Ohioan Jesse Owens: Track and Field Phenom and Symbol of Resilience | John Kerezy

It was delicious irony when Jesse Owens, a black American track and field sensation from Cleveland, Ohio, collected four gold medals in 1936 at what was ironically called “The Nazi Olympics.”Owens famously dominated the Berlin Olympics which had been used by Hitler to propagate Aryan supremacy. His victories stood out as a bold statement against the prevailing culture of racism in the 1930’s.When EmpowerU’s guest speaker John Kerezy was 15, he met Jesse Owens, launching a lifelong fascination about the Olympic great. Kerezy prepared a speech about Owens and his ties to Cleveland in 2022, in honor of the 100th anniversary of Owens’ family coming to Cleveland. That eventually morphed into a book project, “Jesse Owens: Sensation, Superstar, Survivor, Symbol” which will be published by Kent State University Press later in 2026.Experience the sensational story in-studio with Cleveland author and speaker John Kerezy as he reveals the story of great Ohioan Jesse Owens and his rebuke of racist ideology.ABOUT JOHN KEREZYJohn Kerezy is a writer, former public relations practitioner, and a professor at Cuyahoga Community College in the Cleveland area for the past 23 years. He also writes stories and posts about people and events in Northeast Ohio on his web blog site www.eyeoncleveland.com.He holds a bachelor’s degree from Wabash College, a master’s degree from Ohio State, and an Ed.S. Degree from Kent State. He also writes a web blog www.eyeoncleveland.com.