Olympian's Visit Significant Milestone for City, Fellowship Open Event

August 17, 2018

They call him “Doctor” Smith these days. 50 summers ago that was far from the case. 1968 Olympic champion and new world record holder Tommie Smith was expelled from the village, banned from the games and stripped of his gold medal. He was threatened, repudiated, and ostracized as a traitor and disloyal dissident, an un-American of the highest order. Over the next five decades, however, Smith’s “Silent Gesture” would evolve as the iconic origin of the Black Power movement and gain legitimacy as the precise moment in time when the call for social justice, instantaneous access to the universal audience, and the power of athletic achievement collided. Dr. Smith arrives in Milwaukee this weekend to celebrate the accomplishments of the Fellowship Open golf tournament, signaling a significant milestone in the history of this event.

2018 Banner Year

That Smith would choose to visit Milwaukee on the 50 Anniversary of the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games is noteworthy in testimony to the enormous success of the Fellowship Open. Conceptualized in 2000, the Fellowship Open vision inspired an initial core group of corporate citizens and community stakeholders to come together and actualize a strategic, forward-thinking, youth-focused, leadership development blueprint. Over the last 18 years, the event has grown exponentially to annual “SOLD OUT” status and sustained corporate sponsorship, positively impacting literally hundreds of Milwaukee’s young people. It is one of the most successful and well-attended events of its kind in the entire region.

The initiative has spawned an alliance of corporate and community organizations producing a collaboration of companies unlike any other anywhere. The MKE Fellows program – a core Fellowship Open initiative – gained national recognition from President Obama in 2015 and this year the golf event surpasses $2 million raised and awarded, and over 100 organizations served and supported. The measurable progress in the development of Wisconsin’s next generation of leaders is bona fide and incubating under the guidance and direction of team Fellowship Open. If there were a gold medal for achievement in community and corporate partnerships, the Fellowship Open would be the world class champion.

Power of Sports

Because days ago, the President of the United States was publicly engaged in social commentary criticizing LeBron James, one of the NBA’s most recognizable and respected players, Dr. Smith’s visit to Milwaukee is particularly relevant. Because this week and this season the NFL’s new policy governing player behavior that promises retribution and penalty to individuals and teams that do not comply – a policy testing an individual’s right to peaceful protest seemingly destined for the Supreme Court if enforced – Smith’s opinion and perspective are dramatically relevant. Because just this past weekend, controversial wide receiver Randy Moss was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame and chose to wear a necktie displaying the names of a dozen African American men and women who have died at the hands of police, and has since received death threats for his silent gesture, Smith’s place in the conversation is still vibrantly relevant and compulsory. Off the fields, courts, diamonds, and tracks the world over, athletes are seizing the microphone, the camera, and the moment to deliver their own messages. Empowered to speak, motivated by deteriorating conditions, fueled by their followings, they have gained presence, entitlement, and a place of influence due largely to the men upon whose shoulders they stand, Tommie Smith and John Carlos.

The image of Smith and Carlos atop the Olympic podium – heads bowed humbly, feet clad in black socks, shoeless symbolizing the inhumane conditions of poverty in communities across America, fists black-gloved, clenched, and thrust defiantly into the Mexican sky – will indelibly be etched in the minds of millions as the universal birth of the Black Power salute. The stage, illuminated by the brightest of global spotlights, was the 1968 Olympic Games 200 meter individual medal ceremony. Ubiquitously speaking, it doesn’t get much bigger than that. World-wide reaction was volatile and immediate. They were expelled and sent home by the US Olympic Committee, banned for life and vilified publicly for years following the Games. They endured unceasing criticism and denunciation for their famed protest, the image of which Sports Illustrated has reported is “the most reproduced image in the history of the Olympics”.

Historically Disenfranchised

1968 was a defining year for the civil rights movement. The assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., escalating worldwide protests against the war in Viet Nam, violent clashes between police and protesters in communities and on streets across America had split families, communities, and countries. Amidst this social and political backdrop, the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City hoped to serve as a time of escape from unrest by unifying athletes under the banner of sports and diversity. The Games, in their purity, were purposefully apolitical, free from exhibition and politicization. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) sought to refrain from controversy and focus solely on athletic competition but widespread inhumane conditions and social injustice proved to be too much to ignore when the stage and opportunity presented itself to Tommie Smith.

It was under these circumstances and within this framework that Smith’s spontaneous demonstration sprung forth. From the classrooms of San Jose State University and tutelage of sociologist and noted civil rights activist, Dr. Harry Edwards, to the training regimen and discipline required in preparation to set world records, through the Olympic journey itself as one of America’s premier African American athletes, Smith’s first place finish afforded him the spotlight on the podium in Mexico City.  His personal expedition of perseverance, from achievement to notoriety to recognition, is gripping. He and devoted wife Delois have been touring internationally reflecting upon what happened in 1968 – its significance and his role in it – because the world wants to hear and seeks to understand. While athletes raising their fists and voices, taking knees, staying in locker rooms, and speaking out in protest are now common expressions of social activism, the argument decrying the use of sports for political or social commentary is far from resolved. Purists who see sport as sacred and athletic competition as apolitical will be hard pressed to acknowledge or respect an athlete’s right to use that platform for complaint.

However, the undeniable magnitude of the athletic stage was shown horrifically and solidified in infamy when only four years later the world witnessed the evolution of political and social unrest “live and in living color” from Munich, West Germany. During the 1972 Olympics, eight Palestinian terrorists entered and occupied the Olympic Village. 11 Israeli Olympic athletes were taken hostage and killed. Five Palestinians died along with one local police officer. The “Munich Massacre” as it’s come to be known, a protest in response to alleged social and political atrocities, changed the course of the Olympics and the sports world forever.

Traitor or Patriot

In point of fact, Dr. Smith was a world champion. And for the record, he was no champion of the average variety. Tommie Smith’s pure athletic accomplishment was never denied but never really acknowledged with the true merit it deserved. Smith was the first man in history to break the 20 second barrier in the 200 meters. To reach that level of performance, to peak at that time and in that place suggests inspired achievement and providential karma. Imagine the time and effort devoted to training and preparing to race, all the while trying to weather the storm of social injustice racing inside his head. Moved by a growing awareness of the beleaguered conditions and institutionalized racism in his own country and community, Smith chose to run, win and speak silently. 50 years later, his silence still resonates clearly.

What did the “Silent Gesture” – not unintentionally the title of Smith’s autobiography – mean, now and then? At that moment, in the pre-internet, pre-ESPN, ABC sports network monopoly of 1968, it revealed with stunning immediacy the force and influence of the athletic stage. Instant reaction exposed the enormity of their universal audience and their ability to be heard unfiltered. It unlocked the doors and released the floodgates for athletes in all sports of all genders and political persuasions to go beyond the medals, trophies, and accolades when conditions in their respective countries and communities needed to be addressed. Many of their own governments were guilty of racism and discrimination. Peter Norman, silver medalist on the podium that day in Mexico City, felt the wrath back home in Australia where he returned to hostility and retribution for his protest until his death in 2006. Poignantly, both Smith and Carlos traveled to Norman’s memorial service to serve as pallbearers.

And now, with 50 summers of retrospection, that gesture is considered to be the moment that bridged sports and politics, athletics and activism. Colin Kaepernick, the NFL/Owner conundrum, the President’s “Respect the Anthem” decree – perhaps Tommie Smith could speak to these matters. What would he say to the NFL, the owners, and the athletes whose personal decision on how and where to protest will be scrutinized in the coming days? Civil liberties and individual rights will be put to the test on the field and in the locker room. questions remain for future Olympians, too. Many from downtrodden neighborhoods, oppressive conditions, and blighted communities, today’s athletes must weigh the possibility of reprisal versus their own role in addressing injustice and human rights. Their choice of when to speak out may affect their careers or paychecks but Tommie Smith would say the opportunity to deliver a compelling message from the winner’s platform should outweigh individual gain. The maturing population of Generation X’ers, Y’ers, and Millennials are wrestling with the value of the human condition versus their own accomplishments and pocket books. Never will a clearer definition of individualism versus the “Village” concept emerge based on real world needs and real time conditions.

Opportunity or Dilemma

Doesn’t the human condition seem more of a compelling reason to abandon traditional protocols and use whatever means is available to identify and address inequity and injustice while seeking solutions for those who need it most? Those most affected by basic survival needs like housing, food, shelter, safety, access to health services, educational, vocational and employment opportunities, etc., have become increasingly disenfranchised, measurably homeless, ferociously territorial, and more diverse than ever.  In truth, they need the voices of the athletes, spokespeople and world record setters who have witnessed and embraced their own right to protest the unrighteous and unjust on their own terms. While the story is fascinating as it unfolds, the potential outcome is profoundly uncertain and fraught with dark consequences. Where will we be 50 summers from today, 2068, 100 years removed from those clenched, black-gloved fists, thrust defiantly skyward? Will we be in a better place?  Will athletic accomplishment have served to move a common agenda forward or will we have collapsed into disrepair, fragmented into exclusion and segregation, deteriorated into chaos and turmoil? What mark will today’s athlete leave on the world stage? What responsibility does today’s athlete have in seeing the world and championing the causes of justice and equality? What must be done to preserve, restore, and ensure the rights freedom suggests? Can sports and politics peacefully coexist? Is athletic competition absolved from social responsibility?

I wonder what Tommie thinks…

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Billy Young is former General Manager/Air Personality at 1290 WMCS. A 28-year basketball referee, he’s officiated the Wisconsin State Tournament five times. He relocated to the west coast in 2012 and worked the Los Angeles City D1 Championship this past season. Young is a co-director of the Fellowship Open Golf Tournament.