Tommie Smith shares his experiences growing up as the son of sharecroppers and how he became an Olympic athlete in VICTORY. STAND! Author/artists Derrick Barnes and Dawud Anyabwile helped create the graphic format that provides awesome visuals for Smith's story.
Tommie remembers years of living in poverty along-side his parents and thirteen siblings. Living in Texas first and eventually California, the whole family participated in field work and more to make ends meet. Tommie's first experiences with organized sports came when the family moved to California and learned that school was mandatory.
He was a stand-out runner in elementary school, and by middle school he was playing football and basketball as well as running track. His father told him he could continue to participate as long as he always came in first place. Good grades and great athletic ability earned Tommie a college scholarship where he narrowed his focus to track and field as he set record after record.
As he made other black friends, Tommie began to the inequality all blacks faced. He began attending demonstrations and protests and joined others in demanding more equal conditions at the college level. When he and several others qualified for the Olympics in Mexico City in 1968, they decided to continue showing their discontent. When he and fellow teammate John Carlos stood on the winner's podium, they both raised their clenched fists when the US National Anthem was played. Tommie shares the negative reactions that resulted, he also shares that if he had a chance to do it again today, he wouldn't change a thing.
VICTORY. STAND! should be in classroom and library collections everywhere. It would be perfect for sharing during Black History Month in history classes.
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