Silent Gesture

At the 1968 Olympics, Tommie Smith came in first in the 200-meter dash. As they received their medals, he and bronze winner John Carlos each raised a black-gloved fist, creating an indelible image of courage and protest that still resonates forty years later. In this, his autobiography, Smith fills out the story of that moment -- how it came to be and where it led him, and paints a vivid picture of the long, painful backlash that came with his fame, and his fate. all of which was rapped up in his "silent gesture."