Summary

Smith's book opens at Estadio Olímpico Universitario in Ciudad Universitaria with a drawing of a large stadium. There are illustrations of a young Black man getting ready to run a race. He is nervous because he knows that nothing in the past matters anymore. What happens today is all that matters, and everything has to be perfect. The runner, Tommie Smith, pulled a muscle in the semifinals, and at the time of the injury, he wondered if he had been shot. After all, he had been getting threats against his life. Now he knows he needs to finish his race in under 20 seconds as he wonders “whether I had enough strength and speed to outrun a hail of bullets” (5).

Chapter 1 reveals that Tommie grew up in Acworth, TX in a poor family with 14 children. The family has very...