1968 Olympics Black Power Salute

The 1968 Olympics Black Power salute was a protest made by the African American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos during their medal ceremony at the 1968 Olympic Games in the Olympic Stadium, Mexico City, Mexico. As they turned to face their flags and hear the American national anthem (The Star-Spangled Banner), they each raised a black-gloved fist and kept them raised until the anthem had finished. Smith, Carlos and Australian silver medalist Peter Norman wore human rights badges on their jackets. The event was one of the most overtly political statements in the history of the modern Olympic Games. In his autobiography Silent Gesture, Tommie Smith stated that the gesture was not a "Black Power" salute, but a "human rights salute".