
Olympic medalist encourages students to 'strive for the best'

John Carlos, the 200-meter bronze medal winner known for raising
his fist toward the sky on the platform at the 1968 Summer Olympics,
was part of a presentation that kicked off Black History Month at
Grand Valley on February 2.
Carlos discussed his experiences as an African-American athlete
and Olympic winner and his Black power salute that caused his
suspension from the U.S. team and Olympic Village. National
sportswriter Dave Zirin, host of the radio show “Edge of Sports” and
sports editor for The Nation magazine, interviewed Carlos on stage
about his childhood, working with Malcolm X and meeting Martin Luther
King Jr.
“Always strive for a better future,” Carlos said. “I want young
individuals to go out there with their own estimations about what’s
right and what’s wrong and remember that everyone has a voice.”
Carlos and Zirin discussed their recently published book,
The John Carlos Story: The Sports Movement That Changed the
World and showed a segment from Zirin’s documentary film, “Not
Just a Game: Politics and Power in American Sports, which will be
shown in its entirety on Wednesday, February 8, at 9 p.m. in the Big
Screen Theater of the Kirkhof Center.
The event marked the university’s first “Intersections” program,
which is a series of events hosted by Grand Valley’s Office of
Multicultural Affairs, Women’s Center and LGBT Resource Center. The
series provides opportunities for the campus community to look at the
world through multiple dimensions including race, gender, sexual
orientation, and class status among others.
Click here
for a schedule of Black History Month events.
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