"On the evening of October 16, 1968, at the Olympic Games in Mexico City, over 50,000 live spectators and a television audience of 400 million are witnessing one of the most poignant moments in Olympic and Black history.

The men's 200 meter dash had just concluded with a world and Olympic record performance. The top three finishers were escorted to the victory stand for the playing of the U.S. national anthem and the awarding of the medals. As the "Star Spangled Banner" played, two Black Olympic medalists, Tommie Smith and John Carlos are standing at attention, solemnly wearing their U.S.A. warm-up uniforms. Smith was wearing the gold medal, and Carlos the bronze. Their heads are bowed, and they are standing shoeless, with their pant legs rolled up, to reveal their socks.

Each man is standing silently, yet defiantly, with a single arm thrust high into the air. They are wearing a single black leather glove on the fists of their raised arm.

The medal awards ceremony for the men's 200-meter dash began to take on an almost surrealistic look. The images of these two powerful athletes, with heads bowed, and each with a black-gloved hand, raised in a black-power salute, is a lasting picture, which will change the image of the black athlete forever."

--excerpt from the Exhibition Statement