Jesse Owens

Jesse Owens was born on September 12,1913.

He was a son of a sharecropper and grandson of enslaved humans. Owens grew up with lung problems but still picked up 100 pounds of cotton a day to help keep food on his family's table. Jesse Owens graduated from Cleveland High School and went to Ohio State University.

At the height of Hitlers rule, Germans and many around the world believed the tragic and absurd notion that white skin color indicated superiority. Hitler was incensed and outraged that a black person could dare compete against what he believed was the superior Aryan race.

 Jesse Owens set many world records while competing in the Olympics and many other events. He equaled 1 world record and broke three others while competing for Ohio State University. Owens tied a world record in the 100-yard dash and set a long jump record at the 1953 Big Ten championships. Hitler criticized the United States for including black athletes on its teams But that didn't make Jesse stop competing. 

Jesse Owens believed that everybody should be treated equally. He was and will always be remembered as a civil rights activist and leader.

His life paved the way for the black community to challenge segregation. Jesse Owens once said “It's not black and white, it's fast and slow.” Jesse Owens lived for 66 years but died of lung cancer on March 31, 1980.