Published: 2022
Series: N/A (Standalone)
Author: Tommie Smith and Derrick Barnes
Illustrator: Dawud Anyabwile
Genres: Memoir, Graphic Nonfiction, History, Autobiography, Sports
Audience (Grade Levels): Grade 7 and up
Number of Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5 Stars)
Goodreads Link: Victory. Stand! Raising My Fist for Justice
Triggers: Racism, including use of slurs, Lynching
Review By: Jenna Ballard
Publisher’s Summary:
On October 16, 1968, during the medal ceremony at the Mexico City Olympics, Tommie Smith, the gold medal winner in the 200-meter sprint, and John Carlos, the bronze medal winner, stood on the podium in black socks and raised their black-gloved fists to protest racial injustice inflicted upon African Americans. Both men were forced to leave the Olympics, received death threats, and faced ostracism and continuing economic hardships.
In his first-ever memoir for young readers, Tommie Smith looks back on his childhood growing up in rural Texas through to his stellar athletic career, culminating in his historic victory and Olympic podium protest. Co-written with Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Author Honor recipient Derrick Barnes and illustrated with bold and muscular artwork from Emmy Award–winning illustrator Dawud Anyabwile, Victory. Stand! paints a stirring portrait of an iconic moment in Olympic history that still resonates today.
Review:
The cover of this book is decorated with award seals and it’s easy to see why. This graphic memoir is engrossing and powerful. I can see the bold, expressive illustrations and the connection to professional sports drawing in those reluctant readers. It’s also an extremely accessible resource for introducing discussions of racism, discrimination, civil disobedience, the civil rights movement, etc. in the classroom. (I will be using it myself as one of the options for a 7th grade diversity project I do every year with our ELA classes.) Smith and his co-collaborators do an excellent job shaping the narrative from Smith’s childhood in Texas as a sharecropper’s son to their family move to California in his first racially integrated school, to his journey as a top-tier college athlete. It’s a quick read, yet rich with history and emotion.
Classroom & Curricular Connections:
- Social Studies & U.S. History (Civil Rights Movement): Use this graphic memoir to anchor a unit on peaceful protests, civil disobedience, and the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. Students can analyze the intersection of sports and social activism by comparing Tommie Smith’s historical protest with modern athletes who use their platforms for advocacy.
- English Language Arts (Graphic Novel Analysis & Narrative Structure): Study how the authors structure the text like a series of structural flashbacks, shifting between the intense moments leading up to the 1968 Olympic race and vignettes of Smith’s upbringing. Have students evaluate how Dawud Anyabwile’s bold, angular, and highly expressive illustrations convey complex historical trauma and emotion where words alone might feel distant.
- Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) & Diversity Projects: This book is an excellent anchor text for independent choice boards or identity-focused research assignments. Have students participate in small-group literature circles exploring the concept of moral courage, tracking the intense personal and economic sacrifices Smith faced for standing up against systematic discrimination.
- Media Literacy Extension Activity: Have students research the actual media coverage and global backlash that followed the 1968 podium protest. Challenge them to contrast the historic negative media narratives of the time with the celebratory, award-winning lens through which history and this memoir view the event today.
