2 Quotes & Sayings By John Carlos
John Carlos was born in Oakland, California in 1940. He was the youngest of nine children. He was a good student and excelled in football and track at McClymonds High School. In his junior year John became the first African-American to play football for the University of California, Berkeley, and he became a starter for the freshman team
He ran track for Cal and graduated with honors in 1962 with a degree in economics. After graduation he won a scholarship to Oxford University in England, where he earned a master's degree in social anthropology. John returned to the United States and began teaching at San Francisco State University. He also studied law briefly with famed civil rights attorney William Kunstler and worked as a community organizer for several years.
By 1968, he had become disillusioned with the movement and turned his attention to writing and acting. John married his college sweetheart, Shirley Chisholm, and they spent the next twenty years raising their two children: daughter Toni (1976), who is an actress; and son Jeff (1978). In 1983, John finally published his best-selling autobiography, I Have a Dream, which was followed by another book, The John Carlos Story (1988).
Both books were co-written with Kevin Boyle. In 1995 he earned a master’s degree from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government's Institute of Politics. In November of that same year he founded The Promise Academy charter school in Harlem to teach reading and math to inner city children ages six through twelve years old. In 1996 John received an honorary doctorate from Harvard University "for his contribution to education reform." In 2003 Dr.
Carlos won the National Humanities Medal from President George W. Bush on behalf of all African-Americans from all political backgrounds for supporting American ideals of liberty, justice and equality. In August 2012 John received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama "for living out ideals that have always been at our very core." Dr.
Carlos serves on several boards including United Negro College Fund (UNCF), The National Urban League (NUL), New York Sports Hall of Fame Board of Directors, Museum of African American History Board of Directors, Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation Board Of Advisors, National Education Association Board Of Directors & Executive Committee Member, Radio One Board Of Advisors/Executive Committee Member/President Emeritus/Chairman Emeritus, Harvard Graduate School Of Education Advisory Council For Race & Social Justice/Board Of Governors/Board Of