Muhammad Ali

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by Alexis Nunez1 view·Updated Apr 18, 2022
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  1. Good afternoon, my name is Alexis Nunez,
  2. and today I will be presenting my topic on Muhammad Ali.
  3. Mohammed Ali's career was filled with greatness when it came to his sport,
  4. but his true legacy lied within his social activism, poetry and his philanthropy.
  5. When it came to racial relations.
  6. We have segregated public facilities, black pride and black resistance,
  7. which will be some of the topics we discussed for
  8. this presentation and how they have impacted civil rights,
  9. major events surrounding Muhammad Ali's life for the civil rights movement
  10. happening in the 19 sixties, the Vietnam War,
  11. which caused a lot of issues for him in the world of boxing,
  12. but it also helped him in his advocacy for social justice.
  13. These two significant moments
  14. in his career are what will eventually lead to his
  15. legacy being cemented not only in the world of sports,
  16. but in our society as a whole.
  17. Born Cassius Marcellus Clay on January 17, 1942 in Louisville Kentucky.
  18. When he was 12 years old,
  19. a police officer had found him upset because another kid had stolen his bicycle.
  20. The officer told him that he'd better learn how to
  21. fight if he was going to try and rough the
  22. kid up.
  23. This sparked something inside of him that would eventually lead
  24. to his interest in boxing.
  25. That was solidified when he watched his first amateur match on the television.
  26. After that moment he began working with a trainer by the name of fred stoner,
  27. which was the birth of his boxing career
  28. as well as other amazing things that would come
  29. In 1960, Ali made his professional debut
  30. After gaining ground and moving up in the ranks.
  31. He won a gold medal during the 1960 Olympics in Rome,
  32. which led to a professional career under the Louisville sponsoring group.
  33. This garnered
  34. garnered him a lot of attention.
  35. He was highly regarded for his personality and charm both in and out of the ring.
  36. This would make for an engaging in fresh perspective of a sport that might,
  37. that some might have viewed as barbaric.
  38. He raised public interest by reading childlike poetry
  39. and spouting his most known self descriptive phrases.
  40. He gave himself the nickname of the Greatest.
  41. All of this was a direct representation of whom Muhammad Ali was and what he wanted
  42. others to see.
  43. He was both infuriating and impressive to watch for the devotees of boxing.
  44. He held his hands low backed away from punches rather than waving away from them.
  45. This style again was far from the usual barbaric fights that people had come to know.
  46. On february 25th 1964 Clay challenged
  47. Sonny Liston for the heavyweight championship.
  48. He came in as a massive underdog being his first championship bout
  49. when Clay knocked him out.
  50. It would be known as one of the most stunning upsets in history
  51. With clay coming out as the champion after six rounds.
  52. Then he did something no one saw coming two
  53. days after the fight Clay announced that he had
  54. converted to the nation of Islam and in March
  55. he had officially changed his name to Muhammad Ali.
  56. Mhm.
  57. During the height of the Vietnam war, Ali was drafted and had refused to join,
  58. based off
  59. off of his religious views.
  60. This refusal caused many americans to condemn him, causing a rift in his support
  61. for refusing to be drafted into the US army.
  62. He was denied his championship and banned from fighting every state
  63. in the boxing commission
  64. for 3.5 years.
  65. This was unprecedented and was also a sign of the
  66. racial bias that the United States had at the moment,
  67. he was criminally indicted, convicted and sentenced to five years in prison.
  68. He remained free on bail.
  69. Four years later, his conviction was unanimously overturned by the U. S.
  70. Supreme Court.
  71. This came as no surprise once the work concluded,
  72. but what they didn't expect was for his choice to stay home
  73. would spark a much larger conversation
  74. and movement.
  75. After sitting out of the ring for 3.5 years, he fought his last fight in 1981,
  76. when he lost to Trevor Berbick.
  77. This would be an end to his boxing career, but the beginning of something greater
  78. overtime. Ali's religious views evolved from the teachings
  79. that he once followed so closely
  80. that all white people are devils and there is no heaven and health
  81. to a spiritual embrace of all people.
  82. This change shows how a person can change views and beliefs when educated properly
  83. on the struggles and lives of those who may not look like us.
  84. He spoke out against the separatist doctrine saying that
  85. it represents the time of our dark struggle in the dark and a time of
  86. confusion in us and we don't want to be associated with that at all.
  87. He also went on to win the Medal of Freedom in 2005 for
  88. being a champion for freedom in his fight for racial equality and love.
  89. President Bush remarked that
  90. he embodied everything.
  91. The award was established to honor individuals of courage
  92. and conviction who strive to secure the blessings of liberty
  93. to people around the globe.
  94. He has long served as an icon of the american dream
  95. while challenging and expanding the very definition of we the people.
  96. After having experienced racism back home in Louisville,
  97. Ali set forward to fight for social justice is
  98. he used his platform as a professional
  99. athlete to continuously challenge white supremacy.
  100. His fight for what he believed in and determination throughout his life
  101. is what made him a great figurehead for the civil rights movement.
  102. He established that there should not be a level of
  103. blackness african americans should show just to make others comfortable.
  104. This is to deny who they really were as people
  105. for the satisfaction of those white people in power.
  106. His talents were far beyond those of the ring.
  107. He had a role in the film version of Requiem for a heavyweight.
  108. He also starred in the broadway musical buck white
  109. along with these acting performances. He also had a run in the music industry.
  110. He released a spoken word album with Columbia Records
  111. along with a cover version of Stand By Me.
  112. He was also nominated for two Grammys.
  113. This fame he accrued outside of the ring
  114. helped make his personal beliefs more mainstream ineffective.
  115. He was a poet in and out of the ring whether it was through short couplets,
  116. he used to taunt his opponents or the poems he would recite during his interviews.
  117. He is said to have shaped the black poetic tradition while
  118. simultaneously paving the way for rap music in the seventies,
  119. he is credited and appreciated in numerous songs and by many artists in all forms
  120. for not only his talents in the ring but his passion outside of it.
  121. It was inspiring to see this man compete, speak and fight for what he believes in.
  122. He was also notable for his witty rhymes and metaphors. His poetry
  123. was that of power.
  124. It was how he was able to create his own identity. He owned the space around him
  125. along with his image.
  126. In this slide, I have added two of his personal poems.
  127. You can see how his talents reached far past those gloves. He would lace up.
  128. This will allow for his message and art to be
  129. heard around the world through every walk of life,
  130. making him one of the most notable athletes of all time
  131. In his philanthropic pursuits. He always lent a hand when disaster struck.
  132. He dedicated his life to humanitarian causes, fighting for world peace,
  133. equal rights and cultural understanding.
  134. He became an ambassador in 1985 when he flew to Lebanon to release four hostages.
  135. He was also sent to Iraq to help with the release of 15 hostages during the Gulf War.
  136. He also
  137. went to meet with nelson Mandela after he was released from prison.
  138. In this slide, you will find inspirational things by Muhammad Ali.
  139. Not only does he have quotable athletics things,
  140. but he was always hoping to inspire people to be kind and help others.
  141. Those are my favorite quotes of his,
  142. the ones where he can inspire you with words not heard
  143. but written years ago and still have an impact in life.
  144. Hearing
  145. the echoes of this great man, whether it's through interviews,
  146. quotes books or his own words they ring through not only
  147. in my mind but anyone who may have
  148. a competitive spirit or drive to accomplish something
  149. here.
  150. I have attached a video that shows
  151. Mohammed Ali refusing and opposing the Vietnam war
  152. along with what some people were saying about him.
  153. It is a good way to view how our country saw him then and how we may see him now