By: Erica Smith

1. How did Muhammad Ali’s actions reflect/embody the views of many other African Americans during the 1960’s? By: Erica Smith

2. Background Information • Original Name: Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. • Birthday: January 17,1942 • City: Louisville, Kentucky • Father: Cassius Sr. • Artist/singer • Believed the “white society had suppressed him and produced a man whose real talents would never be known (Diamond 12).”

3. How It All Began • In 1954, at the age of 12, Cassius got his new bike stolen and vowed to “ whip whoever made off with his bike (Diamond 14).” • He was told to go to the recreation center to report the crime to officer Joe Martin who later was his first boxing coach. • He later met Fred Stoner who taught young Cassius the science and the art of boxing.

4. “Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee” • Amateur Career: • 108 fights, 8 losses • Had a six Kentucky Golden Gloves titles and two national Golden Gloves heavyweight title • Won the Amateur Athletic Union championship twice • Won a gold medal in the 1960 Olympic games in Rome at the age of 18. • “I didn’t take that medal off for forty-eight hours, I even wore it to sleep on my back so that the medal wouldn’t cut me. But I didn’t care, I was the Olympic champion (Diamond 20).” • Was later given the name “The Louisville Lip” • February 15, 1964= defeated Sonny Liston, with a first round knockout, winning the World Heavyweight title.

5. Early Exposure to Racism • Emmett Till • 1955, 14 year old boy was murdered after looking the wrong way at a white woman in a store • A group of whites dragged him from his home, beat him, then drowned him in the Tallahatchie River • The attackers were found not guilty. • Day to Day life • Resentment against the inferiority of African Americans in Society • The rise in the Civil Right Movement • Segregation

6. “I was young, Cassius Marcellus Clay, who had won a gold medal for his country. I went downtown to Louisville to a five-and-dime store that had a soda fountain. I sat down at the counter to order a burger and soda pop. The waitress looked at me… ‘Sorry, we don’t serve coloreds,’ she said. I was furious. I went all the way to Italy to represent my country, won a gold medal, and now I come back to America and can’t even get served at a five-and-dime store… That gold medal didn’t mean a thing to me if my black brothers and sisters were treated wrong in a country I was supposed to represent (Bigelow 2).”

7. Call Me Muhammad Ali • Cassius was named after a white abolitionist who had freed his own slaves. • Although he did this, he believed that blacks were of an inferior race. • “ I am of the opinion that the Caucasian or white the superior race; they have a larger and better formed brain; much more developed and exquisite structure (Diamond 20).” • Malcolm X • Started following the Nation of Islam • He first changed his name to Cassius X • Elijah Muhammad gave him the name Muhammad Ali meaning “Beloved of Allah” • Controversy • “Some reporters and boxing officials refused to use his name, while others demanded withdrawal of his title (Byer 2).”

8. Why the Controversy? • Era of Change • Martin Luther King • Leading the civil rights movement • Rosa Parks • Bus boycotts, segregation, and the Jim Crow South, Brown vs. Board of Ed.

9. "No Viet Cong ever called me a nigger(Byers 2)" • On April 28, 1967, Muhammad got drafted into the Vietnam War. • He thought he could be exempt because he was a minister of Muslim. • Unfair Treatment • People called him disgusting and the Governor of Maine said that he “should be held in utter contempt by every patriotic American (Bigelow 2).” • Some leaders called him ‘loudmouthed’ and ‘Bombastic’ • The New York State Athletic Commission and World Boxing Association suspended Ali’s boxing license and took away his heavyweight title • Sentencing • On June 20,1967 was found guilty of draft evasion. • Had to pay a $10,000 fine • Sentenced to serve 5 years in prison for draft-evasion

10. Fighting the Court • How to get exempt from going to war • Attend college/ University • Go to Canada • Unfair Advantage • College was typically for the wealthy, white, elites in society • Blacks still didn’t feel welcomed • Rebellion • He wanted to stand up for something he believed was not right

11. Later Successes • Victory Run • Thrilla in Manila • Joe Frazier rivalry • Won the NABF heavyweight against Jimmy Ellis • Victory against George Foreman • September 1978- Victory against Leon Spinks winning the World Heavyweight Championship • After Boxing • Retired in 1980 • Was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease

12. Bibliography •  Diamond, Arthur. The Importance of Muhammad Ali. San Diego: Lucent, 1995. Print. • Hampton, Henry, and Steve Fayer. Voices of Freedom: An Oral History of the Civil Rights Movement From the 1950's Through the 1980's. New York: Bantam, 1990. Print. • Tessitore, John. Muhammad Ali:The World's Champion. Danbury,CT: Franklin Watts, 1998. Print. •  Shelton, Sonya. "Muhammad Ali." Gale Research. Discovering Collection, 1997. Web. May 2010 • Byers, Paula K. Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale Research, 1998. Print. • Bigelow, Carlisle. Contemporary Black Biography. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale Research, 1992. Print.