Jesse Owens
Run fast, jump far, make a difference. Many athletes give 100%, but Jesse Owens went above and beyond. He was known as the “Buckeye Bullet” because of his sprinting, hurdling, and long-jumping abilities. Jesse Owens was one of the many people that changed views on African Americans in the world of sports. He was influenced in his early life and influential in his sports career and life after the Olympics.
Jesse Owens was born on September 12, 1913. He was the tenth and youngest child. Owens was the son of a sharecropper and the grandson of a slave. Owens’ birth name was James Cleveland, so he was known as J.C. The name “Jesse” came from a teacher mispronouncing his name, J.C. As a child, Jesse Owens was often sick with chronic bronchial congestion and pneumonia. The frail child had a large fibrous bump pressing on his lungs, and not being able to afford surgery; his mother performed a makeshift surgery on him with a kitchen knife and removed the mass. Seven year old Jesse Owens, in poor health, was still expected to work picking up to 100 pounds of cotton a day to help provide for his family (Biography). At the age of 9, Owens moved to Cleveland, Ohio. His life in Cleveland was far different than his life in the south. In Alabama, Jesse Owens attended a small one-room schoolhouse. In Cleveland the one-room schoolhouse was replaced by a bigger school with more strict teachers. It was here that Owens got his nickname that stuck with him for the rest of his life. One of his instructors could not decipher Owens’ thick southern accent and believed that the young athlete said his name was “Jesse” instead of “J.C.” which stood for his birth name, James Cleveland (Jesse Owens Foundation).
Jesse Owens gained international...
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...ldwide. The old saying, “You get out of it what you put into it” was proved by Owens. Owens always gave 100 percent and encouraged others to do so also. Owens will always be one of the best known American track athletes. With his many accomplishments, Owens was always modest and humble.
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Earl Lloyd was probably the most courageous player of all time. Some people know him as “The Big Cat” others know him as the first African-American to play in an NBA basketball game with the whites; he changed the way people think and look at basketball and black players and coaches. Earl Lloyd loved basketball from a very young age. Earl had two brothers older than him which was Earnest and Theodore. Earl was very dedicated from a very young age. With his high school team he took them to a state championship and won. After high school Earl went off and took his talents to West Virginia State College. While Earl was there his sophomore year they went 33-0 which is a perfect season. Earl’s team won back to back CIAA conference championships and tournament championships.
Jesse Owens was the best track athlete at the 1936 Olympics due to his four gold medals in the 400 meter relay , the 100 meter dash , the 200 meter dash and the running board jump or the long jump. Now not only did he run but he showed that he was also versitlie and could jump. He also won a gold by the help of three others to win the 400 meter relays. Now a short summary of his life will be discussed. One of the greatest track-and-field athletes of all time. He was born James Cleveland Owens in Danville, Alabama, and educated at Ohio State University. However he competed in interscholastic track meets while attending high school, excelling in the running broad jump, the 100-yd dash, and the 220-yd dash. As a member of the Ohio State University track squad in 1935, he established a world record of 26 ft 83 in. For the running broad jump; the next year he set a new world record of 10.2 sec for the 100-m dash. A member of the U. S. track team in the 1936 Olympic Games , in Berlin , Owens won four gold medals. He won the 100-m dash in 10.3 sec , equaling the Olympic record; set a new Olympic and world record of 20.7 sec in the 200-m dash ; and won the running broad jump with a leap of 26 ft 5I in. , setting a new Olympic record. He was also a member of the U.S. 400-m relay team that year , which set a new Olympic and world record of 39.8 sec. Despite Owens's outstanding athletic performance , German leader Adolf Hitler refused to acknowledge his Olympic victories because Owens 2 was black. Owens went on to play an active role in youth athletic programs and later established his own public relations firm. Jesse proved you could make it if you only put forth some effort. Jesse became a lifetime role model just from one summer olympic games. Owens just demonstrated what every young black kid in America wanted to become when the arose to his type of greatness. Jesses' to becoming the best at this olympic games was a pretty tough road. He was pushed back because of the color of his skin , now there was no way in hell the he used this as any type of an excuse when he didn't come in first.
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.
Bo knows what it is like to be called one of the greatest athletes of all time. Vincent “Bo” Jackson had to overcome a lot as a child, he was the eighth of ten children that his mom took care of. His family was very poor, and not knowing his father very well did not help the cause. Jackson overcame poverty by working hard, excelling at multiple sports, and staying out of trouble.
When the games were over and Owens went home he never got the recognition he deserved. But he did finish college with his earnings from the games. He went on to work as a director of physical education for African Americans. Then he was appointed secretary of the Illinois Athletic Commission. Then he headed is own public relations firm in Chicago and traveled throughout America speaking to youth groups. Finally, forty years after the games Owens was invited to the White House to accept a Medal of Freedom. In the end, Jesse Owens was represented as a symbol of democracy and
Cesar Chavez was born in 1927 to a farmer in Meza, Arizona. When Cesar was 10 years old, his father lost his farm and the family was forced to become migrant farm workers in California. During this time he would encounter the conditions that dedicated his life to changing: wr...
Jim was an unbelievable athlete and just an overall great person. He silenced many racist people and also set many records at the same time. He was given respect he earned it through everything he did throughout his lifetime. He is the greatest athlete who ever lived and could be the greatest athlete who ever will live. Jim was the greatest athlete of the twentieth century so if you ever think about who the greatest athlete of the twentieth century was you will know the answer.
Jackson was born to Helen Burns, a teenage mother and her married next-door neighbor and good friend, Noah Robinson who also was a boxer and a prominent figure in the community at that time. However, Noah did not make any type of effort to be a father to Jesse, being a married man when Jesse was born. In 1943, Jackson’s mother married Charles Henry Jackson when Jesse was two years old. Charles Jackson formally adopted 16 year old Jesse in 1957. This explains Jesse’s last name differing from his birth name because Jesse since then used his stepfather’s surname. As a child, Jesse was very involved in the church. His biological grandfather, Reverend Jesse Robinson, founded a Baptist church in Greenville, South Carolina. Not only was Jesse involved, but he also spoke all the time at church. He was very good at it because of his grandfather. Reverend Robinson taught Jesse everything he knew about speaking and preaching. When Jesse would speak, people believed and they even wanted to follow him. This was the start of Jesse f...
Jackie Robinson was a black man that played a white man only sport. Jackie Robinson’s life was outstanding regardless of the obstacles that were thrown in his way in order for him to make it to the top. Jackie Robinson overcame the pain people put him through with the support of his family, friends, and his God given talent, which was playing baseball. Jackie Robinson overcame the negativity of white people during the Civil Rights Movement. For this reason, Jackie Robinson never gave up on his dream and proved people wrong. Jackie Robinson became a vocal champion for the African-American athletes around the world (“Robinson, Jackie - Black History”).
Jesse Jackson had a hard but ultimately successful early life. He was born on October 8, 1941 to Helen Burns and her married neighbor, Noah Robinson. Jesse was taunted as a child for being "a nobody who had no daddy” (notablebiographies.com). While Jesse was originally named Jesse Louis Burns, at age fifteen he took on the name of his stepfather, Charles Jackson, who had adopted him earlier. Jesse attended Sterling High School in South Carolina, where he “was elected president of his class, the honor society, and the student council, was named state officer of the Future Teachers of America, finished tenth in his class, and lettered in football, basketball, and baseball (Ryan, encyclopedia.com). Jesse’s athletic success in high school earned him a football scholarship to the University of Illinois, which he left South Carolina to attend in 1959. Then, during his freshmen year there, Jesse became displeased with football and the way he was treated on campus, and transferred to the “predominantly black Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina in Greensboro and received a B.A. in sociology in 1964” (Ency...
Jesse Jackson was born Jesse Louis Burns in 1941 in Greenville, South Carolina. He was born to the parents of Helen Burns and Noah Robinson. His mother remarried two years later to a man named Charles Jackson. Jackson graduated from Sterling High School and received a football scholarship to the University of Illinois. During his first year, he became displeased with the treatment on the university grounds and on
Jesse James was born in Clay County, Missouri on the Fifth of September 1847. His parents were Zerelda and Robert James. They were hemp farmers that owned six slaves, but most people wouldn’t know that. They only know him as an outlaw. Nevertheless, the name “Jesse James” is one that almost everyone has heard, even though he has been dead for over one hundred years. (Defeat n. pg.) Now, although Jesse James was a traditional outlaw in many respects, his legend perseveres as an icon of American culture.
When you think of the greatest NBA players ever, who do you think of? Most likely you thought of players such as Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, or Charles Barkley. But, one name surpasses all others when it comes to NBA greats, that name is Michael Jordan. That recognition doesn’t come with just being a good player, you have to be able to prove it and Michael Jordan’s six NBA championships and his 5 MVP’s for certain just helps his case of being the best player of all time all that much more.
Michael Joseph Jackson was an African American male. He was born on August 29, 1958, in Gary, Indiana. His mother worked at sears part time. His father Joseph Jackson was a crane operator at the U.S Steel. Having been a guitarist, he molded his sons into a musical group in the early 1960's, when he discover their gifted talents for music. In the beginning the group only involved Michael's older brothers: Ito, Jermaine and Jackie. Michael joined his siblings when he was five years old, and became lead vocalist. They older brother Marlon join the group as well. They was known as the Jackson 5. Michael impressed audiences with his remarkable voice. He was a natural center of attention. He love to dance and sing and had a soulful expression. He was the focus of attention during the Jackson 5 performance.
...eaven for many blacks as their performances proved they are no different from their white counterparts. Not only did they rally white troops from their athletic performances, they were able to do so from their voices and personal life. They began to voice their displeasure through various media outlets. Their public outcry to end social injustice and race based discrimination came started to become a popular topic of discussion all over the country. They took a stand and were rewarded for their actions as race based discrimination is abolished and blacks have the same status as whites. Black athletes are becoming more and more recognizable all over the world as some become the faces of their sports. Sports came as a form of entertainment for many, but for black athletes it ended up being the most treasured source to reconstructing their race’s lives in America.