Five decades ago Muhammad Ali made headlines, not for boxing but for refusing to be drafted for the Vietnam War. His view was that African-Americans shouldn’t have to fight because of how they were treated in the United States. RT America’s Ashlee Banks discusses Ali’s legacy with activist and author Ishmael Reed.
Tag Archives: Muhammad Ali
IN MEMORIAM: “Dave Zirin on the Whitewashing of Muhammad Ali: He Wasn’t Against Just War, But Empire” / Amy Goodman ☮
Dave Zirin, sports editor for The Nation magazine, joins us from Muhammad Ali’s hometown, Louisville, Kentucky, where he will attend Ali’s funeral. Zirin recounts Ali’s activism against racism in the city and says, “[T]his funeral is, in so many respects, Muhammad Ali’s last act of resistance, because what he is doing is pushing the country to come together to honor the most famous Muslim in the world at a time when a presidential candidate is running on a program of abject bigotry against the Muslim people, and the other presidential candidate is somebody who has proudly stood with the wars in the Middle East.” Zirin’s recent article in The Nation is called “‘I Just Wanted to Be Free’: The Radical Reverberations of Muhammad Ali.” He’s the author of the Ali-themed book, “What’s My Name, Fool? Sports and Resistance in the United States.”
IN MEMORIAM: “R.I.P. Muhammed Ali – Why do we ‘Sanitize’ our Heroes?” / Thom Hartmann ☮
IN MEMORIAM: “Muhammad Ali, More Than Just a Boxer, Dead at 74” / Secular Talk / Kyle Kulinski☮
IN MEMORIAM: “Muhammad Ali’s Biggest Fights were Outside the Ring” / Vox ☮
IN MEMORIAM: Muhammad Ali / “I am the Greatest!” / 1942 – 2016 ☮
h/t: BBC News
