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Chiko Shire, 13, Korede Ajayi, 13, organiser Everett Jervis , Tommie Smith, and Jacob Jervis Bond, 13, outside Acland Burghley School this week |
Political and Olympic icon delivers powerful message
IT was a day of inspiration for the pupils at Acland Burghley school when iconic US-athlete Tommie Smith paid them a visit as part of Camden’s Black History Month.
Mr Smith’s face was beamed across the world in 1968 when he famously showed the Black Power salute on the winners’ podium at the Olympics in Mexico City.
The 200-metre gold medallist and team-mate John Carlos, who won bronze and also raised a gloved fist in the air, were suspended from the team.
Mr Smith, 64, now a university lecturer, gave a talk about the values of learning at the school in Burghley Road, in Tufnell Park.
Student Olivia Phillips, 15, who Mr Smith had asked to come up to the front of the assembly hall, said: “It was so embarrassing to stand in front of the crowd, but as Tommie Smith says, we should all stand up for ourselves.”
She proudly held a poster with the famous image on it, signed by the former athlete.
Mr Smith, who set seven world records, still vividly remembers how that day at the Olympics 40 years ago had changed his life forever.
He told the New Journal: “We were part of the Olympic Project For Human Rights and wanted to protest against racism – each in our own way – so I chose the salute to make this silent, but powerful statement.
“I was very scared because I had received death threats even before the salute. I had to go through a lot, but never regretted what I did. I see myself now as a world educator – after all, there are kids everywhere.” |
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