1968+38

One of my students sent me this photo of himself
and the statue of Tommie Smith and John Carlos on
the San Jose State University campus.
He did what the inscription suggests:
climbed up and took a stand.

Those giant Pumas (the tennis shoes, I mean)
are part of the monument, by the way.
Smith and Carlos stood there in their socks in 1968,
representing the poverty of the American Negro.
They also had olive branches under their arms,
as signs of peace.

The kid in the picture is named Mandela.
(He actually is.)