Intended Audience
Trade
LCCN
2006-051455
Reviews
"What is the worth of this book? I believe it to be one that accurately portrays Tommie Smith's life and Olympic ordeal....We have waited a long time for this book. The result is worth the delay....Silent Gesture provides, by far, the most powerful punctuation mark in explaining one of the most historic of all Olympic moments." --Olympika: The International Journal of Olympic Studies, "An important entry in the history of track and field and African American studies."Library Journal"The book offers insights into Smith's athletic prowess....When he describes the physical sensations of running -- the paradoxical relaxation of muscles required to explode out of the blocks, the adrenaline that floods the body as a sprinter takes the get-set position and the stride-by-stride account of the 1968 gold medal race -- Smith's narrative surges to life. A major aim of the book is to explain the motivation behind the silent gesture, but Smith isn't interested in trenchant political analysis...Readers of Silent Gesture will be left with a stark impression of the toll Smith paid for speaking out against racism. He views his autobiography as his last, desperate chance to pull himself out of the 'muck and mire he's been stuck in since the Mexico City Olympics.' Smith never expresses regret for having taken his controversial stand." The Washington Post"Smith's account is told in simple but eloquent fashion, tempered by a healthy dose of irony and humor. He never romanticizes his actions, but rightfully acknowledges their powerful social impact." Smooth, "[H]is experiences at the Olympics [are] described so vividly that readers will feel as if they're witnessing it unfold themselves...Smith's candid reflections on life after Mexico City is compelling. Most striking, though, are revelations about the stresses he endured before the 1968 race. For Smith, at 24, to have not only won the gold, but to have issued his anything-but-silent gesture from the world's biggest stage, makes his story all the more extraordinary." -Black Issues Book Review, "An important entry in the history of track and field and African American studies." Library Journal "The book offers insights into Smith's athletic prowess....When he describes the physical sensations of running -- the paradoxical relaxation of muscles required to explode out of the blocks, the adrenaline that floods the body as a sprinter takes the get-set position and the stride-by-stride account of the 1968 gold medal race -- Smith's narrative surges to life. A major aim of the book is to explain the motivation behind the silent gesture, but Smith isn't interested in trenchant political analysis...Readers of Silent Gesture will be left with a stark impression of the toll Smith paid for speaking out against racism. He views his autobiography as his last, desperate chance to pull himself out of the 'muck and mire he's been stuck in since the Mexico City Olympics.' Smith never expresses regret for having taken his controversial stand." The Washington Post "Smith's account is told in simple but eloquent fashion, tempered by a healthy dose of irony and humor. He never romanticizes his actions, but rightfully acknowledges their powerful social impact." Smooth "Read Silent Gesture for the story of an athlete who grabbed a chance to make a difference." The Seattle Medium "The reader is given a good sense of his family's small-town home in Texas...Smith's book doesn't lack for honesty." Bookforum "Smith's candid reflections on life after Mexico City is compelling...Most striking, though, are revelations about the stresses he endured before the 1968 race...For Smith, at 24, to have not only won the gold, but to have issued his anything-but-silent gesture from the world's biggest stage, makes his story all the more extraordinary." Black Issues Book Review "With the help of Steele, Smith offers a well-documented and clearly written story behind the memorable 1968 Olympic moment...Extensive background information about Smith's life before, during and after the 'silent gesture' provides understanding and insight about an Olympic image that will endure forever. Clearly presenting the fears, the disappointments, the triumphs, and the hopes, then and now, that the raised black fists represented in 1968, this book offers a wealth of information that will help the reader understand the deep-rooted meaning of the gesture and the impact it continues to have almost 40 years later. CHOICE August 2007"What is the worth of this book? I believe it to be one that accurately portrays Tommie Smith's life and Olympic ordeal....We have waited a long time for this book. The result is worth the delay....Silent Gesture provides, by far, the most powerful punctuation mark in explaining one of the most historic of all Olympic moments." Olympika: The International Journal of Olympic Studies "Smith's stories of his ostracized life post-1968 Olympics offer historians another opportunity to consider the multiple ways memory shapes the popular narrative.... Smith uses his book as an opportunity to tell his truth...[which is] engaging." The Journal of Sport History, "What is the worth of this book? I believe it to be one that accurately portrays Tommie Smith's life and Olympic ordeal….We have waited a long time for this book. The result is worth the delay….Silent Gesture provides, by far, the most powerful punctuation mark in explaining one of the most historic of all Olympic moments." -Olympika: The International Journal of Olympic Studies, "[H]is experiences at the Olympics [are] described so vividly that readers will feel as if they're witnessing it unfold themselves...Smith's candid reflections on life after Mexico City is compelling. Most striking, though, are revelations about the stresses he endured before the 1968 race. For Smith, at 24, to have not only won the gold, but to have issued his anything-but-silent gesture from the world's biggest stage, makes his story all the more extraordinary." --Black Issues Book Review
Dewey Edition
22
Dewey Decimal
796.42092 B
Table Of Content
Foreword 1: Welcome Home - 1 2: October 16, 1968 - 26 3: Out of the Fields - 55 4: The Biggest City I've Ever Seen - 95 5: Run Before You Walk - 123 6: The Coach and the Professor - 147 7: Linked Forever - 147 8: No Gold, No Glove - 190 9: Paying the Price - 220 10: Going Underground - 247 11: Families Lost, and Found - 268 12: It Will Outlive Me - 296 Epilogue: Silent and Eternal - 324 Acknowledgements About the Authors
Synopsis
The picture of Smith raising his black-gloved right fist at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics is one of the most enduring sports images of the 20th century. Nearly 40 years later, he details what the gesture symbolized for him and reveals what his life has been since., n 1968, Tommie Smith and his teammate John Carlos won the gold and silver medals, respectively, for the 200 meter dash.a Receiving their medals on the dais, they raised their fists and froze a moment in time that will forever be remembered as a powerful day of protest.a In this, his autobiography, Smith tells the story of that moment, and of his life before and after it, to explain what that moment meant to him.a In "Silent Gesture," Smith recounts his life before and after the 1968 Olympics: his life-long commitment to athletics, education, and human rights.a He dispels some of the myths surrounding his and Carlos' act on the dais -- contrary to legend, Smith wasn't a member of the Black Panthers, but a member of the US Olympic Project for Human Rights -- and describes in detail the planning and risks involved in his protest.a Smith also details his many years after Mexico City of devotion to human rights, athletics, and education.a A unique resource for anyone concerned with international sports, history, and the African American experience, "Silent Gesture" contributes a complete picture of one of the most famous moments in sports history, and of a man whose actions always matched his words.", At the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Tommie Smith and his teammate John Carlos came in first and third, respectively, in the 200-meter dash. As they received their medals, each man raised a black-gloved fist, creating an image that will always stand as an iconic representation of the complicated conflations of race, politics, and sports. In this, his autobiography, Smith fills out the story around that moment--how it came to be and where it led him. Smith engagingly describes his life-long commitment to athletics, education, and human rights. He also dispels some of the myths surrounding his famous gesture of protest: contrary to legend, Smith was not a member of the Black Panthers, nor were his medals taken back by the Olympic Committee. Retelling the fear he felt in planning and carrying out his protest, the death threats against him, his difficulty in finding work, and his determination to live his values, he conveys the long, painful backlash that came with his fame, and his fate, all of which was wrapped up in his "silent gesture."
LC Classification Number
GV697.S65A3 2007