Speed City: From Civil Rights to Black Power» A Historical Athletics Exhibit curated by Urla Hil
THE EXHIBIT
Speed City: From Civil Rights to Black Power is a historical athletics exhibition focusing on San Jose State College’s athletic program from which numerous student athletes became globally recognized figures as the Civil Rights and Black Power movements reshaped American society. Because of the large number of outstanding athletes in its track and field program, SJSC became synonymous with the name Speed City between 1956 and 1969.
Many are familiar with the so-called “Black Power” protest staged by SJSC sprinters John Carlos and Tommie Smith on the Olympic dais in 1968. Their reaction to racism — bowed heads and raised gloved fists — in America and around the world sparked a controversy that continues to linger some 40 years later.
But did you know that the Spartans’ tradition of activism began some 30 years earlier amongst its coaching staff?
Opening the Field (1920s to 1950s)
Yosh Uchida & Judo Team
From the Great Depression to the Cold War, opportunities open for people of color, including Yoshihiro Uchida and Julius Menendez, to coach and compete academically and athletically.
The Trailblazers (1956 – 1960)
The Good Brothers, circa 1958.
“(SJSC Track & Field Coach Bud Winter) wrote a book, but I made that book real. He had written it before I got there, but he needed an athlete to make it real. All Bud’s stuff came about because of me.”
-Ray Norton discussing his impact on Winter’s sprinting techniques.
Despite discriminatory conditions in San José, sprinters Ray Norton and Bob Poynter manage to bring attention to SJSC from around the world.
1960 Olympic Boxing Team. Photos by Julius Menendez.
“The (Civil Rights) movement was really laid out in the fifties by the work and challenges that the Black athletes faced, and the stands they were willing to take.”
– Ben Tucker, San José State’s cross-country team, 1960-1964
Ron Davis, Ben Tucker, and Horace Whitehead manage to change long-held perceptions of Black Americans as distance runners .
Black Power (1964 – 1969)
Speed City 1968. Photo Jeff Kroot.
“They will be known forever as two niggers who upset the 1968 Olympic Games. I’d rather have been known for that than as two niggers who win two medals.”
-Willie Brown, former San Francisco Mayor and Assembly Speaker
John Carlos, Tommie Smith, and their symbolic gesture at the 1968 Olympics.
ABOUT THE EXHIBIT
Urla Hill has extensively searched the globe for artifacts, photographs and memorabilia from the Speed City era and compiled the exhibit tying together the rise of Civil Rights activism through SJSC’s athletes and coaches.
HOF President, Arif Khatib was involved with organizing the below conference and was warmly greeted in view of his plans to retun to Ethiopian to induct four additional athletes in Addis Ababa in Feb. The ceremony will be presented in conjunction with the below organization.
People to People Inc /P2P/ is pleased to inform all concerned that our First Global Ethiopian Conference on Health Care and Medical Education in Ethiopia was successfully concluded on September 26, 2009, as scheduled at the College of Medicine, Howard University in Washington DC.
The conference managed to bring together several hundreds Diaspora health professionals living in the U.S. who have already been involved in the process of health care development in Ethiopia and professionals who have the desire to give back to their country of origin. Our records reveal that Diaspora health professionals from California, Holland, Denver, Atlanta, Chicago, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Virginia, Maryland, South Africa, Switzerland,Washington D.C., Massachusetts, Minnesota, Kentucky, Philadelphia and North Carolina traveled all the way and attended. In addition, the conference was attended by the Minister of Health of Ethiopia, the Dean of the Medical Faculty of the Addis Ababa University, the President of the Ethiopian Medical Association (EMA), Civic society representatives, representatives of international organizations and invited scholars and scientists from the United States.
It may be recalled that the conference was designed to permit open dialog among these stake holders in health care development in Ethiopia while searching for best practices and common grounds. To facilitate the dialog, fourteen papers were presented in the one day conference by the different professionals as per the Agenda that had been developed and presented. The conference was rated by the participants as an extra ordinary success and P2P truly believes that the organization, attendance rate, participation and the quality of the presentations were excellent enough to satisfy our expectations and that of our participants. The conference examined health care challenges together with the policy and strategy directions to tackle these challenges while appreciating the opportunities. A very strong case for capacity building of the health care delivery system and medical training establishments was presented and the Diaspora has been urged to get involved in the process of closing the prevailing gaps.
Yes, probably so it is
I bow down humbly in the presence of such grenatess.