sophieag:

mischasbrainfarts:

Left to right:

Peter Norman (an Australian!), Tommie Smith, John Carlos.

Smith did an interview with Amy Goodman for Democracy Now a few years ago. He said of the salute:

 … we had to make it respectful and visual. Of course, the gloves represented power. The bare feet represented poverty. We took our shoes off, rolled our uniform, which was blue, up around our gastrocnemius muscle, and to make visual the need for a security in the way that people were being treated, jobs that we did not have, which we should have. And, you know, this is not a representation just of black athletes. It was our entire community — in fact, people of color most anywhere. So this Olympic Project for Human Rights didn’t just represent the black athlete or the black citizen in the country. It was a cry for freedom for those who had no way to make justified their feelings.

Norman, who is not wearing a glove, was wearing an Olympic Project for Human Rights badge.

An excellent documentary called Salute  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salute_(documentary) looks at these events and the repercussions for all involved including Peter Norman. It was made by Norman’s nephew Matt Norman.