On this day in 1968, track stars Tommie Smith and John Carlos performed the Black Power salute at the Summer Mexico City Olympics. Face2Face Africa reports: The morning of October 16th, United States track athlete Smith won the 200m race with a world record-setting time of 19.83 seconds. Australias Peter Norman came in second, with the United States Carlos coming in at third. As is custom for race winners, the runners went to the podium to accept their medals. However, Smith and Carlos did not wear shoes on the podium but instead wore black socks to represent Black poverty. Smith also wore a black scarf to highlight Black pride. Carlos had his track jacket unzipped to show solidarity with working class people in the United States. He also wore a necklace of beads, which he says was in honor of individuals who were slain in lynchings and others killed in violent ways at the hands of Whites. Carlos also said the beads represented slaves who were thrown overboard during the Middle Passage journey. Indeed, these are strong, proud Black men. Face2Face Africa salutes them! Read the rest here: https://face2faceafrica/article/olympics-black-power
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 00:30:01 +0000