Finding the Courage to Speak
What I learned from John W. Carlos
55 years ago, on October 16, 1968, Tommie Smith and John W. Carlos raised their fists at the 1968 Olympics in a Black Power salute — bringing their convictions into a mainstream, global space regardless of the repercussions they would face. And there were many.
As John Carlos always reminds audiences, the Australian silver medalist Peter Norman was part of the protest too, wearing an Olympic Project for Human Rights badge.
I’ve added one of my most cherished political photos here, with John Carlos in October 2011. John was visiting Ohio State on the same day that student-led and faculty-supported Occupy OSU took the Oval from morning until night, having conversations with literally hundreds of students through the day.
My friend and comrade Dave Zirin let me know that John was in town, we communicated, and he was gracious enough to come across campus and address all of us.
John was supportive of Occupy itself, and the public demonstrations against inequality. But he also brought in the experience and knowledge of the Black liberation struggle into that circle — and remember this is a few years before the first phase of Black Lives Matter in 2014 and just before the protests around the killing of Trayvon Martin in February 2012.
Rather than seeing movements in silos, John taught us that we need to investigate where they meet and come together. We know what difference looks like. But what does solidarity look like? That’s what John was focused on.
Today, political and social forces bear down on us and tell us not to speak out against the genocidal war in Gaza — using the terrible death of Israeli civilians as a way to keep our mouths shut about Palestinian civilian deaths, expulsion, and starvation, today and for 75 years.
Remembering the 1968 Olympics protesters gives us strength to say: we need to stand up against injustice, and we speak out to the best of our ability, in every way that we can, in every space that we can.
Be safe and be mindful — but if it’s mainly about building up the courage to speak, remember that many before us have gone through this. Often in much more difficult circumstances than ours. We have so many examples to learn from.
We stand, as always, on the shoulders of giants.
