Mr Larry Dean Walls

Hurdles Struggles of a Blackman in the Land of Milk and Honey Mr Larry Dean Walls

Hurdles is the true story of a young black boy growing up in America in the 1960s. In 1944, Larry Walls' parents moved from, Jim Crow, North East Texas to Fresno, California, in the San Joaquin Valley. During that time, Blacks believed that California was not racist and the Land of Milk and Honey. However, in 1956, due to farm mechanization and racism, his parents moved to the segregated San Gabriel Valley City of Duarte, California. This young man then grew up in the turbulent civil rights struggles of the 1960s. He became embroiled in the violent gang culture and the racist educational system of America. His violent teenage years, taught him that athletics and education was the way to escape his conditions in life. Despite being crippled by a serious illness as a child, by 1968 he became a world class track runner at San Jose State University. There he found, that God's love, had shown him grace. He had survived the detrimental acts of his teenage years and the racism of American society. By joining the 1968 civil rights Olympic Boycott movement, at San Jose State, he discovered that he was, divinely, blessed. The Speed City Olympic runners: Lee Evans, Tommie Smith, Samuel Davis and Dr. Kirk Clayton were all from Fresno, Texas and Louisiana, like him. The Olympic Boycott organizer and civil rights activist, Dr. Harry Edwards, was from Fresno and participated in Track and Field at San Jose State. Also, Olympic champion and civil rights activist, John Carlos, who lead San Jose State's 1969 NCAA Championship Track and Field Team, from New York, was part of God's plan. Larry Walls' journey through life is a riveting tale of triumph.