it's a long, long way to tipperary

At the Summer Olympics in Mexico City, three young men choose to use their few minutes of fame to make a stand for human rights.
It was October 16th of 1968.
It was more than a century after the US Civil War had ended.
It was twenty years after the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights had been adopted. In that document, the first Article stated:

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.

Tommie Smith, Peter Norman, and John Carlos had taken the top honors in the Men's 200-meter race, winning gold, silver, and bronze medals, respectively.
The two Americans had already made plans to bring attention to the fight against discrimination in the United States.
The Australian decided that very day to join them, in his stand against discrimination in the world.
The two Americans were both members of the Olympic Project for Human Rights, a primarily black organization. They each brought a pair of black gloves with them to Mexico and wore OPHR badges for human rights. They had determined before leaving for the Olympics that if one of them won, that one would don a pair of black gloves and raise his hands in the air, as a salute of solidarity with those fighting for human rights in general and black rights in particular.
Amazingly, they both won, but John had forgotten to bring his pair of gloves.
The Australian suggested they each wear one of the gloves. Hence, in the photo, Tommie, aged 24, is raising a black-gloved right fist and John, aged 23, holds up a black-gloved left fist.
No glove was available for Peter, aged 26.
Then again, he had known nothing of their plans to stage a protest for human rights. They only told him after the race, when he had placed second and would be joining them on the medal podium for the Olympic medals ceremony.
However, when they did tell him, he made an instant choice to support their actions. He also chose to wear the OPHR badge on his jacket. When he saw it on one of the American rowers, Paul Hoffman, and asked for it, he had been given that man's badge to wear.
So, there's the scene.
Three young men with bright futures, in a time of change, advocating for a brighter future for all mankind.
Three young men who faced immediate, and lasting, repercussions for that moment of brave conviction.

That was almost sixty years ago.

My thanks to my Grandpa for making sure my mind was open to all possibilities.
His certainly was.
Pretty amazing for a white, middle-aged, Southern Baptist, former traveling minister, writing editorials and living in the small town of Waycross, GA, in the 1970's.
I wonder what he thought of that photo.
I truly wish he and I could have one of our debates about the topic.
He was a man decades ahead of his times, but well aware of how slowly change actually occurs.
Most folks think that just enacting a law signals the change has been finalized.
Not hardly.
Change occurs one person at a time.
One
person
at a time.
Regardless of what the law may or may not say, regardless of a country's official stance, that fact holds true.
Change occurs one person at a time.
That truth is the reason that it takes several generations - and sometimes longer - for a change to become accepted as "standard", as "the rule", by the majority of society.
Change occurs one person at a time.
As I said earlier, it is our responsibility to continue the battle for human rights for all people.
One person at a time.