Adventures with Dr. Lady Cutie Troublemaker

Life is in flux BIG TIME these days. I want to keep in touch with all of my peeps. The Internet is this beautiful thing. I can move to a brand new city and still stay in easy, near-daily contact with the people I love. When I feel connected to the people in my life that matter, I am unstoppable!

Picture #33: 1968 Black Power Saluters Celebrate Obama’s Inauguration

By Abby at 4:45 pm on Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Did you happen to see The Boston Globe’s photo essay of yesterday’s inauguration of President Obama? I did. It’s amazing. One picture in particular stood out to me.

It was taken by Stan Grossfeld of the Boston Globe. Here’s the caption:

40 years after their silent protest at the 1968 Olympics, Gold Medalist Tommie Smith hugs Bronze Medalist John Carlos, and their wives Delois Smith and Charlene Carlos after Barack Obama is officially sworn in as the President of the United States. Photo taken in the Smith room at the Sheraton Boston in Boston, MA.

Zik, Another fellow Twitterer, noticed that picture, too. It was enough for me to think it was worth a blog post for anyone who missed the point of that picture in the photo essay today.

I wasn’t born in 1968, but my parents were there at the Olympics that year, and I’ve heard so much about this silent protest and the controversy it caused – both from them and from documentaries of the civil rights movement and the Olympics.

I found some history here for those who don’t know the story:

It was the most popular medal ceremony of all time. The photographs of two black American sprinters standing on the medal podium with heads bowed and fists raised at the Mexico City Games in 1968 not only represent one of the most memorable moments in Olympic history but a milestone in America’s civil rights movement.

The two men were Tommie Smith and John Carlos. Teammates at San Jose State University, Smith and Carlos were stirred by the suggestion of a young sociologist friend Harry Edwards, who asked them and all the other black American athletes to join together and boycott the games. The protest, Edwards hoped, would bring attention to the fact that America’s civil rights movement had not gone far enough to eliminate the injustices black Americans were facing. Edwards’ group, the Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR), gained support from several world-class athletes and civil rights leaders but the all-out boycott never materialized.

Still impassioned by Edwards’ words, Smith and Carlos secretly planned a non-violent protest in the manner of Martin Luther King, Jr. In the 200-meter race, Smith won the gold medal and Carlos the bronze. As the American flag rose and the Star-Spangled Banner played, the two closed their eyes, bowed their heads, and began their protest.

Smith later told the media that he raised his right, black-glove-covered fist in the air to represent black power in America while Carlos’ left, black-covered fist represented unity in black America. Together they formed an arch of unity and power. The black scarf around Smith’s neck stood for black pride and their black socks (and no shoes) represented black poverty in racist America.

While the protest seems relatively tame by today’s standards, the actions of Smith and Carlos were met with such outrage that they were suspended from their national team and banned from the Olympic Village, the athletes’ home during the games.

A lot of people thought that political statements had no place in the supposedly apolitical Olympic Games. Those that opposed the protest cried out that the actions were militant and disgraced Americans. Supporters, on the other hand, were moved by the duo’s actions and praised them for their bravery. The protest had lingering effects for both men, the most serious of which were death threats against them and their families.

Smith and Carlos, who both now coach high school track teams, were honored in 1998 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of their protest.

An interesting side note to the protest was that the 200m silver medallist in 1968, Peter Norman of Australia (who is white), participated in the protest that evening by wearing a OPHR badge.

More information can be found on Wikipedia.

BBC has a great documentary about the event. Here’s Part One. The rest are linked below the video:

Here are links to Part 1 through Part 6:

I guess Obama’s win was enough for them to end their bickering.

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Jake and Miss North Carolina in the Sunday Paper

By Abby at 8:09 pm on Sunday, January 18, 2009

I’ve been working and shooting pictures and twittering rather than blogging lately. I blog when I feel like it, so that means constantly or never, depending on my mood. I’m fine with that. Breaking the blog silence to share a really cute picture of Jake that was in the N&O this morning:

That's my boy!

That’s him with Miss North Carolina. The picture was taken back in the summer, before we were dating. At the time, Jake blogged about the experience on his blog.

There’s video of the event, too:

If you watch and listen carefully around 47 seconds in, you can see me walk past and hear me say, “Fairy”! I had just spotted my friend Fairy Brutal of the Carolina Rollergirls!

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From the Parental Office in the Woods of North Georgia

By Abby at 9:43 am on Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Got an email from my Dad yesterday that I must share with the world:

So, on the 26th after you left, I took a nap and put off going to Stump Hill until Saturday, the 27th. I drove my truck there on Saturday which was fine. On the 28th, I got in my truck and it was “missing” and an ominous light came on on the dashboard, shaped like an engine. I turned it off. The next morning, Al followed me as my truck limped and sputtered to Jasper Jeep where it still sits. Later that day, they called and said I might want to call my insurance company. Seems that a rat/mouse/squirrel/possum had moved in on Saturday night and built a nest.

Fortunately, I have full coverage for rodent attacks on my truck, because it was a $2000 nest that the rat/mouse/squirrel/ possum had created on Saturday night. I’m now locally famous as the most recent such victim. Every time I tell this story, more people appear who have been similarly afflicted. The guy at Jasper Jeep says it happens a lot, particularly on cold nights. I told him that I preferred calling it a possum attack for aesthetic reasons, but they were adamant that it was either a rat or a “very industrious field mouse.”

I’m thinking of starting a Support Group…

He provided a picture, too!

rats

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