Victory. Stand!

Starred review from July 4, 2022
With collaborators Barnes (I Am Every Good Thing) and Anyabwile (Becoming Muhammad Ali), Smith details his childhood leading up to his historic Olympic protest—and its aftermath—in this compelling graphic memoir. Before Smith, who is Black, was an Olympic gold medalist, he and his family of 14 lived in a house with “no running water. No central air-conditioning or heating.” When he was seven, they relocated from Texas to California, where he faced racism from white classmates and school administrators before his white PE teacher Mr. Focht, described as a “good man,” encouraged him to run track. Smith was eventually recruited by San José State University in 1963. Even as his career flourished, however, he couldn’t ignore the racial violence surrounding him. Realizing he “had an obligation—not just to carry the banner of San José State” but “to carry an even larger banner for my people,” Smith raised a fist while on the podium at the 1968 Mexico Olympics. Anyabwile’s grayscale art features kinetically illustrated athletic competition, tense racial dynamics, and a large, intricately detailed Black family. Smith’s timely story, whose nonlinear timeline highlights both prominent events during the civil rights movement and Smith’s interpersonal struggles, is a powerful celebration of resistance. Ages 13–up.

Starred review from September 23, 2022

Gr 8 Up-Smith's life story, centered around the historic raising of his fist at the 1968 Olympic games, is also a portrait of resistance against inequality in America. The narrative alternates between a chronological recounting of Smith's life, beginning with his humble roots working on a farm in Texas, and one of the most significant races of his athletic career. As a Black athlete, Smith experiences racism on multiple levels from childhood up through college and adulthood, and these life experiences inform his worldviews and reflections on his community's treatment based on race. Throughout, the determination and joy he derives from his family and Christian faith keep him focused on the high road in any conflict, and the narrative highlights various coaches, politicians, educators, activists, and fellow athletes who made an impression on Smith as well as on America. The balance between the personal and the broader historical perspectives makes this book as accessible as it is educational. For example, Smith's titular stand is given full context regarding the preparation, execution, and aftermath, including fallout. Anyabwile's black-and-white illustrations achieve the same balance and then some as they portray Smith's tumultuous periods as well as his hard-fought triumphs. There is nothing saccharine about this view into the past, but there is plenty worth remembering and considering. VERDICT An illuminating example of the power of a moral stance, no matter when it occurs in one's life.-Thomas Maluck

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 15, 2022
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* In this powerful graphic memoir, track-and-field gold medalist Smith has teamed up with talented creators Anyabwile and Barnes to present a gripping story about the path that led him to courageously raise his fist in protest for racial justice on the podium at the 1968 Olympic Games. The trio does an excellent job at presenting the horrors of racism (images and language representing that racism appear in the book) and its harmful effects on Smith's life during childhood and young adulthood. From his experiences growing up in a sharecropping family to his adolescent years attending schools that were being desegregated to his time at the predominantly white college, it's clear how systematic racism propelled Smith toward a life as a one of the most prominent Olympic activist athletes. Although the text is centered on Smith's journey toward this prominence, readers will learn much about one of the most trying and tumultuous times in U.S. history, as well as the role many athletes played in the fight for racial justice both on and off athletic fields. With vivid black-and-white artwork that emphasizes Smith's athleticism and powerful messages about allyship, conviction, family, and resistance, this is a compelling and engaging account of an iconic moment and an important period in U.S. history.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from November 1, 2022
Smith's graphic memoir (co-authored with multi-awardee Barnes) provides context for the iconic 1968 image of two Black Olympians, gold medalist Smith and bronze medalist John Carlos, standing on the medal podium, heads bowed and fists raised. Smith's sharecropper parents had moved the family from Texas to California's Central Valley as part of the Great Migration's second wave when he was a child. It was here that sixth grader Tommie beat his nimble-footed older sister Sally (along with the fastest boy in the seventh grade) in a race that "changed everything." His athletic talents earned him a scholarship to San Jose State, where he arrived "oblivious to the extent" of the civil rights movement. But as a Black student on an overwhelmingly white campus during the tumultuous 1960s, Smith's growing awareness of -- and involvement in -- the fight for racial equality led him to speak out. At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Smith won gold in the 200 meters; along with Carlos, he staged a protest whose reverberations are still felt today. Anyabwile conveys great emotion in his fluid black-and-white art, which pairs well with the conversational first-person text. The climactic race acts as a narrative through line alongside Smith's life story. The book closes by making direct connections between Smith's actions and modern-day protests by athletes (such as Eric Reid and Colin Kaepernick), with a final shot of a triumphant older Smith, standing under an illuminated set of Olympic rings, with fist defiantly raised. "I hold no regrets...if I could hoist that fist up to the heavens one more time...I'd do it again." Sam Bloom

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2022
Smith's graphic memoir (co-authored with multi-awardee Barnes) provides context for the iconic 1968 image of two Black Olympians, gold medalist Smith and bronze medalist John Carlos, standing on the medal podium, heads bowed and fists raised. Smith's sharecropper parents had moved the family from Texas to California's Central Valley as part of the Great Migration's second wave when he was a child. It was here that sixth grader Tommie beat his nimble-footed older sister Sally (along with the fastest boy in the seventh grade) in a race that "changed everything." His athletic talents earned him a scholarship to San Jose State, where he arrived "oblivious to the extent" of the civil rights movement. But as a Black student on an overwhelmingly white campus during the tumultuous 1960s, Smith's growing awareness of -- and involvement in -- the fight for racial equality led him to speak out. At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Smith won gold in the 200 meters; along with Carlos, he staged a protest whose reverberations are still felt today. Anyabwile conveys great emotion in his fluid black-and-white art, which pairs well with the conversational first-person text. The climactic race acts as a narrative through line alongside Smith's life story. The book closes by making direct connections between Smith's actions and modern-day protests by athletes (such as Eric Reid and Colin Kaepernick), with a final shot of a triumphant older Smith, standing under an illuminated set of Olympic rings, with fist defiantly raised. "I hold no regrets...if I could hoist that fist up to the heavens one more time...I'd do it again."

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from July 15, 2022
"We had to be seen because we were not being heard." Gold medalist Smith teams up with award-winning creators Barnes and Anyabwile to vividly share the freedom dreams that inspired his iconic protest at the 1968 Olympics. Born in Texas to sharecropping parents, Smith and his large family followed the Great Migration that sent thousands of Black families out of the Deep South. Landing in California, he navigated racist misconceptions from peers and authority figures alike. Arriving at San Jose State at the height of the civil rights movement, Smith met like-minded friends who balanced athletic excellence with a commitment to justice. After achieving gold and bronze, respectively, in the 200-meter sprint, Smith and John Carlos arrived at the podium prepared to make a global statement protesting racial injustice. During the playing of the U.S. national anthem, they raised black-gloved fists in support of impassioned ideals that emerged from the Black student-led Olympic Project for Human Rights. Smith navigated post-Olympics professional repercussions and remained committed to his principled stance; decades later, reverence for his protest would return in the form of honors and awards, yet the struggle to upend racial injustice continues. The black-and-white illustrations' realism echoes the visual influences of the Black Power period. Art and text present an unflinching look at the physical and verbal racist violence of the time. This evocative undertaking extends histories of 20th-century Black struggles for new generations, reminding us to continue to be brave, courageous, and organize for change. Authentic and inspiring. (Graphic nonfiction. 12-18)

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