Why Black American Athletes Raised Their Fists at the 1968 Olympics
After sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos made a defiant gesture from the awards podium at the Games, they faced repercussionsâbut also gained respect.
Author:
Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
After sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos made a defiant gesture from the awards podium at the Games, they faced repercussionsâbut also gained respect.
Wearing beads and scarves to oppose lynchings and black socks with no shoes to highlight poverty, African American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos took to the podium during the October 16, 1968, Olympic medal ceremony in Mexico City to receive their respective gold and bronze medals in the 200-meter race. But it was a single accessory a black glove and an accompanying gesture a raised fist during the American national anthem that sparked an uproar. From that moment, the two athletes would be vilified, threatened and, in some circles, cele
Atlanta Magazine
5453
Some people crave routine; not Fredricka Whitfield. The anchor of CNN Newsroom with Fredricka Whitfield, which ranks No. 1 among the coveted 25–54 demographic, says she prefers being on her toes. “It’s the thing I love most about my job,” says Whitfield, a fifty-two-year-old mother of three. “You never know what the day’s going to bring.”
Her work has taken her to such far-flung places as Southeast Asia, where she covered the 2004 tsunami disaster, and Macedonia, where she spent a month in 1999 interviewing refugees. During the latter trip, her stay was extended to the point she almost missed her wedding to Atlanta photojournalist John Glenn. She returned to the States with less than a week in which to buy a dress and dash to the altar. It’s a scenario that would stress even the calmest of brides, but not Whitfield. As she puts it, “Living out of a suitcase and making adjustments is what I’ve done my whole life.”