1968 Olympics Black Power salute

Protest during 1968 Olympic Games December 2025 January 2018 thumb|Gold medalist Tommie Smith (center) and bronze medalist John Carlos (right) showing the raised fist on the podium after the 200 m race at the 1968 Summer Olympics; both wear Olympic Project for Human Rights badges. Peter Norman (silver medalist, left) from Australia also wears an OPHR badge in solidarity with Smith and Carlos. During their medal ceremony in the Olympic Stadium in Mexico City on October 16, 1968, two African-American athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, each raised a black-gloved fist during the playing of the US national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner". While on the podium, Smith and Carlos, who had won gold and bronze medals respectively in the 200-meter running event of the 1968 Summer Olympics, turned to face the US flag and then kept their hands raised until the anthem had finished. In addition, Smith, Carlos, and Australian silver medalist Peter Norman all wore human-rights badges on their jackets. In his autobiography, Silent Gesture, published nearly 30 years later, Smith declared that his gesture was not a "Black Power" salute, but rather a "human rights" salute.22 The demonstration has been called one of the most overtly political statements in the history of the modern Olympics.http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2094-2393575,00.html https://archive.today/20070311090713/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2094-2393575,00.html dead March 11, 2007 The Sunday Times London Lewis Richard 8 October 2006 Caught in Time: Black Power salute, Mexico, 1968 9 November 2008 Protest Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres On the morning of October 16, 1968,http://www.as.sjsu.edu/legacy/Smith-Carlos.pdf SJSU 1968: Black athletes make silent protest 9 November 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20081218111444/http://www.as.sjsu.edu/legacy/Smith-Carlos.pdf December 18, 2008 dead mdy-all US athlete Tommie Smith won the 200-meter race with a world-record time of 19.83 seconds. Australia's Peter Norman finished second with a time of 20.06 seconds (an Oceania record that stood for 56 years), and the US's John Carlos finished in third place with a time of 20.10 seconds. After the race was completed, the three went to the podium for their medals to be presented by David Cecil, 6th Marquess of Exeter. The two US athletes received their medals shoeless, but wearing black socks, to represent black poverty.http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/17/newsid_3535000/3535348.stm BBC 1968: Black athletes make silent protest 9 November 2008 17 October 1968 https://web.archive.org/web/20100723190733/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/17/newsid_3535000/3535348.stm 23 July 2010 live dmy 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 US and wore a necklace of beads which he said "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."Lucas Dean Famous Pictures: The Magazine Black Power http://www.famouspictures.org/black-power/ 11 February 2007 9 November 2008 All three athletes wore Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR) badges after Norman, a critic of Australia's then White Australia Policy, expressed empathy with their ideals.Peter Norman https://web.archive.org/web/20200926001038/http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/peter_norman.htm September 26, 2020 . Historylearningsite.co.uk. Retrieved on 13 June 2015. Sociologist Harry Edwards, the founder of the OPHR, had urged black athletes to boycott the games; reportedly, the actions of Smith and Carlos on October 16, 1968, were inspired by Edwards' arguments.http://www.cstv.com/sports/c-track/stories/022406aas.html CSTV Spander Art A Moment In Time: Remembering an Olympic Protest 24 February 2006 9 November 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20081021102600/http://www.cstv.com/sports/c-track/stories/022406aas.html 21 October 2008 dead The famous picture of the event was taken by photographer John Dominis.http://life.time.com/culture/black-power-salute-tommie-smith-and-john-carlos-at-the-1968-olympics/#1 https://web.archive.org/web/20131014191417/http://life.time.com/culture/black-power-salute-tommie-smith-and-john-carlos-at-the-1968-olympics/#1 dead October 14, 2013 Life Hope and Defiance: The Black Power Salute That Rocked the 1968 Olympics 13 November 2013 14 October 2013 The salute was aired live on television, transmitted around the world by broadcast satellite and Eurovision.Joseph Michael https://archive.org/details/25yearsonitv0000unse/page/141/mode/1up?view=theater 25 Years on ITV Independent Television Books Ltd 1980 0 900727 81 0 London 141 2025-07-19 Both US athletes intended to bring black gloves to the event, but Carlos forgot his, leaving them in the Olympic Village. It was Peter Norman who suggested Carlos wear Smith's left-handed glove. For this reason, Carlos raised his left hand as opposed to his right, differing from the traditional Black Power salute.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7674157.stm BBC The other man on the podium 9 November 2008 17 October 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20081020092915/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7674157.stm 20 October 2008 live Caroline Frost When "The Star-Spangled Banner" played, Smith and Carlos delivered the salute with heads bowed, a gesture which became front-page news around the world. As they left the podium, they were booed by the crowd.http://www.freedomweekend.info/downloads/john_carlos.pdf Freedom Weekend John Carlos 9 November 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20081218111444/http://www.freedomweekend.info/downloads/john_carlos.pdf December 18, 2008 usurped mdy-all Smith later said, "If I win I am an American, not a black American. But if I did something bad then they would say 'a Negro'. We are black and we are proud of being black ... Black America will understand what we did tonight." Tommie Smith stated in later years that "We were concerned about the lack of black assistant coaches. About how Muhammad Ali got stripped of his title. About the lack of access to good housing and our kids not being able to attend the top colleges."http://www.indystar.com/story/opinion/columnists/erika-smith/2015/03/18/smith-tried-make-moment-movement/24983931/ Smith: 'They tried to make it a moment, but it was a movement' International Olympic Committee response International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Avery Brundage, himself an American, deemed it to be a domestic political statement unfit for the apolitical, international forum the Olympic Games were intended to be. In response to their actions, he ordered Smith and Carlos suspended from the US team and banned from the Olympic Village. When the US Olympic Committee refused, Brundage threatened to ban the entire US track team. This threat led to the expulsion of the two athletes from the Games.On This Day: Tommie Smith and John Carlos Give Black Power Salute on Olympic Podium https://web.archive.org/web/20201109003515/http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/September-October-08/On-this-Day--US-Athletes-Give-Black-Power-Salute-on-Olympic-Podium.html November 9, 2020 . Findingdulcinea.com. Retrieved on 13 June 2015. However, contrary to a common misconception, the IOC did not force Smith and Carlos to return their medals.Tramel Berry https://oklahoman.com/article/5477804/tommie-smith-john-carlos-did-not-give-up-their-olympic-medals The Oklahoman Tommie Smith & John Carlos did NOT give up their Olympic medals 9 February 2016 2 June 2020 A spokesman for the IOC said Smith and Carlos's actions were "a deliberate and violent breach of the fundamental principles of the Olympic spirit." Brundage, who was president of the United States Olympic Committee in 1936, had made no objections against Nazi salutes during the Berlin Olympics. He argued that the Nazi salute, being a national salute at the time, was acceptable in a competition of nations, while the athletes' salute was not of a nation and therefore unacceptable."The Olympic Story", editor James E. Churchill, Jr., published 1983 by Grolier Enterprises Inc. Brundage had been accused of being one of the United States' most prominent Nazi sympathisers even after the outbreak of the Second World War,Documentary "Hitler's Pawn: The Margeret Lambert Story", produced by HBO and Black Canyon Productionshttp://www.cnn.com/2015/07/31/sport/germany-berlin-jewish-olympics-maccabi/index.html Adolf Hitler and the man 'who beat Jesse Owens' James Masters July 31, 2015 CNN and his removal as president of the IOC had been one of the three stated objectives of the Olympic Project for Human Rights.Silent Gesture – Autobiography of Tommie Smith (excerpt via Google Books) – Smith, Tommie & Steele, David, Temple University Press, 2007, 978-1-59213-639-1 In 2013, the official IOC website stated that "Over and above winning medals, the black American athletes made names for themselves by an act of racial protest."Mexico 1968 (official International Olympic Committee website. Retrieved 30 June 2013. Aftermath Smith and Carlos were largely ostracized by the US sporting establishment and they were subject to criticism. Time magazine on October 25, 1968, wrote: "'Faster, Higher, Stronger' is the motto of the Olympic Games. 'Angrier, nastier, uglier' better describes the scene in Mexico City last week."https://time.com/vault/issue/1968-10-25/page/78/ The TIME Vault: October 25, 1968 Time 2016-08-20The Olympics: Black Complaint http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,900397,00.html https://web.archive.org/web/20071120194524/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,900397,00.html dead November 20, 2007 12 August 2012 Time 25 October 1968 "Faster, Higher, Stronger" is the motto of the Olympic Games. "Angrier, nastier, uglier" better describes the scene in Mexico City last week. There, in the same stadium from which 6,200 pigeons swooped skyward to signify the opening of the "Peace Olympics," Sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos, two disaffected black athletes from the US put on a public display of petulance that sparked one of the most unpleasant controversies in Olympic history and turned the high drama of the games into theater of the absurd. Back home, both Smith and Carlos were subject to abuse, and they and their families received death threats.http://www.tommiesmith.com/ Tommie Smith Tommie Smith 1968 Olympic Gold Medalist 9 November 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20081019235408/http://www.tommiesmith.com/ 19 October 2008 live Brent Musburger, a writer for the Chicago American before rising to prominence at CBS Sports and ESPN, described Smith and Carlos as "a couple of black-skinned storm troopers" who were "ignoble," "juvenile," and "unimaginative."Richard Sandomir, Now on Film: Raised Fists And the Yogi Love Letters, The New York Times, August 6, 1999, accessed September 10, 2012. One of the few individuals to publicly defend the actions of Smith and Carlos was Robert D. Clark, then-president of San Jose State University, where both athletes were students.Asimov Nanette Robert Clark -- former San Jose State president https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Robert-Clark-former-San-Jose-State-president-2624298.php https://web.archive.org/web/20241201211710/http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Robert-Clark-former-San-Jose-State-president-2624298.php December 1, 2024 2025-01-04 San Francisco Chronicle en live Smith continued in athletics, playing in the NFL with the Cincinnati BengalsTommie Smith https://web.archive.org/web/20181027140720/https://www.biography.com/people/tommie-smith-9487382 October 27, 2018 . biography.com before becoming an assistant professor of physical education at Oberlin College. In 1995, he helped coach the US team at the World Indoor Championships at Barcelona. In 1999, he was awarded the California Black Sportsman of the Millennium Award. He is now a public speaker. thumb|John Carlos (left) and Tommie Smith (center) wearing black gloves, black socks, and no shoes at the 200 m award ceremony of the 1968 Olympics|left Carlos's career followed a similar path. He tied the 100-yard dash world record the following year. Carlos also tried professional football, and was a 15th-round selection in the 1970 NFL draft, but a knee injury curtailed his tryout with the Philadelphia Eagles.Ray Didinger Robert S. Lyons The Eagles Encyclopedia https://books.google.com/books?id=yV7lvstPuqgC&pg=PA244 2005 Temple University Press 978-1-59213-454-0 244– He then went on to the Canadian Football League, where he played one season for the Montreal Alouettes.http://www.cflapedia.com/Players/c/carlos_john.htm John Carlos 16 October 2016 He fell upon hard times in the late 1970s. In 1977, his ex-wife died by suicide, leading him to a period of depression. Olympic Protester Maintains Passion New York Times Neil Amdur 10 October 2011 https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/11/sports/john-carlos-of-68-olympics-protest-maintains-his-passion.html?src=rechp 11 October 2011 In 1982, Carlos worked with the Organizing Committee for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. In 1985, he became a track and field coach at Palm Springs High School. As of 2012, Carlos worked as a counselor at the school.Dobuzinskis Alex Former Olympians: No regrets over 1968 protest https://www.reuters.com/article/oly-athl-usa-protest-adv-idUSL2E8IC65M20120721 Reuters 13 December 2012 21 July 2012 Smith and Carlos received an Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2008 ESPY Awards honoring their action.https://www.espn.com/espn/news/story?id=3417048 Salute at ESPYs – Smith and Carlos to receive Arthur Ashe Courage Award 29 May 2008 espn.com 17 January 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20080405010646/http://espn.go.com/ 5 April 2008 live dmy Silver medalist Norman, who was sympathetic to his competitors' protest, was reprimanded by his country's Olympic authorities, and he was criticized and ostracized by conservatives in the Australian media.Carlson Michael Peter Norman – Unlikely Australian participant in black athletes' Olympic civil rights protest https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/oct/05/guardianobituaries.australia 23 August 2016 The Guardian 5 October 2006Mike Wise Clenched fists, helping hand https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/04/AR2006100401753_2.html The Washington Post 5 October 2006 9 November 2008 He was not sent to the 1972 games, despite several times making the qualifying time, though opinions differ over whether that was due to the 1968 protest.Messenger Robert Leigh sprints into wrong lane over Norman http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/leigh-sprints-into-wrong-lane-over-norman-20120823-24oug.html 12 November 2015 Sydney Morning Herald 24 August 2012 When Sydney hosted the 2000 Summer Olympics, he was not invited to take part in the celebrations in Sydney, although he played a part in announcing Australian Olympic Teams in his role as a sports administrator in Melbourne.http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/21/world/asia/australia-norman-olympic-apology/ Apology urged for Australian Olympian in 1968 black power protest Hilary Whiteman CNN 21 August 2012 2 September 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150818122001/http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/21/world/asia/australia-norman-olympic-apology 18 August 2015 live The United States extended him an invitation to the celebrations when they learned that his own country had not done so.Schembri Jim 17 July 2008 http://www.theage.com.au/news/film-reviews/breviewb-emsaluteem-is-a-film-worthy-of-our-praise-and-our-thanks/2008/07/17/1216163014304.html?page=fullpage It's a film worthy not only of our praise, but of our thanks. The Age 22 October 2013 When Norman died in 2006, Smith and Carlos were pallbearers at his funeral.Martin Flanagan Martin Flanagan (journalist) Olympic protest heroes praise Norman's courage http://www.smh.com.au/news/sport/olympic-protest-heroes-praise-normans-courage/2006/10/09/1160246069969.html The Sydney Morning Herald 6 October 2006 9 November 2008 In 2012, the Australian House of Representatives formally passed an apology to Norman, with MP Andrew Leigh telling Parliament that Norman's gesture "was a moment of heroism and humility that advanced international awareness of racial inequality."http://www.andrewleigh.com/3389 Parliament Apologises to Peter Norman andrewleigh.com April 3, 2018 In 2018, the Australian Olympic Committee awarded Norman posthumously the AOC Order of Merit for his involvement in the protest, with AOC President John Coates stating "we've been negligent in not recognising the role he played back then."Peter Norman given posthumous Order of Merit by AOC https://www.sbs.com.au/news/peter-norman-given-posthumous-order-of-merit-by-aoc 2 March 2021 SBS News 28 April 2018 en Wayne Collett and Vincent Matthews were banned from the Olympics after they staged a similar protest at the 1972 games in Munich.Johnson Publishing Company Jet https://books.google.com/books?id=JrEDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA32 1973 Johnson Publishing Company 32 Documentary films The 2008 Sydney Film Festival featured a documentary about the protest entitled Salute. The film was written, directed, and produced by Matt Norman, a nephew of Peter Norman.http://www.sydneyfilmfestival.org/content.asp?id=21&nid=116&p=20 2008 Program Revealed! 8 May 2008 17 January 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090125152931/http://www.sydneyfilmfestival.org/content.asp?id=21&nid=116&p=20 25 January 2009 On July 9, 2008, BBC Four broadcast a documentary, Black Power Salute, by Geoff Small, about the protest. In an article, Small noted that the athletes of the British team attending the 2008 Olympics in Beijing had been asked to sign gagging clauses which would have restricted their right to make political statements but that they had refused.https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/jul/09/olympicgames2008.humanrights The Guardian UK Small Geoff 9 July 2008 Remembering the Black Power protest 9 November 2008April 2023 Carlos and Smith are interviewed in the 1999 documentary Fists Of Freedom. Play (theatre) Written by the journalist Alain Coltier and staged by Gilles Champion,2025 06 MEXICO 1968 https://cielettreg.org/index.php/14-production/2025/21-2025-06-mexico-1968 2025-08-18 cielettreg.org Mexico 68 : trois hommes, un destin (ABS éditions, 2009)Coltier Alain https://data.bnf.fr/fr/temp-work/4757b75e3b6c553743cc4169749c1a49/ Mexico 68, trois hommes, un destin 2009 fr started to be played in Lyon and its surroundings from June 2025.2025-06-04 Lyon 5e. « Mexico 1968 » : une pièce de théâtre anti-raciste au Trancanoir https://www.leprogres.fr/culture-loisirs/2025/06/04/mexico-1968-une-piece-de-theatre-anti-raciste-au-trancanoir 2025-08-18 www.leprogres.fr FR-fr Tributes In a 2011 speech to the University of Guelph, Akaash Maharaj, a member of the Canadian Olympic Committee and head of Canada's Olympic equestrian team, said, "In that moment, Tommie Smith, Peter Norman, and John Carlos became the living embodiments of Olympic idealism. Ever since, they have been inspirations to generations of athletes like myself, who can only aspire to their example of putting principle before personal interest. It was their misfortune to be far greater human beings than the leaders of the IOC of the day."Speech to the Ontario Equine Center at the University of Guelph, Akaash Maharaj, 27 May 2011 San Jose statue Victory Salute (statue) In 2005, San Jose State University honored former students Smith and Carlos with a 22 ft m mid -high statue of their protest titled Victory Salute, created by artist Rigo 23.Owen Slot America finally honours rebels as clenched fist becomes salute http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/article580095.ece The Sunday Times London 19 October 2005 9 November 2008 September 2024 medicmedic A student, Erik Grotz, initiated the project; "One of my professors was talking about unsung heroes and he mentioned Tommie Smith and John Carlos. He said these men had done a courageous thing to advance civil rights, and, yet, they had never been honored by their own school." The statues are located in a central part of the campus at 37.335495 -121.882556 inline Olympic Black Power Statue, next to Robert D. Clark Hall and Tower Hall. Those who come to view the statue are allowed to participate by standing on the monument. Peter Norman is not included in the monument so viewers can be in his place; there is a plaque in the empty spot inviting those to "Take a Stand".Marinelli Kevin June 20, 2016 Placing second: Empathic unsettlement as a vehicle of consubstantiality at the Silent Gesture statue of Tommie Smith and John Carlos http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1750698016653442 Memory Studies en 10 4 440–458 10.1177/1750698016653442 1750-6980 May 28, 2024 May 31, 2024 https://web.archive.org/web/20240531093111/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1750698016653442 live subscription Norman requested that his space was left empty so visitors could stand in his place and feel what he felt.Part 2: John Carlos, 1968 U.S. Olympic Medalist, On the Response to His Iconic Black Power Salute http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2011/10/12/part_2_john_carlos_1968_olympic_us_medalist_on_the_response_to_his_iconic_black_power_salute Democracy Now! 8 October 2015 12 October 2011 I would like to have a blank spot there and have a commemorative plaque stating that I was in that spot. But anyone that comes thereafter from around the world and going to San Jose State that support the movement, what you guys had in '68, they could stand in my spot and take the picture. The bronze figures are shoeless but there are two shoes included at the base of the monument. The right shoe, a bronze, blue Puma, is next to Carlos; while the left shoe is placed behind Smith. The signature of the artist is on the back of Smith's shoe, and the year 2005 is on Carlos's shoe. The faces of the statues are realistic and emotional. "The statue is made of fiberglass stretched over steel supports with an exoskeleton of ceramic tiles."http://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/OLYMPIC-PROTEST-Smith-and-Carlos-Statue-2601229.php SF GATE – Olympic Protest Crumpacker John Sfgate October 18, 2005 Rigo 23 used 3D scanning technology and computer-assisted virtual imaging to take full-body scans of the men. Their track pants and jackets are a mosaic of dark blue ceramic tiles, while the stripes of the tracksuits are detailed in red and white. In January 2007, History San Jose opened a new exhibit called Speed City: From Civil Rights to Black Power, covering the San Jose State athletic program "from which many student athletes became globally recognized figures as the Civil Rights and Black Power movements reshaped American society."http://historysanjose.org/exhibits_collections/current_upcoming_exhibits/speedcity.html History San José Speed City: From Civil Rights to Black Power 28 July 2005 9 November 2008 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20081206061853/http://www.historysanjose.org/exhibits_collections/current_upcoming_exhibits/speedcity.html December 6, 2008 mdy-all In 2002, San Jose State students and faculty embedded the Victory Salute statue into their Public Art as Resistance project. West Oakland mural A large mural depicting Smith and Carlos stood in the African-American neighborhood of West Oakland, California on an abandoned gas station shed at the corner of 12th Street and Mandela Parkway. The owner of the station wanted to pay respects to the men and constructed a mural on his private property. Above the life-sized depictions read "Born with insight, raised with a fist" (Rage Against the Machine lyrics); previously it read "It only takes a pair of gloves".It Only Takes a Pair of Gloves Mural. oaklandwiki.org In early February 2015, the former station was razed.West Oakland Mural Bulldozed | bayareaintifada. Bayareaintifada.wordpress.com (3 February 2015). Retrieved on 2015-06-13. Washington, DC statue The National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC, which opened in 2016, features a statue of all three athletes on the podium.Thrasher Steven W. The Smithsonian's African American museum – a monument to respectability politics https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/sep/16/smithsonian-museum-african-american-history-respectability-politics 12 August 2024 The Guardian 17 September 2016 Sydney mural thumb|right|200px|Sydney's "Three Proud People Mexico 68" mural, painted in 2000 by Donald Urquhart and restored in 2019 by Kelly Wallwork In 2000, six weeks before the Sydney Olympics, a mural entitled "Three Proud People Mexico 68" was painted by Donald Urquhart on the side of a terrace house next to the railroad tracks in Sydney's Newtown neighbourhood, adjacent to Macdonaldtown railway station. The mural was designed to be visible to train commuters, and was for several years until a soundproof wall went up around the train lines. Today, from Macdonaldtown station, the Black Power fists are just visible protruding above the wall to keen observers. Norman visited the mural in 2006."Last stand for Newtown's 'three proud people'" by Josephine Tovey, The Sydney Morning Herald, 27 July 2010 The mural was under threat of demolition in 2010 to make way for a rail tunnel but is now listed as an item of heritage significance.Heritage Assessment of the Three Proud People mural 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20131002041030/http://meetings.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/council/about-council/meetings/documents/meetings/2012/CSPC/120308/120308_CSPC_ITEM06_ATTACHMENTJ.PDF October 2, 2013 . (PDF). Retrieved on 13 June 2015. It was restored by Kelly Wallwork in 2019. Melbourne statue thumb|right|200px|Statue of Peter Norman next to Lakeside Stadium in Albert Park, Melbourne. In 2017, a group known as the Peter Norman Commemoration Committee began to advocate for a memorial to Norman in his hometown of Melbourne.Brown Melissa Group calls for statue of 'ostracised' Australian Olympian Peter Norman for human rights stand https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-13/group-calls-for-statue-of-australian-athlete-peter-norman/8906244 12 August 2024 ABC 13 September 2017 This culminated in a statue of Norman being unveiled on October 9, 2019 (known as Peter Norman Day), at the side of Lakeside Stadium in Albert Park. The statue was designed by Louis Laumen.https://worldathletics.org/news/news/peter-norman-statue-unveiled-melbourne World Athletics Statue honouring Australian Olympian Peter Norman unveiled in Melbourne 9 October 2019 16 August 2022 Indigenous Australian athlete and former politician Nova Peris called the statue "long overdue" and posed for a photo alongside it with her children, all raising their fists to replicate the original salutes.Hocking Rachael Nova Peris commends 'overdue' statue for Olympian Peter Norman https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/nova-peris-commends-overdue-statue-for-olympian-peter-norman/k2xf6gxzr 12 August 2024 NITV 12 August 2024 References in music The song "Mr. John Carlos" by the Swedish group Nationalteatern on their 1974 album Livet är en fest is about the event and its aftermath. The music video for Scritti Politti's 1984 single, "Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)", features several direct visual references to the 1968 protest. Rage Against the Machine used a cropped photo of the salute on the cover art for the "Testify" single (2000). The image has both men wearing shoes.https://go.distance.ncsu.edu/gd203/?p=17750 Tropes in Media – The Clinched Fist – GD 203 go.distance.ncsu.eduAugust 2018 InternetArchiveBot yes The cover art for the single "HiiiPoWeR" (2011) by American rapper Kendrick Lamar features a cropped photo of the salute.This seems to be an alternate cover. A good primary source would help (not just the fan wiki). February 2026 The song "Hoarse" (2013) by American rapper Earl Sweatshirt features the lines "pinnacle of titillating crispate, fists clenched, emulating '68 Olympics". The music video for "The Story of O.J." (2017) by American rapper Jay-Z features a depiction of the protest. The song "Shivers" by Peter Perrett, best known as the frontman of The Only Ones, features the lines "The torch of liberty, Tommie Smith's black glove". The music video for "The Space Program" (2016) by American Hip-Hop group A Tribe Called Quest features Pharrell Williams imitating the salute. Works October 1968 : Three Men in Mexico by Alain (Philippe) Coltier, foreword by Colin Tatz, Red Kelpies Project (2012) 9780987294005 The John Carlos Story: The Sports Moment That Changed the World, by John Carlos and Dave Zirin, Haymarket Books (2011) 978-1-60846-127-1 Three Proud People (2000) [Mural]. 39 Pine Street Newtown NSW Australia.https://www.clovermoore.com.au/three_proud_people_mural Three Proud People Mural See also 1960s Civil rights movement Olympic Games 1972 Olympics Black Power salute List of photographs considered the most important List of Olympic Games scandals and controversies Doug Roby Kozakiewicz's gesture Jesse Owens Colin Kaepernick Raven Saunders U.S. national anthem protests References 30em External links "The Politics of Hypocrisy" – includes authorized excerpt from The Harvard Crimson of November 6, 1968. "Matt Norman, Director/Producer 'Salute'" https://web.archive.org/web/20110807194949/http://gdayworld.thepodcastnetwork.com/2008/07/07/gday-world-333-matt-norman-directorproducer-salute August 7, 2011 (podcast: nephew of Peter Norman discusses new documentary about Norman's role in the Black Power salute) https://archive.today/20090124213152/http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1056987 "El Black Power de Mexico: 40 años después" el (Diario La Nación of Buenos Aires, November 10, 2008) "This was my decision" (Tommie Smith talks about his silent protest, August 8, 2008) Olympics Human Rights Salute, 1968 Olympics Human Rights Salute, 1968 Category:Black Power Category:Civil rights protests Category:Hand gestures Category:Politics and race in the United States Category:Protests in Mexico Category:Olympic Games controversies Category:Opposition to anti-Black racism Category:Politics and sports Category:Salutes Category:1968 in art Category:1968 photographs Category:Color photographs Category:Photographs of protests Category:Race-related controversies in photography Category:Television controversies in the United States Category:Political controversies in the United States Category:Athlete activism in the United States