By ONME Newswire
In this episode of It's ONME Local Central Valley, producer host Julia Dudley Najieb reviews the latest Central Valley-based stories out of Merced, Madera and Fresno counties: Olympian Lee Evans honored at Juneteenth ceremony in Madera, CA for his social activism in the sport of track and field; UC Merced receives $20 million from philanthropists MacKenzie Scott and husband, Dan Jewett; Lourin Hubbard to run against incumbent of U.S. House California District 22, Devin Nunes.
The record-setting 400-mter sprinter, humanitarian and former Olympian, Lee Evans, who recently passed away May 19, 2021, was honored at Madera, CA Juneteenth on June 19, 2021; Anita Evans, Council Member for District 4 representing the city of Madera, CA, opened the Junteenth Day celebration at Courthouse Park in front of the Madera County Courthouse Museum.
Evans, born in Madera, CA in 1947 and moved to Fresno, CA at the age of four, died at the age of 74 in Lagos, Nigeria due to stroke Complications.
During his sophomore year of high school he moved to San Jose, CA; Evans went undefeated during his high school track career and ran for the San Jose State University track team, winning five Amateur Athletic Union titles and the 1968 NCAA title in the 400-meter.
Evans went on to win gold medals in the 400 race and the 4x400 at the Olympic Games Mexico City 1968, where he became the first person to break 44 seconds in the 400; Evans teamed with Smith to set a world record in the 4X400 meter relay in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City and later set another world record in the 400 meter run. Both records lasted for more than 20 years.
Evans began his coaching career as a cross country and track coach at San Jose State University and later directing the national track and field programs of Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and a number of other countries. Evans was the sprinting coach for the All-African team at the first world cup in 1977, but eventually returned to the United States to join the University of South Alabama and University of Washington coaching staffs. He was inducted into the National Track & Field Hall of Fame in 1983.
Evans was key in organizing the Olympic Project for Human Rights which included teammates Tommie Smith and John Carlos. It became a movement, exposing the housing inequalities for Black students and the unjust leadership of the Olympic Games.
UC Merced received a gracious $20 million donation from philanthropists, MacKenzie Scott and husband, Dan Jewett for their continued efforts to support social justice and equity for its students. Scott put out a blog post on June 15 describing the criteria they used to choose 286 organizations throughout the nation whom thy confirmed are in the fight for social change for under-served people.
Scott, 51 years old and born in San Francisco, is an author and the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to whom she was married for 25 years. They divorced in mid 2019.
As of May 29, 2021, MacKenzie Scott, who is 51 years-old, has a net worth of US $57.0 billion, making her the third-wealthiest woman in the world, and the 21st-wealthiest individual overall.
When she legally separated from the Amazon chief executive in 2019, she was given a four percent stake in Amazon, worth around $38 billion at the time.
Candidate Lourin Hubbard and three other Democratic candidates are running in the general election for U.S. House California District 22 on November 8, 2022 against incumbent, Devin Nunes.
Hubbard, born in Bakersfield, CA, received a bachelor's degree in political science from California State University, Fresno, in 2013. Hubbard's professional experience includes being an operations manager and racial equity officer for the Central Valley Water Quality Control Board.
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