tommie smith
-
Carl Lewis and Usain Bolt Are Cool, But It Was Wyomia Tyus Who 1st Won Consecutive Olympic 100m Gold Medals
When you control the narrative, you create the rules. And when it comes to Olympic sprinter Wyomia Tyus, it should come as no surprise that history has tried its best to cast yet another Black woman aside. If I were to ask you, “Who was the first athlete to win back-to-back 100m gold medals?” I’m…
-
Blackballed Reminds Us Why 'Shut Up and Dribble' Is Not an Option for Today's Athletes
For fans of the Los Angeles Clippers—which admittedly, is a relatively new concept—April 25, 2014, is a day that will live on in infamy. Donald Sterling, who had spent decades oscillating between openly discriminating against black and brown tenants and being universally reviled as the worst owner in professional sports, had been caught on tape…
-
Olympics to Finally Give Sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos Their Props by Inducting Them Into Hall of Fame
Decades before Colin Kaepernick was taking a knee on the football gridiron to protest racial injustice, Olympic sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos were raising a fist on the winners’ stand at the 1968 Olympics. Much like Kaepernick, Smith and Carlos were expelled for their actions. Now, it looks like the Olympics is prepared to…
-
Halloween's Champion: Beyoncé's 2nd Costume Paid Tribute to an American Hero
We called it. Proving, once again, that too much is never enough when it comes to Halloween, Beyoncé debuted a second costume on Wednesday night, this time with a little help from husband Jay-Z. In a tribute to Olympic track and field greatness, Beyoncé costumed herself as the late, great, always glamorous Florence Griffith-Joyner, fondly…
-
‘Black Skinned Storm Trooper’ Who Foreshadowed Kaepernick to Be Honored at TIDAL X: Brooklyn
Before Colin Kaepernick was born, a couple of black dudes, John Carlos and Tommie Smith, raised a couple of black-gloved fists to the sky as the U.S. national anthem played after they earned a couple of Olympic medals in Mexico City. They were protesting racial injustice and inequality during a decade in which Martin Luther…