Today I get to be a part of a really cool project years in the making. Most know who Jesse Owens was - won four gold medals and was from Cleveland. That’s just a part of the story, and most (including me until 5 years ago) don’t know the whole story. We need to change that. (1/x)

James Cleveland Owens (J.C., but with his accent his teacher thought it was Jesse) came north with his family as a part of the Great Migration. In high school he became a track star, setting records (and tying a world record!) that would last for decades. (2/x)

He proceeded to attend @OhioState, and most notably, completed the greatest 45 minutes in sports. That’s not hyperbole. At the Big Ten championship at @UMich he set four world records in 45 minutes. It’s shocking to think about. Every 10 minutes. No break. 4 world records. (3/x)

The next year the world grappled with the Berlin Olympics. Hitler & the Nazis were using the stage to promote White Supremacy. Jesse Owens stood in defiance to that as he turned in the greatest Olympic performance to date (I’d argue forever): four gold medals. (4/x)

What isn’t as well known are the English Oaks. As a “gift” from the Nazis, each gold medalist was awarded a small sapling. That’s what brings us to today. Of the hundred plus given out, only a small handful remain. From Jesse’s four? One remains. (5/x)

It grows in Old Brooklyn, planted at James Ford Rhodes HS (where he trained) on a Friday night in October of 1936 at halftime of a football game. Few Clevelanders know this - I didn’t - and it’s sadly not on most tourism recommendations. (6/x)

So what happened after the Olympics? Accolades in the press. Two ticker tape parades in NYC, one in Cleveland. But beyond the surface, he was denied opportunity at every step. Jesse couldn’t get sponsorships and jobs that his White peers got. (7/x)

He wasn’t invited to the White House by FDR for a celebration of medalists. At an event honoring him at the New York Athletic Club, he wasn’t allowed in the main entrance and had to be brought through the service entrance. He resorted to racing against horses to make money. (8/x)

While Jesse Owens’ triumphs represented the greatest ideals of what America strives to be, his life also represented the shameful parts of our country’s history. (9/x)

What about the tree? These trees live 80-90 years in the best of conditions. So this is swirling in my head as @OBCDC & @HFandG talked tree stewardship of the tree handed from Nazi Germany to Jesse. (10/x)

Also learned that a planted acorn is closer to a sister/cousin, genetically. But through a process known as grafting, it’s possible to create genetic replicas. On a cold winter morning in 2017 we made our first cuttings, having no idea if it would work, and most were lost (11/x)

Some have made it & thrived. Today with partners at @CLEMetroSchools, @HFandG & more, we are planting the first grafted Jesse Owens Olympic Oak in Rockefeller Park, on MLK Jr. Drive, next to the Jean Murrell Capers Courts & Harrison Dillard Bikeway. An awesome location. (12/x)

We hope to plant three more in the public for all to enjoy, recreating the four originals for decades to come. And beyond that? Restoring justice and creating opportunity for Clevelanders who still are denied opportunity the same as he did years ago. (13/x)

So many voices and hands shaped this over the past four years. The whole team at @HFandG , @EricGordon_CEO and @CLEMetroSchools, countless mentors, Jason Powers, Rosemary Mudry, Devin Cotten. Thank you all. (14/x)

We’re bringing to the surface a story that should be held dearly by all Americans, and doing it by extending the legacy of the physical representation of Jesse Owens’ and by extension, America’s triumphs. Join us at 12:30p on @HFandG’s fb live to learn and see more. (15/15)