Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes incidents of racial discrimination and violence present in the source text.

Much of Tommie Smith’s legacy has to do with the way that he was blacklisted by the International Olympic Committee after he and John Carlos raised their fists in 1968. Prior to this moment, Tommie is acutely aware that this action will have consequences, and he emphasizes this awareness and his related anxiety from the start of his memoir: “If we did what we had planned, there was no telling what the backlash would be” (4). The graphic memoir sets up the tension between not only the struggle for equal rights in the mid-20th century but also the costs of being an activist, which, as Tommie engages more and more with protests, become real threats to his safety, livelihood, and ability to care for his family.

While this memoir focuses on Tommie and his story, it also includes moments and stories that give readers not only historical context but also a sense of what informed his decisions and perspective. Stories like that of John Lewis or the three young men killed because they were helping African Americans register to vote in Mississippi illustrate how activists were treated by the majority of society, despite the fact that they were working for justice.