With fists pushing firmly toward the sky and heads bowed, track Olympians Tommie Smith and John Carlos turned the heads of viewers around the world who were tuned into the 1968 Olympics held in Mexico City.
That silent gesture and civil rights protest still captures the eyes of a daily audience at the San Jose State Campus.
The pivotal moment in history is memorialized with a 23 foot statue near the campus' Tower Hall.
Tommie Smith's bronze likeness stands proud at the first place podium with one arm in the air.
His other arm is at his side holding an olive branch, a symbol of peace.
John Carlos is adorned with a yellow, red and green necklace draped along side his third place medal.
Carlos also has one fist up, with the other arm behind his back.
Both of the figures are dressed in their track suits, only instead of the soft cloth the real men wore in '68, the statues don a blue tiled mosaic.
In stocking feet, with their Puma running shoes set to the side, they have their feet planted firmly on the ground.
They stand unmovable, never budging.
The third place spot is empty of a figure but engraved is the story of Australian Peter Norman who stood in solidarity with the two black Americans.
The script invites visitors of the memorial to climb up and "take a stand."
Serving as a constant reminder of the struggles that San Jose State alumni Smith and Carlos had and the bold action they took, the statue was erected in 2005.
The men not only stood up for the oppression they had experienced themselves, but for the entire civil rights movement.
In the weeks leading up to the Mexico City Olympics, black Olympians threatened to boycott the entire event.
The athletes, who had worked so hard to get to the ultimate stage, decided not to boycott but instead tried to figure out another way to illustrate their message.
The Olympic authorities made it clear that if any protests were made during the games that there would be serious consequences.
America waited on baited breath to see what would happen.
The athletes decided that they would each do their own form of protest, but as the games went on, no one took action.
Smith and Carlos ran like they had were on air in the 200-meter race and ensured their places in the final ceremony.
They made their stand that day as the Star Spangled Banner played, and it changed the course of their lives forever.
The two men were immediately shunned.
They were kicked out of the Olympic Village and suspended from their national team.
Following the event, the men were harassed by the media and were subjected to terrifying death threats.
Both men experienced pain and stress on their family lives from the dramatic outcry against their actions.
What would seem like a gentle protest by today's standards was outrageous to their critics at the time.
A simple fist in the air became a symbol of giving back personal power to a race that had been oppressed and exploited for more than a century.
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