Fifty eight years ago, San Jose State Olympians Tommie Smith and John Carlos bowed their heads and raised their black-gloved fists on the medal stand at the Mexico City Olympics — a gesture meant to protest a humanitarian issue. For that symbolic move on Oct. 16, 1968, they were hounded from the Games and largely shunned by the university they represented when they returned home.
It took decades for San Jose State to acknowledge it was on the wrong side of history at that moment. The U.S. Olympic Committee and the Olympics themselves can acknowledge the same thing with their own gesture: Tommie Smith and John Carlos should at least be carrying the Olympic torch in 2028 if not lighting the cauldron together at the opening ceremonies in Los Angeles.
Dr. John Carlos speaks with Ma’Kayla Akin, Associated Students President, about standing up for human rights during the 1968 Mexico City Olympics at San Jose State in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Despite the treatment he faced in 1968, Carlos did not hesitate to say he would be honored to do so.
“It wouldn’t be a political move. I think it’s a humanitarian statement, and as powerful now as being in that victory stand raising our fists,” Carlos said Wednesday after an event honoring the Spartan legends in front of the statue on campus that pays tribute to their historic moment.
Assemblymember Ash Kalra, speaking at Wednesday’s event alongside Assemblymembers Isaac Bradley and Mia Bonta, said Carlos and Smith should be raised up in celebration at the Los Angeles Games, which will take place 60 years after the protest.
“As we bring the Olympics back to California, as Tommie Smith and John Carlos were vilified 60 years earlier, we’re going to celebrate them and celebrate the stand they took and celebrate the Olympic project for human rights,” said Kalra, who keeps a photo of Smith and Carlos in his office for inspiration and to remind himself that doing the right thing sometimes takes sacrifice. Silver medalist Peter Norman, who died in 2006, wore an Olympic Project for Human Rights badge on the medal stand and later faced heavy criticism when he returned home to Australia.
Dr. Kiamsha Bynes shakes hands with Dr. John Carlos at San Jose State in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
SJSU marching band performs before a panel speaks to Dr. John Carlos, who took a brave political stance for human rights during the 1968 Mexico City Olympics on October 16, at San Jose State in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
President of San Jose State Dr. Cynthia Teniente-Matson speaks before a panel asks questions to John Carlos at San Jose State in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Dr. John Carlos, center, sits before speaking during a panel at San Jose State in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
A replica of the badge Dr. Tommie Smith and Dr. John Carlos wore while standing on the podium during the 1968 Olympics at San Jose State in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Tianna Madison, two-time Olympian with three gold medals, waves to the crowd before speaking during a panel at San Jose State in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Dr. John Carlos signs a book titled “The John Carlos Story” at San Jose State in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Former SJSU track and field athletes George Carty, left, Cleveland Prince, right, smile at San Jose State in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. Carty won an NCAA Championship and was teammates with Tommie Smith and John Carlos. Prince was an All-American and captain of the SJSU track team during the 1981 season. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Bethany Donaphin, WNBA Head of League Operations, speaks at San Jose State in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Dr. Shaun Fletcher speaks before a panel asks questions to Dr. John Carlos, who took a brave political stance for human rights during the 1968 Mexico City Olympics on October 16, at San Jose State in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
George Carty, who won an NCAA championship with SJSU and was teammates with Dr. Tommie Smith and Dr. John Carlos, shows his ring at San Jose State in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
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Dr. Kiamsha Bynes shakes hands with Dr. John Carlos at San Jose State in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Smith and Carlos’ actions, Kalra said, sparked “activism in a generation like mine to be able to look back and say, ‘If they stood up during times that were much more challenging than today, I can stand up today.’ “
Carlos, however, had to acknowledge that he’s 81 years old and the 2028 Olympics are nearly two years away. Smith, who set a world record in the 200 to win gold in Mexico City, is 82 and was unable to attend Wednesday’s event because he is recovering from a medical issue. San Jose State President Cynthia Teniente-Matson said she is hopeful he will be able to make it to other commemorative events this week, including a Smith and Carlos Day celebration at the Janet Gray Hayes Rotunda at San Jose City Hall on Friday night.
That event, “Living Legends: An Evening of Courage, Legacy and Impact,” is being organized by the African American Community Services Agency and San Jose Councilmember Anthony Tordillos’ office. The city proclaimed Oct. 16 as Tommie Smith and John Carlos Day in 2024 but established no annual celebration, so this is hopefully the start of a tradition.
Wednesday’s campus event was a good example of the importance of passing that knowledge on as it included a panel with Carlos speaking with Associated Students President Ma’kayla Akin, who is the first Black woman to hold that position at SJSU, and Black Student Union President Lyric Lubin. Both women recalled talking to their grandmothers about Carlos and Smith and the significance of the Olympic protest that happened decades before they were born.
Carlos said some people didn’t understand the purpose of the Olympic Project for Human Rights, organized by Harry Edwards and Ken Noel (who was in attendance Wednesday).
“We wanted to let them know that we were the umbrella for individuals to step up for humanity. This wasn’t a Black Power movement. This was a humanitarian movement,” Carlos said. “They said it was Black Power because we were Black; I could deal with that. But in actuality it was a humanitarian issue concerning all individuals in this world.”
There is no better way for the Olympic movement to acknowledge that than to ask Tommie Smith and John Carlos to light the Olympic flame and receive the applause they deserved in 1968.
HEALTHY OUTLOOK: Some 229,900 Latinos and Hispanics will be diagnosed with cancer this year, according to statistics released by the American Cancer Society, and 54,200 of them will die, with breast cancer remaining the most commonly diagnosed among Latinas. Statistics like those are why Latinas Contra Cancer is bringing together patients, healthcare leaders and advocates on Saturday for its annual Cancer Summit, “Our Community. Our Care. Our Voice.”
The event, which is open to the public, will take place from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Vietnamese American Service Center in San Jose, with a keynote address by actress and advocate Annie Gonzalez and the presentation of the Esperanza Award to Dr. Angelica Cortez and LEAD Filipino. Get more details at latinascontracancer.org.
COOL CATS: Brian Christensen dropped me a line about the Los Gatos Class of 1976 holding its 50th anniversary reunion a couple of weekends ago. More than 75 members of that year’s graduating class gathered Oct. 3 for a group photo on the lawn in front of the school and later connected for dinner and games at Campo di Bocce in Los Gatos.