Forty years ago, the same year Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated, John Carlos and Tommie Smith stood on the winner's podium at the Mexico City Olympics and staged their famous silent protest against inequality.
Because of their raised fists, it became known as the "Black Power Salute," but there was a third man present — Peter Norman of Australia, the second-fastest man alive. Far from an unwitting participant, Norman consciously joined Carlos and Smith as their witness.
The actions of all three men cost them dearly. As documented in Matt Norman's brilliant new film, Salute, Tommie Smith and John Carlos were kicked out of the athletes' village, suspended and banned from the Olympics. For the Australian Peter Norman, participating in the organised action cost him his athletic career and he was not chosen for the next Olympics despite being one of the fastest men in the world.
Though they were vilified, Smith and Carlos returned as heroes to their community. Peter Norman was ostracized by his.
In October 2006, Norman died of a heart attack and his two mates carried him to his grave.
John Carlos had this reaction: "Peter was a piece of my life. When I got the call, it knocked the wind out of me. I was his brother. He was my brother. That's all you have to know." Tommie Smith added, "It took inner power to do what he did, inner soul power. ... He was a man of solid beliefs, that's how I will remember Peter -- he was a humanitarian and a man of his word."
In 2008, suppression of human rights comes from a new power that is steeling itself against protest, just as the white Olympic fathers once warned the "boys" against attempting any demonstrations.
We shall see.
Meanwhile, Australia's Qantas airlines announced that Salute will be shown on all flights to Beijing beginning in late July.
UPDATE: The Strib has an op/ed today that has more about Smith and Carlos and the global nature of their protest. (Norman isn't even identified in the picture caption.) In noting how the image still resonates today, the piece only gently raises the question of where the athlete human rights advocates of today may be — especially those with a far bigger platform than Smith and Carlos had. The answer the writer doesn't quite give: To suppress dissent, don't threaten top athletes — give them big contracts.