
</poem>}}

In 2005, filmmaker [[Ken Burns]] produced a two-part documentary about Johnson's life, ''[[Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson]],'' based on the 2004 nonfiction book of the same name by Geoffrey C. Ward, and with music by [[Wynton Marsalis]]. The book won the [[William Hill Sports Book of the Year]] (2006).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/boxing/6189040.stm |title=Johnson biog named book of year |work=[[BBC News]] |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> writer |date=November 27, 2006 |access-date=November 26, 2012|author-link=Staff writer }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/2351279/Johnsons-tale-floors-five-rivals.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/2351279/Johnsons-tale-floors-five-rivals.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Johnson's tale floors five rivals |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |author=Andrew Baker |date=November 28, 2006 |access-date=November 26, 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Several Hip Hop activists have also reflected on Johnson's legacy, most notably in the album ''[[The New Danger]],'' by [[Mos Def]], in which songs like "Zimzallabim" and "Blue Black Jack" are devoted to the artist's pugilistic hero. In the closing track of the album ''[[Run the Jewels 3]]'', "A Report to the Shareholders / Kill Your Masters," [[Killer Mike]] of the Hip Hop duo [[Run the Jewels]] reinvokes Johnson's image with the line: "''I'm Jack Johnson, I beat a slave catcher snaggletooth''." Additionally, both Southern [[punk rock]] band [[This Bike is a Pipe Bomb]] and [[alternative country]] performer [[Tom Russell]] have songs dedicated to Johnson. Russell's piece is both a tribute and a biting indictment of the racism Johnson faced: ''"here comes Jack Johnson, like he owns the town, there's a lot of white Americans like to see a man go down&nbsp;... like to see a black man drown."''

In [[Joe R. Lansdale]]'s 1997 short story ''[[The Big Blow (novel)|The Big Blow]],'' Johnson is featured fighting a white boxer brought in by Galveston, Texas's boxing fans to defeat the African American fighter during the [[1900 Galveston Hurricane]]. The story won a [[Bram Stoker Award]] and was expanded into a 2000 novel.<ref>[http://www.horror.org/stokerwinnom.htm#1997] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130429010101/http://www.horror.org/stokerwinnom.htm#1997|date=April 29, 2013}}</ref>

The book of poetry, ''The Big Smoke'' by [[Adrian Matejka]], is inspired by Johnson's voice and life and written in forms ranging from sonnets to prose poetry. It was a finalist for the [[National Book Award]] for Poetry in 2013.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013 |title=The Big Smoke |url=https://www.nationalbook.org/books/the-big-smoke/ |access-date=2023-03-23 |website=National Book Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref>

''The Royale'', a play by [[Marco Ramirez (playwright)|Marco Ramirez]], uses the life of Jack Johnson as inspiration for its main character, Jay Jackson. It premiered in March 2016 at [[Lincoln Center Theater]] directed by [[Rachel Chavkin]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lct.org/shows/royale/?gclid=CjwKEAjw0pa5BRCLmoKIx_HTh1wSJABk5F_4r497tLrY7heh9WMl4xkcgULr3eVJiP4Y0KU8NvQHxRoCIdPw_wcB|title=The Royale: Shows|access-date=May 1, 2016}}</ref> and was nominated for a Drama Desk Awards for [[Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play|Outstanding Play]], [[Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play|Outstanding Director of a Play]], and a Special Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dramadeskawards.com/nominees|title=The Nominees|access-date=May 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160225151924/http://dramadeskawards.com/nominees|archive-date=February 25, 2016|url-status=usurped|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

The book ''Crossing the Color Line: Stanley Ketchel's Challenge for Jack Johnson's Heavyweight Crown'', written by Vernon Gravely and released in 2021, details Johnson's fight with middleweight champion [[Stanley Ketchel]].

The graphic novel "The Original Johnson" was written and drawn by Trevor Von Eeden, the first black artist ever hired by DC Comics, in 1976, and co-creator of their first original black super-hero, Black Lightning. "The Original Johnson" details Jack Johnson's life from childhood up to his death, and was generally well received. A favorable quote from the NY Times graces the cover of both volumes.

The graphic novel ''Last On His Feet: Jack Johnson and the Battle of the Century'' by Adrian Matejka and Youssef Daoudi, released in 2023, chronicles Johnson vs. Jeffries, interspersing the fight with flashbacks to Johnson's youth.<ref>{{cite web |title=Last On His Feet: Jack Johnson and the Battle of the Century |url=https://wwnorton.com/books/9781631495588 |publisher=wwnorton.com |access-date=3 October 2022}}</ref>