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African American culture through sports
African American culture through sports
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John Carlos was born in Harlem, New York in 1945. Carlos graduated high school with a full track and field scholarship to East Texas State University. He won his university's first track and field Lone Star Conference championship. From East Texas, Carlos went to San Jose State University. After going to San Jose University he headed off to the Olympics along with Harry Edwards. They became friends with each other on the way to the Olympics. Carlos won the Bronze medal in the 200-meter final. During the medal acceptance, he raised his left arm in the air with a black glove on. This action was the Black Power salute. The picture that was taken of this has been documented into history. It shows just how far African American to show just how far
Guillermo González Camarena was a Mexican electrical engineer who was the inventor of a color-wheel type of color television, and who also introduced color television to Mexico,
Raymond Gray “Ray” Lewis was a track and field athlete. He was the first African-Canadian to win a medal at the Olympics, but his life was much more than that. Born in 1910, he faced racism and prejudice for his black heritage, but that didn’t stop him from following his dream. He accomplished various things in his life, and was, and still is, a source of inspiration for many people.
James Cleveland Owens otherwise known as “Jesse” was an Olympic long jumper and sprinter whose speed and inspirational defiance of Hitler shocked the world. The 1936 Olympics were held in Berlin and Adolf Hitler of the Nazi party believed that these Olympic Games would showcase the great skill of the Aryan (Caucasian) race, and the last person he would expect to show him up would be an African-American man (Barnes 1). With sixty-six U.S. Olympic contestants competing in the Games, the American race was really put on the spot in front of Hitler, the most powerful man in the world (Smith 1). Jesse Owens was one of these men, and while being laughed at by Hitler during his one hundred meter sprint against six other Caucasian sprinters, he won by a landslide. With that victory and his other three Olympic gold medals the Owens name was able to be remembered and looked up to for eternity. Jessie Owens is such a great athlete and individual because he defied Adolf Hitler, achieved more than expected of himself, and broke records with ease.
Cinco de Mayo, also known as the Anniversary of the Battle of Puebla, is a national holiday in Mexico that commemorates the 1862 Mexican victory over the French forces of Napoleon III in Puebla, Mexico. This holiday, celebrated on the fifth of May, has deep roots in Mexican culture, but in American-Mexican culture as well. Cinco de Mayo serves as a proud reminder of an unlikely victory, as well as a day to express and cherish Mexican pride and heritage.
George Lopez was born on April 23rd in the year of 1961 in the Mission, Hills of Los Angeles, California. His father who was Anataso was a migrant worker who left his wife, Frieda for a different lifestyle. After Lopez was born, Frieda and George Moved in with his mom’s parents who tried to raise Lopez In her hometown of California. When George was a young kid his mother explained to him that his father had died. Even though, the real truth was that he was in fact alive but wanted nothing to do with his son who he had with his ex-wife. His mother soon remarried when George was only ten years of age. His mouther also left, so he had nowhere to go other than to his grandparents’ house because he figured they would take care of him. Lopez was
Jack “Jackie” Roosevelt Robinson was born January 31, 1919 in Cairo Georgia. There he lived with his family in dire poverty on a sharecropper’s farm. Abandoned by his father, at age one, his mother moved their family to Pasadena, California; there she raised Robinson and his four siblings all by herself. Jack became a star athlete in high school excelling in football, basketball, track, and his weakest sport baseball. Jack was not the only athlete in his family. His brother Mack, won a silver medal in the 1936 Berlin Olympics for the 200 meter dash finishing second to Jesse Owens. When his brother returned the only job he could get was sweeping the streets. Robinson grew to hate Pasadena, according to Ray Bartlett, a friend he would later meet at UCLA. (Jerome 71) While Mallie, Jack’s mom, struggled to raise her family alone, she instilled the values in Robinson that made him fight not just for himself, but for others. (Berkow A16)
The video documentary “Chicano! History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement” is a four part documentary series that goes over the history of the Chicano (Mexican American) movement in particular; it is an indispensable resource for scholars and student. In this Documentary you learn about important leaders who took important roles in the movement such as Reies Lopez Tijerinain and land movement in New Mexico in 1966 and 1967. Also Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales in Denver who defines Chicano through his epic poem “I am Joaquin”, embraces Cesar Chavez and the farm workers, turns to the struggles of the urban youth, and encourages for Mexican- American to get active and grow in political awareness and participation with La Raza Unida.
Había muchos pintors famosos y artistas que vinieron de España y otros países de habla hispana. En mi opinión, Diego Rivera fue el artista mejor. Él era famoso por sus murales, pinturas temáticas cubismo, y mucho más. Muchas cosas influyeron Rivera en su época de dibujo, como los acontecimientos actuales y su vida social. Él pasó por muchas cosas difíciles como un niño que influyeron en sus decisiones de vida mayores. Rivera viajó mucho y su vida fue muy interesante.
I was born in Mexico and raised in beautiful San Diego since the age of four. Coming to the United States at a very young age I had to face many challenges that have shaped me to the person that I am today. I consider myself a Chicana woman who has overcome the obstacles to get were I am know. Being raised in a Mexcian household has thought me to embrace my culture and its roots. The Spanish and native blood that is with in me remind me of many Americans today. The reason I consider my self Chicana is because of the similar background that I shared with many Americans today. Living in the U.S. I have learned to adapt and embraced the American culture so much so that it came a point of life were I struggled to find my own identity. Taking
For many years, unjust treatment of Mexicans and Mexican Americans has occurred in the United States. Over the years, people like Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, and Emma Tenayuca have fought to improve civil rights and better treatment for farm workers. The textbook that I have been reading during the semester for my Chicano History class, Crucible of Struggle: A history of Mexican Americans from Colonial times to the Present Era, discusses some of the most important issues in history that Mexicans and Mexicans Americans have gone through. Some of these problems from the past are still present today. Not all of the racial problems were solved, and there is a lot to be done. I have analyzed two different articles about current historical events that have connections between what is happening today and what had happened in Mexican American History.
As a son of a sharecropper and grandson of a slave, Jesse Owens created History in 1936 when he achieved what no athlete had done before: four Olympic Gold Medals. (jesseowens.com). During this era, the United States had limited civil rights and was approaching a World War with Hitler rising into power in Germany. Although Owens was victorious on the track, because of the color of his skin, He was looked down upon and unrecognized by even his own country. Through the excessive racism, one may ask how Owens moved forward and dealt with such negativity in a situation that should have been celebrated.
As stated above the political statement was bigger than just the two athletes. In a 1968 New York Times article it is stated that “Both appeared for the presentation ceremony wearing black stockings and carrying white-soled track shoes. The two had said they would make a token gesture here to protest racial discrimination in the United States” . Not only had John Carlos and Tommie Smith done the action, but they made it known prior that it was going to happen showing the significance of their movement. It is also important to consider the impact that these two individuals had, because they become role models for future athletes wanting to raise awareness for a cause. One important thing to note is the construction of a statue on San José States Campus. Although the statue is of Tommie Smith and John Carlos, the meaning of why it is constructed is unknown. On one hand it could be students (not even alive during 1968) thanking them for their actions during the Olympics, but on the other it could be seen as a way (and it
However, they were ridiculed much more than praised for their bold act. Not only were the men booed off the podium, suspended for the U.S. team, and given death threats. The men also, “have never been forgiven by some who believed they embarrassed the United States” (An Apology That’s Needed). Ultimately, Smith and Carlos never once regretted their black pride gesture, even with all the hate and hardship that preceded it. The courageous act did give a voice to all the African American athletes in the 1968 Olympic games, however, it did not necessarily give them a good voice. They looked to be criticizing the country more than showing hope and
For they are known as successful athletes for a reason. Jesse Owens was a very popular African American athlete during the Olympic Games. “Jesse Owens sealed his place in the Olympic history by becoming the most successful athlete of the 1936 games. He became the first American athlete to win four gold medals in a single Olympics in the 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay, and long jump that stood unbroken for 48 years”(1936 Olympics). Jesse Owens became very popular at this time. He changed things only by his actions. Cornelius Johnson, a teammate with Jesse Owens, do extraordinary things. “Cornelius Johnson placed fourth in high jump when he earned a spot on the track team for the 1932 Los Angeles Games as a high school student at age eighteen. At the 1936 Berlin Olympics, he became the first African American athlete to win a gold medal at the Berlin games” (Bachrach 97). For Cornelius Johnson to be the very first African American to win a gold Olympic medal, he began the revolution for African Americans. He made it possible that African Americans can be successful. This can be disbelieving to others to see African Americans to be so
Narrative is an integral aspect of an effective historical composition. An effective narrative can provide important sensory details that analysis may omit. David Hackett Fischer conveys, “To reconstruct a series of happenings, the best and only instrument is narrative.” Even so, many historians still struggle with the agency of narrative in scholarly works. Similar sentiments are paid to the genre of biography in a historical context. Biography is equally controversial, as many historians have dissenting opinions regarding its usage as well as its formal definition.