Woods Hole Black History Month Speakers 2003

George Spivey
George Spivey received his A.B. in Government in 1968 from Dartmouth College and his Masters in Education from the Harvard School of Education in 1979. He was employed by Falmouth Public Schools from 1983 to 2000 and held positions of teacher, careers department chairman, coordinator of alternative education, and principal. Spivey is currently the Equity/Affirmative Action Officer for the Town of Falmouth and Falmouth Public Schools. In that position, he has brought the "No Place for Hate" campaign to Falmouth. The initiative, created by the Anti-Defamation League and the Massachusetts Municipal Association, empowers communities to respect diversity and prevent and respond to hate crimes in their towns.

John Carlos 
John Carlos was born in Harlem, New York, in 1945. Noted for his exceptional abilities in track and field, he was awarded a full scholarship to East Texas State University (ETSU), where he single-handedly won the school’s first and only track and field Lone Star Conference Championship. After one year at ETSU, he matriculated to San Jose State University. It was while he was a student at San Jose State University that he participated in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City and won the bronze medal. Carlos made international headlines during the Olympics when he and his teammate, gold medal recipient, Tommie Smith, raised their black-gloved fists on the medal platform in protest against racism and the economic mistreatment of all oppressed peoples in the world. Their controversial protest was one of the most memorable events of the civil rights era. After the Olympics, Carlos continued his education at San Jose State and in 1969 established himself as one of the most dominant sprinters in history by leading the university to its first NCAA track and field championship, breaking the world record in the 100-yard dash.

After an illustrious career in track and field, Carlos was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1970. Due to a knee injury, he played with the Eagles for just one year, but continued his football career, playing for the Montreal Alouettes and the Toronto Argonauts, each for one season. Carlos was subsequently hired by the Puma Company to negotiate shoe contracts with track and field athletes. Since that time, he has worked for the Olympics, the city of Los Angeles, and presently is the track and field coach and an In-School Suspension Supervisor for Palm Springs High School in Palm Springs, California. Carlos is co-author of Why: The Biography of John Carlos, With CD Jackson, Jr., published in 2000.