Lifetime Achievement Award for JJK, Stewards to co-chair 37th Education Salute

If the phrase “never forget where you come from” was a person, her name would be Jackie Joyner-Kersee.

Hailing from the “City of Champions,” Joyner-Kersee has become an indisputable icon.  For three generations and counting she has served as the standard for excellence in sports – particularly for Black women. And when the Olympic gold medalist hung up her cleats as the one of the most celebrated athletes in history, Joyner-Kersee came back home, rolled up her sleeves and got about the business of pouring back into under privileged youth in the community where it all began for her.

Because of her relentless work in helping create a brighter future for our region’s children – particularly those in her hometown – Jackie Joyner-Kersee has been named the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient for the St. Louis American Foundation’s 37^th Annual Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship and Awards Gala. This year’s Education Salute will be held on Saturday, October 12^th at America’s Center.

“During her athletic career, she provided a blueprint for grace, dignity and true sportsmanship while representing our region on sports’ biggest global stage,” said Donald M. Suggs, publisher of The St. Louis American and founder and president emeritus of the St. Louis American Foundation. “And in her evolution from Olympic gold medalist to full-time world-class humanitarian, Jackie Joyner-Kersee serves as a guiding light for those seeking to use their respective platforms for the highest possible good.

“Moreover, as we honor Joyner-Kersee, we also acknowledge her roots in East St. Louis that were part of her upbringing and development.”

 David and Thelma Steward have agreed to serve as co-chairs for the 2024 Education Salute.

“Our parents were committed to educating their children and we inherited that from them,” said David Steward, Founder and Chairman of the Board for World Wide Technology. “Education is the ‘great equalizer’ – the way to make talent and opportunity equal for all, across our great nation, in our cities as well as in our rural communities.”

The positive impact on the region by the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation and its namesake founder cannot be overstated. The organizational slogan for the JJK Foundation is “There is gold in all of us.” She has been mining to find more gold and hidden gems with the same commitment, drive and passion that led her to become one of the greatest athletes of our time.

“This is especially rewarding because of The St. Louis American’s vision with respect to community building,” Joyner-Kersee said in a statement. “The St. Louis American Foundation’s focus on education is in direct alignment with the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation and everything we do to accomplish our mission.”

Full event details are forthcoming, but Joyner-Kersee will get the well-deserved treatment of One of East St. Louis’ most beloved daughters at the Salute and programming leading up to the gala.

“It is very special for me that David and Thelma Steward will Co-chair this event,” Joyner-Kersee said. “I am looking forward to what I’m sure will be a wonderful experience.”

The program will also honor some others who have invested in the region’s future through their chosen career paths and high-potential students who have demonstrated academic excellence and promise as future leaders.

“Education shapes our collective future. It is where we learn who we are through the arts and what we are through science,” Steward said. “Consider World Wide Technology, which I founded just three years after Dr. Suggs’ first Salute to Excellence [in education]. WWT is now the largest Black-owned company in North America. We would not be where we are without education. We owe a great debt to the teachers and scholars who commit themselves every day to making our world a better place.”

At last year’s Salute to Excellence in Education, more than $2.8 million in scholarships were awarded – bringing the grand total to over $15 million in scholarships granted to worthy and exceptional students since the program’s inception.

A purpose driven athlete

Decades before First Lady Michelle Obama said, “when they go low, you go high,” Joyner-Kersee embodied the statement each time she stepped foot on the track.

She was inspired to compete in multi-disciplinary track & field events after seeing a movie about Babe Didrikson Zaharias. The track star, basketball player, and pro golfer, was celebrated as the “Greatest Female Athlete of the First Half of the 20th Century.” Zaharias and Joyner-Kersee’s backgrounds couldn’t have been more different. Zaharias was born to Norwegian immigrants in Port Arthur, Texas. But Joyner-Kersee did what so many East St. Louisans, including her brother and fellow Olympic gold medalist Al Joyner are known for – overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Asthma couldn’t stop her. Neither could the limited access to resources due to the constant divestment in her community.

She was still a student at East St. Louis Lincoln High School when she qualified for the finals in the long jump at the 1980 Olympic Trials, where she finished in eighth place. Four years later, she was an Olympic silver medalist in the heptathlon at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. At the time she was a student at UCLA – which hosted one of the Olympic Villages. She also excelled on the basketball court.

She later won a gold medal in the long jump at the 1988 games in Seoul – along with a gold medal in the long jump. She earned another heptathlon gold in Barcelona and a bronze in the long jump. She secured gold medals in the World Championships as well as the Goodwill Games and the Pan American Games for several years between 1986-1998. Her successful fight for long jump bronze during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta played out like an inspirational sports film.

Fifteen years after Joyner-Kersee’s inspiration Zaharias received her aforementioned distinction, Sports Illustrated for Women magazine voted Joyner-Kersee the greatest female athlete of all time, just ahead of Zaharias.

She was honored on February 21, 1998 as one of the 15 greatest players in UCLA women’s basketball. In April 2001, Joyner-Kersee was voted the “Top Woman Collegiate Athlete of the Past 25 Years.” The vote was conducted among the 976 NCAA member schools.

Some of her countless awards include back to back Jesse Owens Awards, Missouri Athletic Club Jack Buck Awards, an honorary doctorate from Webster University and she was enshrined on the St. Louis Walk of Fame in 2000.

Joyner-Kersee holds the world record in heptathlon along with the top six all-time best results and remains an inspiration.

When Anna Hall was preparing to compete in the heptathlon in the 2024 Paris Olympics, she cited Joyner-Kersee as her sports hero.

“The athlete that has been my biggest inspiration is definitely Jackie Joyner-Kersee,” Hall said in a segment that appeared as part of the Olympics official content that also included an announcer who proclaimed that Joyner-Kersee was, “the greatest female athlete in the world – perhaps that we have ever seen.”

“Who better to look up to in the sport,” Hall said. “There was nothing she couldn’t compete in if she put her mind to that – and that’s something that I have tried to follow…”

Joyner-Kersee surprised her from the other side of the camera and Hall was moved beyond words.

“Jackie is a model for all of us,” Steward said. “With all her success, she could have settled anywhere, but chose to come home to East St. Louis to serve and uplift families and communities. She brings incredible energy, intellect, and commitment to everything she does.

Her life and spirit are a beacon of hope. All of us can look to her as someone who can guide and lead us to better lives and a better community.”

The St. Louis American Foundation’s 37^th Annual Salute to Excellence in Education will take place on Saturday, October 12^th at America’s center. Stay tuned to stlamerican.com for future details on the event as more honorees will be announced online and in print in the coming weeks.