Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/778575
t m c » p u l s e | j a n / f e b 2 0 1 7 8 8 TMC Spotlight Track and field star CARL LEWIS won nine Olympic gold medals and eight World Championship gold medals over his 17-year career. Lewis spoke with Pulse about his family, his "terrible" jogging, and coaching at his alma mater— the University of Houston. Q | You were born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1961. Tell me about your parents and their involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. A | They ended up in Montgomery, Alabama, after college. My mother became friends with Rosa Parks. When the bus strike happened, it just so happened that my parents were teachers and had a car. Because of that, it was all hands on deck. If you have a car and if you see someone walking to work, pick them up. That's what drew them into it. Then we became close with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the family. We were part of the church, and my brother was baptized by Dr. King. When they moved to Birmingham, we moved to Birmingham, where my sister and I were born. We were on the front lines. My parents were marching and doing all the things that were happen- ing at that time. Then in 1963, we moved to Willingboro, New Jersey, where they were just finishing up a civil rights lawsuit for equal opportunity housing. Willingboro was founded as an all-white community. There was a gentleman named W. R. James who sued to get in, and that was part of the equal opportunity housing act. Civil rights have always been a part of my upbring- ing, and we just happened to go places where it was put in the forefront. Q | I can tell your parents played key roles in shaping who you are today. A | I think my father was a lot like the people of his era. He wasn't the kind of guy who would say, 'I love you.' I don't even remember him saying it more than a couple of times in my life, but he showed it. Dad had your back. He was really strict on discipline and struc- ture. We always said, 'Bill Lewis did not play.' He did not like bad kids. He not only understood how to raise a young man (and daughter, like my sister, Carol), but also a black man. I didn't realize until I got older—and especially when I had my son—that there was a differ- ence. We're starting to see there's a different way to raise a black man, unfortunately, than other men. Dad was very good at that because he and my mother were coaches in the community and they were teachers. I only want to recruit a kid who wants to become an Olympian. That's it. That doesn't mean you're going to be, but I want someone with that vision.