This is the most memorable image from the 68 Olympics.
Tommie Smith and John Carlos’ black power salute on the medal podium after the 200m race.
The two U.S athletes received their medals shoeless, but wearing black socks, to represent black poverty. Smith wore a black scarf around his neck to represent black pride, Carlos had his tracksuit top unzipped to show solidarity with all blue collar workers in the U.S. and wore a necklace of beads which he described “were for those individuals that were lynched, or killed and that no-one said a prayer for, that were hung and tarred. It was for those thrown off the side of the boats in the middle passage.”
John Carlos forgot his black gloves back at the Olympic Village. It was silver medalist Australian Peter Norman who came up with the idea for Carlos to wear Smith’s left glove. Norman also wore a patch in support of the two other medal winners.
It was an Olympics of strong black imagery.
