The Tommie Smith & John Carlos Statue - San Jose, CA
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Outspoken1
N 37° 20.130 W 121° 52.952
10S E 598990 N 4132677
This 23' (7m) mosaic statue is also a 'stand-by-me' as encouraged by the artist, Rigo 23. Both of the athletes were San Jose College alumni.
Waymark Code: WM15H6P
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 01/06/2022
Views: 9
The platform where second place winner Peter Norman (Australia) is empty (per Mr. Norman's request. However the artist does note that Mr. Norman did stand with the two American athletes in solidarity during the 1968 Olympics. This piece is HUGE and I am short.
The plaque reads: "At the Mexico City 1968 Olympics games San Jose State university student athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos stood for dignity, equality and peace. Hereby the University Associated Students commemorate their legacy. October 16, 2005." The protest by John Carlos and Tommie Smith during the 1968 Summer Games in Mexico resulted in their expulsion from the Olympics. It has been played as a poignant film clip in every Olympic since then.
Designed by artist Rigo 23, the sculpture depicts the moment when Smith and Carlos took their stand for human rights, a silent protest that was seen around the world. The figures are clothed in hand-cut ceramic tiles, modeled in fiberglass and sustained by a steel structure. Their likenesses are cast in bronze. Besides the innovative use of the materials, Rigo used state-of-the-art 3D scanning technology and computer-assisted virtual imaging to take actual full-body scans of the athletes.
The statue is made from hand-cut ceramic tiles and modeled in fiber glass. Their heads and arms are cast in bronze.
The second place podium remains empty for visitors to “take a stand” for human rights (at least, that was my [author's] interpretation).
Other than the symbolic black glove and walking bare feet with a Puma shoe on the side, the other controversial object was the human rights badge seen by Carlos and Peter Norman of Australia, who finished second.
Norman quoted he was disgusted by his own country’s government’s White Australia policy, which ended in 1975, seven years after this protest. Needless to say, he was not popular with Australia’s Olympic authorities nor the Australian media. Kudos to Peter Norman for taking a stand.
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