How the Tommie Smith Foundation Came to Be.

My journey began on August 7th, 1971 in Lancaster, CA. As life began for me that day, I was unaware of what was in store for me. The day I was to come home, my maternal mother said "That's not my baby". That was the beginning of how my mother was going to treat me the rest of my life. In case you were wondering how I got from the hospital to home, my grandmother took me out of the hospital. Little did I know I would be calling her my mother. As I grew older, it took me 53years to understand the family joke "That's not my baby". I see now my mother never wanted me, or any of her four kids. I am thankful for my grandparents for taking us in to live with them. My sister and I were living with my maternal mother in San Francisco She called social services to give my sister and I to them. Social services told her if she gave us to the state, she would go to jail. Very soon after we were shipped off to out grand parents house. I can see now that was a blessing in it self for me. They shined us with love, support, guidance, discipline and compassion.

Our family was athletic so I played every sport I could. Baseball, basketball, track and football. Before we moved back in with my maternal mother, my grandparents were at every game to show us support. I recall one of my pop warner games they went to. I broke a long run during the game. I look to my left and I see my grandmother running faster than me on the dirt track. She beat me to the endzone. I know she was always going to be there for me when times were good and bad.
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 After I moved back in with my maternal mother, things shifted from support to how much money she was getting from state assistance. That was an emotional change in my life. Going from support to no support from the one that gave me life. I had support from my grandparents still. All I wanted to have was support from my maternal mother. At the age of 12 I went to visit my dad for the summer. He asked her if I could come stay with him. She said no. I see now it was because it would take money away from her state assistance. As I entered high school things started to become a little clear to me that my mother did not care at all about me. For example, she worked out of town for the week, She left on Monday morning and came back Friday afternoon. She came to the school before she went home to seethe vice principle. It would be a home game that night. She was too tired to come to the game. The vice principle asked her if he would see her at the game that night, also. She told him the same thing she told me. I got to the point I stopped asking her if she would be at the game to see me. Of course I could count on the grandparents to be there.

As my journey continued to become Southern California State player of the year, all-star game came and went. No maternal mother in sight. Time to take recruiting trips to different colleges, and wouldn't you know, it she was there and acted like she was always there. She pulled the wool over everyone's eyes at every university when she talked to them. I entered college and hoped things would change with her. I was disappointed once again. No appearance to any of the games. That means 4 bowl games that were in driving distance. She would ask for tickets to those games two days before playing them. I told her I gave them to my friends, because I know that my friends would come and support me.

As my professional career ended, I became a para educator at one of the local high schools I where I grew up. The place I grew up did not have a lot of money. I became an assistance coach at the place I was employed. As I was coaching, it became clear to me that there was no support from the community. Times had changed since I started playing pop warner. Your parents did not have to come up with a lot of money for you to participate in playing football. The community would help out in supporting those who did not have the means to pay in full. My family was one of those that fit the criteria. It was a blessing to have the community look out for the youth in their community. As time has passed, the youth programs and high schools because a business. The inner-city schools have limited resources to cover the cost for kids to participate. I can see the difference in kids being a part of something positive.

The goal of the Tommie Smith Foundation is to unite youth, sports, and community by offering the support, mentorship, and opportunities needed to develop both athletic talent and personal character—building a foundation for success that reaches far beyond the game.