Process Paper

When deciding our project, we wanted something that was thoroughly interesting as well

as relatable to us. Both of us are athletes, so our goal was to find a stand centered around sports,

but that also made a cultural impact. After seeing many modern day sports protests, we decided

to relate athletic protests back to important events in history, one including the civil rights

movement. While we were researching, two particular people stood out: Tommie Smith and John

Carlos. The sprinters had made significant differences through their work, and the effects of their

stand are still seen today.

Our approach to researching was learning primarily about the time period (the 1968

Olympics and the Civil Rights movement) and similar protests throughout history leading up to

present day. We looked at books about the 1968 Olympics and the Civil Rights Movement, read

part of Carloss and Smiths memoirs, and looked at historical reactions and reflections in

relation to their stand. The combination of these materials gave us an overview on Carloss and

Smiths true work and impact. Additionally, we looked into other stands, our primary tool for this

being news reports and biographies written by historians.

We decided to present our project in a website format because both of us have had

significant experience using weebly websites for other school projects and we have created

websites for organizations we have been a part of. We knew that our prior experience with these

types of websites would allow us to enhance our project. In order to create our project, we

gathered as many photos from the time as we could in order to create a visual representation of

the stand, as well as many primary and secondary accounts of the event that would serve to be

useful in conveying the protest.

 Our project relates very closely to the NHD theme because we chose two people who

took a stand for something they believed in. Not only did they take a stand, but they also

managed to have an everlasting effect on the way people protested and in the way people began

to view civil rights. By taking their protest to a stage as big as the Olympics, this caused people

to realize that the rights of all people no matter the race was truly important. Smith and Carlos

caused other people to start speaking out against the injustices being directed towards the people

of the African American Race. Even though at the time there was little change, by simply

sparking the conversation, this has continued to cause more change in public perception with

regard to social injustice.