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The article focuses on the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, Italy. Particular attention is given to several African American athletes who won gold medals in those Games, decathloner Rafer Johnson, woman sprinter Wilma Rudolph and boxer Muhammed Ali, then known as Cassius Clay. The Games are placed in the context of the U.S. civil rights movement and the Cold War.

The article reflects on the life and professional baseball career of Roberto Clemente. Clemente played 18 seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team, won two World Series championships, had 3,000 hits, and received a most valuable player award and 12 Gold Gloves. The article also discusses Clemente's political activism, his frequent visits of sick children in hospitals, his reaction to the earthquake on December 23, 1972 in Managua, Nicaragua, and the plane crash that caused his death.