“Now, I say to you today my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: – ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’ “
Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Speech at the Civil Rights March on Washington, August 28, 1963
WHEN January 8, 1971
WHERE CYO Invitational, Cole Field House, University of Maryland
WHAT 500 yard event (176y banked wood track)
WHO Lee Evans (San Jose State) 1st place, 54.4 sec (new World Record) followed by Martin McGrady (Ohio International TC; known as the “Chairman of the Boards” for the 600y distance)
BACKGROUND STORY – The 1968 Olympic Protest in Mexico City was a reflection of a two decades long struggle by 
African Americans to achieve equality in civil rights. The “black power” salute (photo) by Tommie Smith (Gold) and John Carlos (Bronze; photo with Lee Evans) at the 200m Award Ceremony is regarded as the most overt political statement in the history of modern Olympics. Peter Norman (Australia; Silver) supported the Olympic Project For Human Rights, formed by Lee Evans, Tommie Smith (San Jose State) and Professor Harry Edwards (University of California. Berkeley). At one point the OPHR advocated the complete boycott of the ’68 Olympics by black athletes. At Mexico City, Lee Evans set a World Record (43.86) and placed first in an American sweep of the 400m event. Evans, Larry James and Ron Freeman wore black berets when receiving their medals.
Post Assembled by John Goegel
Photos (Lee Evans) – John Goegel
