MUHAMMAD ALI (DAC- ATIVISMO)

 This work focuses on presenting Muhammad Ali's activist path. This work will be organized around four questions: Who? What? How? how did it impact?. 

  

Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr was born in Louisville, Kentucky on January 17, 1942, Cassius grew up in a period of racial segregation, in which his childhood was marked by several racist episodes presented as an example the murder of Emmett Till, which in short was a boy who was falsely accused of attempted sexual abuse by a white woman, who contributed with her husband and her husband's friends to the murder of Emmett Til, but unfortunately the case was closed and those responsible were acquitted because there was not enough evidence and also due to the fact the victim was black and there was also another one that strongly affected Cassius was when they denied him a glass of water in a store for racial reasons, these two episodes were what contributed to the beginning of his activist path. 

In his career he was internationally known as professional boxer but a year into his career, Cassius became Muslim after 1961. Years later in 1964 he gave up his birth name and formally changed his name to Muhammad Ali in honor of his mentor and friend and also a rejection of the white name given to him , In 1966, Ali refused to be drafted for military service due to his religious beliefs and ethical opposition to the Vietnam War with the famous phrase found on these slides but after that he was found guilty of draft evasion on these charges after three times refusing the military service the New York State Athletic Commission suspended his boxing license and stripped him of his title, but he was not arrested because the supreme court later overturned the conviction in 1971 

 and now we move on to the next slide which contains the question: what did he do during his activist career?  

Muhammad Ali donated millions of dollars to charitable organizations and it is estimated that he helped provide food to over 22 million famine-stricken people around the world. In 1974, Ali participated in "The Longest Walk", a protest march across the United States in support of Native American rights. In 1988, he visited Sudan to raise awareness of the plight of famine victims and in 2002, he traveled to Afghanistan as the “U.N. Messenger of Peace” for a three-day goodwill mission. 

How did it impact? 

Muhammad Ali inspired thousands of blacks and Americans around the world , and his humanitarian actions have earned him thousands of awards such as the annual Martin Luther King Award given by civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy, was one of the birthplaces of rap and poetry in the 1970s because of the way he used rhyme schemes and spoken poetry during his speeches and also helped create a craze that mimicked his sophisticated footwork and fighting stance 

 Death  

After the end of his career, Muhammad Ali received thousands of hits mainly in the head that caused him to be diagnosed with Parkinson's syndrome but that was not the reason for Ali's death, in fact he died of septic shock at the age of 74. 

 

I chose to present Muhammad Ali because when I was on tiktok, I saw an excerpt of his speech on the Vietnam War and it caught my attention. 

this is the non-profit Muhammad Ali center created by his wife Lonnie Ali which focuses on core themes of peace, social responsibility, respect and personal growth and also showcases his boxing memorabilia. 

Trabalho realizado por: Jorcimira Torres