GO, WILMA, GO!

A tribute to the renowned Olympian and Civil Rights activist.

Wilma Rudolph’s youth and early successes get once-overs in the afterword, but the gracefully written main narrative kicks in after her 1960 Olympics triumph—after her observations that people of diverse races freely used buses, beaches, and restaurants in European countries led her to comment that in America, “They push me around because I’m a Negro. Here in Europe, they push me to the front.” Then, learning upon her return to the U.S. that her segregated Clarksville, Tennessee, hometown was planning a “Wilma Rudolph Day,” she successfully pressured the town authorities into opening the parade and banquet to all. In paper collage scenes with digital touch-ups, Pinkney Barlow deftly captures her subject’s determination both on and off the track as well as filling in the backgrounds with scenes of racially diverse crowds both overseas and at the town’s special celebration in Tennessee. Did that celebration bring segregation in Clarksville to an end? No, the authors frankly admit, but Wilma went on “pushing and pulling and protesting,” as all who still see her as an example should, “because the race to freedom is not a sprint, but a marathon. Let’s go!”

Places salutary focus not just on Rudolph’s athletic gifts but also on her strength of character.