Black Power Salute at the 1968 Olympics: A Conversation with John Carlos

ESPN Daily

ESPN

Sports

4.6 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 13 October 2023

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

You’ve probably seen the image: Tommie Smith and John Carlos standing on an Olympic podium in Mexico City in 1968, accepting their medals, heads bowed, with a gloved fist raised in the air. It’s one of the most enduring moments not just from that Olympics, but in all of American history. It was a representation of the Black Power and Civil Rights Movements on a global stage…and you probably don’t know the full story. So today, nearly 55 years after his iconic act of defiance, Dr. John Carlos sits down with David Dennis, Jr. to discuss the impact it had on himself and those around him…and we delve into the mind of a 23-year-old who was ready to change the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Dr. John Carlos, Olympian, bronze medal winner,
0:05.4	honored American activists.
0:07.2	Thank you for joining us today.
0:08.6	I'm honored to be here.
0:09.6	I'm honored to be healthy, I'd be alive,
0:12.8	and honored to share.
0:13.9	Yeah, I mean, it is a distinct honor for me.
0:16.2	My father's civil rights activist,
0:18.3	and so he's taught me and, you know, explaining to me
0:21.1	about your work and people like you and things like that.
0:23.3	So to sit here across, you were just like
0:24.7	an incredible honor to be here.
0:26.8	Thank you, I'm your brother.
0:27.9	Thank you so much.
0:29.2	So we want to reintroduce everyone to this sort of
0:32.0	iconic moment that you were a part of and initiated
0:34.9	at the Olympics.
0:36.3	I think most people are familiar with the picture,
0:38.6	yourself and Tommy Smith on the medal stand,
0:40.8	heads bowed, fist raves.
0:43.4	But take us back to October 16th, 1968,
0:46.1	in Mexico City, what's happening?
	...

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