Document Actions
The Time is Nigh: Organize, Mobilize, Radicalize
Olympian Tommie Smith will discuss his black-gloved fist salute at the '68 Summer Olympic Games and its impact on the world
Thursday, Sep 11
from
07:00 pm
to
08:30 pm
Hitchcock Multipurpose Room
vCal |
iCal |
Share on Facebook |
Send to a friend
Smith and Carlos on victory podium
Click here to view a live Web stream of the conversation with Tommie Smith
During the 1968 Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City, Tommie Smith, a student at San Jose State University, became the 200-meter dash champion. As the national anthem played, Smith and teammate John Carlos, who won the bronze medal, stood on the victory podium, draped with their medals, each raised a clinched fist covered in a black leather glove.
The gesture, a silent salute to the Black power and liberation movement, and a visible challenge to racism and injustice in the U.S and the world, became one of the most recognized and iconic images in sports history.
Smith and Carlos have been recognized and acknowledged all over the world for their courageousness and willingness to take a stand against injustice, most recently at the 2008 Espy Awards, where they both received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.
Join Smith as he leads a discussion about this historic Olympic moment and its impact in the U.S. and abroad.
The program is a part of the Stone Center’s yearlong reflection on the global significance of 1968/69