What: An evening with John Carlos: The Conversation Continues
When: Monday March 2, 2015
Time: 6:30PM Speaking Engagement | 7:15PM Film Screening
Where: Innis Town Hall, 2 Sussex Avenue
(Toronto) February 17, 2015. Hart House in partnership with the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, the Anti-Racism and Cultural Diversity Office and the Multi Faith Centre for Spiritual Study and Practice present John Carlos, athlete activist, social justice innovator. Dr. John Carlos is best known for his championship both on and off the track. His raised his fist along with that of Tommie Smith’s on the podium of the 1968 Olympic medal ceremony in Mexico City turned the sport world on its ear. In a spectacular moment of solidarity, John Carlos’s raised gloved fist at once signified an expression against oppression, a rallying cry for equity and a symbolic gesture of black power in the turbulent age of American civil rights movement.
DR. JOHN CARLOS is an African American former track and field athlete and professional football player, and a founding member of the Olympic Project for Human Rights. He won the bronze-medal in the 200 meters race at the 1968 Summer Olympics, where his Black Power salute on the podium with Tommie Smith caused much political controversy. He went on to equal the world record in the 100 yard dash and beat the 200 meters world record. After his track career, he enjoyed brief stints in the National Football League and Canadian Football League but retired due to injury. He became involved with the United States Olympic Committee and helped to organize the 1984 Summer Olympics. He later became a track coach at a high school in Palm Springs, where he now resides. He was inducted into the USA Track & Field Hall of Fame in 2003. (haymarketbooks.org)
Salute: The Movie The Black Power salute at the 1968 Mexico Olympics was an iconic moment in the US civil rights movement. What part did the white Australian who ran second play and what price did these athletes pay for standing up for their beliefs?
Michelle Brownrigg
Director, Physical Activity and Equity
[email protected]
416 978 5514