I'm Black and I'm Proud

James Brown, dubbed the father of soul, may have sung a song so titled, but with an elevated arm with a fist, this silent gesture shouted the message much louder. When Tommie Smith and John Carlos, Olympic track stars thrust theirs arm upward during the singing of the national anthem of the United States after receiving their medals, it was a message of hope. That silent gesture spoke to a condition of the people: recognize we are proud people.

These were symbols," Smith said. "And I think people remember symbols much more than anything else. We didn't have time to talk, because we were on the victory stand, but the hand (fist gesture) didn't represent so much black power as it did just power, social power, social equity. … And on the stand it was a prayer, a cry for freedom. It was very simple, but people made it so big because it was two black athletes on the victory stand and in an Olympic game, a sporting event. This was the big problem with America.

Read more about Smith.



Kevin Craig, local Fort Wayne Track Star