Search results for: “node/olympics”
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Cornelius Johnson and a Forgotten US Protest Against Hitler at the 1936 Olympics
The recent biopic The Race reminds us of Jesse Owens’ amazing feat in winning a then-record four track gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The movie accurately frames Owens’ (Stephan James) victories as a rebuke to the Nazi propaganda machine, which was trying to use the games to promote the myth of white supremacy. Claims of…
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Yona Roshen Knight-Wisdom Becomes 1st Jamaican Diver to Qualify for the Olympics
Yona Roshen Knight-Wisdom made history Sunday by becoming the first Jamaican diver to head to the Olympics. Knight-Wisdom came in 17th place for his 3-meter springboard dive at the 2016 FINA Diving World Cup in Rio de Janeiro, which qualified him for the Olympics. Fans of the diver rejoiced on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JamaicaOlympics/status/701494395879747584https://twitter.com/JackLaugher/status/701460754776596480https://twitter.com/CallumMcArdle14/status/701459682318278656https://twitter.com/WAndyKnight1/status/701582624528031744https://twitter.com/SanchezPayne/status/701548904777699328 The Rio Olympics are five…
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#FlashbackFriday: Watch Vonetta Flowers Become the 1st African American to Win a Gold Medal in the Winter Olympics
Vonetta Flowers grew up playing sports and excelled at basketball and track and field. But if you had told her that she would go on to make Winter Olympic history, she would probably have laughed when she was younger. Flowers’ track coach at the University of Alabama in Birmingham said she’d be the next Jackie Joyner-Kersee. So track…
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Stephan James on His Breakout Role as Jesse Owens in Race
Perhaps Toronto native Stephan James looks vaguely familiar because of his role as John Lewis in Selma. As the star of Race, the first feature film about Jesse Owens, James is sure to become a lot more recognizable. The Root caught up with James—whose young career also includes credits for The Book of Negroes; The Gabby Douglas…
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Commentators Say Ore. Government Takeover Would Not Have Lasted 3 Weeks if Militants Weren’t White
Response to Oregon Standoff Has Invited Comparisons “A siege of more than three weeks at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge came to a sudden and violent end Tuesday when five militants — including leader Ammon Bundy and his brother, Ryan Bundy — were arrested in a traffic stop and another militia member was shot and…
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Trinidad and Tobago Gymnast Creates New Move, Eyes Rio Olympics
It’s a move that had never been done before, but Trinidad and Tobago gymnast Marisa Dick has perfected it and made it her own. The 18-year-old leaps off a springboard to a split, landing on the balance beam, with legs extended, toes pointed and arms stretched up in artistic flair, pefectly balanced. It’s Dick’s signature…
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7 Things I Appreciate About America After 10 Days in Brazil
I’ve just returned home from a 10-day trip to Brazil. It is worth the mandatory (and exhaustive) visa process to go. Brazil was glorious. It’s everything it looks like in the best photos, but 10 times better in person. The folks who are headed there for the Olympics next year are in for a treat.…
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Black Athletes Who Protested Racism
It was a powerful image: black football players standing united against campus racism. The Missouri Tigers’ boycott of games and practices drew national attention. As the New York Times observed, after months of student and faculty protests, it was the team’s refusal to play that likely “dealt the fatal blow” that led to the resignation…
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Has Iyanla Vanzant Ever Fixed Anyone’s Life? Because She Probably Made Debi Thomas’ Life Worse
I didn’t want to watch the season finale of Fix My Life when it aired on OWN Saturday night. I didn’t want to see my Olympic hero’s story, because I knew her past life would be thrown in her face, while her present life would be exploited for ratings. And as I took a few…
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White Texas Man Says Police Demanded to See His ID for No Reason and Then Used Taser on Him
And Now, a Case of “Sitting While White” “Bland Got Off Easy,” Columnist Writes of Tasered Man “This video aired on Fox4 last night,” editorial writer Tod Robberson wrote Tuesday for the Dallas Morning News under the headline “Walking while black, sitting while white, and questions of appropriate use of force.” “It shows a man…