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Silent Gesture: The Autobiography of Tommie Smith (Sporting)

Silent Gesture: The Autobiography of Tommie Smith (Sporting)

by David Steele (Author), David Steele (Author), Tommie Smith (Author)

  • New

    Illustrated 2008

    $26.91
Synopsis

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.

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More Information

Format: Illustrated
 Pages: 288
 Edition: Illustrated
 Publisher: Temple University Press
Published: 04 Jun 2008
ISBN 10: 1592136400
ISBN 13: 9781592136407
Book Overview: The story of the most famous protest in sports history, written by one of the men who staged it

Media Reviews
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