10/16/2026
Nearly 60 years ago today, sprinter Tommie Smith won the 200 meters in a world-record 19.83 seconds. During the Mexico City medal ceremony, Smith and fellow medalist John Carlos bowed their heads and raised gloved fists during the anthem. They stood shoeless in black socks representing Black poverty; Smith wore a scarf for Black pride, while Carlos wore beads commemorating victims of violence.
The demonstration came amid the Vietnam War war crimes, antiwar protests, urban rebellions, Black Power, Muhammad Ali’s punishment for refusing military induction, and the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy. And ten days before the Olympics, Mexican security forces had massacred student demonstrators.
Importantly, the action these athletes took grew from organized activism, not impulse. The Olympic Project for Human Rights put forward a Black boycott, demanding restoring Ali’s heavyweight title, excluding South Africa, and hiring Black coaches, among other things.
Smith and Carlos were ultimately expelled from the Olympics, but their demonstration continues to inspire across the ages and across the world.
