8.08.2008

The third man on the podium: A 'Salute' to '68 Olympic protester Peter Norman

In my post the other day about the 1968 Olympic protests by Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who raised their fists in a "black power" salute on the awards dais, I neglected to mention the third man in the picture. That was a mistake. His name was Peter Norman, he was an Australian runner, and he ended up destroying his athletic career for standing for principle and consciously joining in the protest over injustice and racism.

Norman is the subject of a new film directed by the late athlete's nephew, Matt Norman, called Salute, which has been airing on all flights into Beijing on Australia's Qantas airlines. The trailer:

No comments: