Black Power Salute Movement

Often cited as the foundational period of the civil rights movement, this time period set the path for racial equality. The actions of Tommie Smith and John Carlos ultimately caused the engagement of the public in the

“Black Power Salute” movement. Them and many other activists pursuing the dream of total equality have had long term effect on the United States’ policies. In the photograph “Black Power Salute”, the two African American men used the olympics as their opportunity to show the world what they believe in through civil disobedience, fearlessness, and unity.

In 1968, the olympics featured many firsts: first olympics held in a spanish speaking country, first to be held in a developing country, first to have an act of civil disobedience

All of the three men in the photo are displayed on a podium at the Olympic Games, Tommie Smith and John Carlos’ gesture came about from a decade of organizing among

athletes who had been carefully isolated from their political fellow students leaving a symbol of resistance, embittered, and developed a lot of pride.

“Their actions ended the myth of the modern Olympics as an expression of individualism. It solidified the growing resentment of black athletes who felt they were being treated as gladiator” (Lipsyte). In this particular time period both Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy had been assassinated and the

Vietnam war was intact. The assassination of Martin Luther King, who died just months before the 1968 Olympics for standing up for what he believed in, did not deprive the African Americans and the white man appearing on the “Black Power Salute” photo to fight for what they believe in, but instead stimulated a greater passion for the civil rights movement.

The “Black Power Salute” photograph taken by John Dominis, took place in the 1968 Olympics. It showed the actions made by the two African

American men and one Australian man, John Carlos, Tommie Smith,