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At the end of last year, Killer Mike interviewed Bernie Sanders in his barbershop. Today the MC shared a video documenting his discussion with Tommie Smith, the sprinter who won a gold medal in the 1968 Olympics for his 200 meter dash. Standing on the podum with his award, Smith gave a Black Power salute along with his teammate, bronze medalist John Carlos.
Killer Mike remembers seeing the picture of the famous salute in his high school social science class. "With images come mythology," he tells his guest. "So mythology is good for holding social order, it's good for holding people together... the mythology of black kids, a lot of the times, because you're being assaulted by the system, is to build heroes, even out of normal people... you were our warrior."
Smith explains, "On the victory stand, I took people with me—that wasn't me on the victory stand, that was everybody... When you see Tommie Smith up there, you are a part of that, because what it represents is your thought of freedom."
Mike responds, "I have waited my entire life to hear that from someone like you."
Watch the whole interview below.
