As you drive into the circle of the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center — 25 years after its inception and 30 years after its conception as an institution in the economically challenged community of East St. Louis, Illinois — an Adidas-commissioned mural offers a quintessential portrait of the icon known as JJK.

Next to the portrait of the four-time Olympian is the caption, “Black excellence is you,” a mantra and an affirmation that every child entering these doors ingests.

If community adulation were music, those within Joyner-Kersee’s sphere of influence would form a symphony of praise for the humble native daughter who has given so much to her hometown.

“People don’t know my heart and soul and what drives me to be in this community. They sometimes cannot believe it when they see me here. Yes

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