1 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:09,000 Speaker 1: It's November twenty second, nineteen sixty three. President John F. 2 00:00:09,119 --> 00:00:12,400 Speaker 1: Kennedy rides in a motorcade with his wife, America's Sweetheart 3 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:15,760 Speaker 1: Jackie Oh with the convertible top down. The crowd that 4 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:20,279 Speaker 1: lines the roadway is underwhelming because it's Texas. John F. 5 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:23,840 Speaker 1: Kennedy's not exactly popular in the state. Yet no one 6 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:28,160 Speaker 1: expects what's about to occur. In the late morning sun, 7 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:35,599 Speaker 1: President Kennedy is shot. The Governor of Texas, John Connolly, 8 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:39,920 Speaker 1: riding with the Kennedys in the convertible, shouts, my god, 9 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:43,519 Speaker 1: they're going to kill us. All the Secret Service rushes 10 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:49,000 Speaker 1: in at one forty Eastern Time, interrupting the soap opera. 11 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:52,760 Speaker 1: As the world turns, there's a news break from veteran 12 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:57,080 Speaker 1: CBS newsman Walter Cronkite. He informs the nation. 13 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 2: From Dallas, Texas. The flash apparently official. President Kennedy died 14 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:09,080 Speaker 2: at one pm Central Standard time two o'clock Eastern Standard time, 15 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:14,400 Speaker 2: some thirty eight minutes ago. Vice President Johnson has left 16 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:18,480 Speaker 2: the hospital in Dallas, but we do not know to 17 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:22,280 Speaker 2: where he has proceeded. Presumably he will be taking the 18 00:01:22,319 --> 00:01:27,319 Speaker 2: oath of office shortly and become the thirty sixth President 19 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:28,800 Speaker 2: of the United States. 20 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:35,280 Speaker 1: JFK's death marks the beginning of a season of assassinations. 21 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:37,880 Speaker 1: He will not be the last great man to be 22 00:01:37,959 --> 00:01:40,800 Speaker 1: cut down in the sixties, in the prime of his life, 23 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 1: in the middle of his fight. It's a time when 24 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 1: heroes were not only tested, they were martyred. The young 25 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:51,200 Speaker 1: of the US would soon long for strong leadership, for 26 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 1: men and women who inspired them, for someone who made 27 00:01:54,480 --> 00:01:57,920 Speaker 1: them feel hope. As the great ones were murdered, they 28 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:16,880 Speaker 1: looked to new leaders, cultural leaders like Muhammad Ali. Welcome 29 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:19,919 Speaker 1: to Rumble, the story of Ali Foreman and the Soul 30 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:23,600 Speaker 1: Music of nineteen seventy four. I'm your host, Sarah Brenette, 31 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:28,359 Speaker 1: third from iHeart Podcast and School of Humans. This is Rumble. 32 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:37,920 Speaker 1: Previously on Rumble. 33 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:41,080 Speaker 3: From a very early age, he can make people pay 34 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:42,519 Speaker 3: attention with his wordplay. 35 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:44,440 Speaker 1: He learned from Gorgeous George. 36 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:47,600 Speaker 4: He won the gold medal as a light heavyweight at 37 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:49,359 Speaker 4: the nineteen sixty Olympics. 38 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:53,640 Speaker 5: She said, we don't serve negroes, I said, and I 39 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:54,520 Speaker 5: don't need them either. 40 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:56,000 Speaker 1: Just give me the cheeseburger. 41 00:02:56,440 --> 00:02:59,480 Speaker 6: This is a black young person who we can get behind. 42 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:03,000 Speaker 4: Who was so good. He was bad. 43 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:04,359 Speaker 1: Cut my gloves off. 44 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:07,480 Speaker 5: I want to prove to the world there's dirty work afoot. 45 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:11,040 Speaker 4: Cassius Clay becomes the heavyweight champion of the world. 46 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:12,639 Speaker 1: I shook up the world. 47 00:03:12,919 --> 00:03:15,280 Speaker 6: Ah pretty, I'm a bad man. 48 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:23,679 Speaker 1: In the spring of sixty four, twenty two year old 49 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:27,560 Speaker 1: Cassius Clay finally got to enjoy the public attention he'd 50 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:31,480 Speaker 1: so deeply craved, that limelight that gets lavished on a 51 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:36,080 Speaker 1: newly minted celebrity. Yet throughout that same year, the rest 52 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:39,840 Speaker 1: of the United States experienced the shockwaves that tore through 53 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 1: the culture following the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 54 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: November of nineteen sixty three. Despite all the unrest, the 55 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:52,720 Speaker 1: culture at large showed little sign of that turbulence. The 56 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:56,240 Speaker 1: beatles I Want to Hold Your Hand topped the music charts, 57 00:03:56,800 --> 00:04:01,160 Speaker 1: James Bond in Goldfinger and From Russia with Love were 58 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:04,200 Speaker 1: killing it at the box office, and the show Bewitched, 59 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:08,559 Speaker 1: as well as the long running Western Gunsmoke, kept Americans 60 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:12,440 Speaker 1: glued to their TVs. A pop culture escaped from the 61 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:16,279 Speaker 1: grief that gripped at them. However, there were some signs 62 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:22,760 Speaker 1: of the disruption to come. On April twentieth, Nelson Mandela 63 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:26,520 Speaker 1: gave an impassioned three hour speech in a South African courtroom. 64 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:30,920 Speaker 1: He and other anti apartheid activists were on trial facing 65 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:35,720 Speaker 1: charges of armed rebellion. Mandela offered the rationale for why 66 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:39,560 Speaker 1: the African National Congress chose to move past calls for 67 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:43,800 Speaker 1: nonviolent revolution and instead to take up arms. It's a 68 00:04:43,839 --> 00:04:47,480 Speaker 1: foundational moment for South Africa's modern democracy. 69 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:51,479 Speaker 7: I have dedicated my life to this flock of the 70 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:56,560 Speaker 7: Arctic people. I have fought acast by w nich and 71 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:02,360 Speaker 7: I akged like domication. I have cherished the idea of 72 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:07,480 Speaker 7: a democrat and fe society which all best to get 73 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:11,360 Speaker 7: in how and with equal opportunity. It is an idea 74 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:14,680 Speaker 7: for which I hope to live and to seek relack. 75 00:05:15,279 --> 00:05:18,880 Speaker 7: It is an idea for which I am prepared to. 76 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:28,120 Speaker 1: Die freedom or death. The stakes were that high, activists 77 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:32,960 Speaker 1: embroiled in struggles around the world took note. Just one 78 00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:36,919 Speaker 1: month after Mandela's speech, a dozen young American men burned 79 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:39,960 Speaker 1: their draft cards at an anti war protest in New 80 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:43,640 Speaker 1: York City. It was unprecedented and would soon become a 81 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:47,520 Speaker 1: powerful and oft repeated symbolic act. By the summer of 82 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:50,960 Speaker 1: sixty four, the Vietnam War was heating up as more 83 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:55,040 Speaker 1: young men were fed into the war machine. On August two, 84 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:58,120 Speaker 1: a US Navy destroyer stationed at the Gulf of Tonkin 85 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:03,520 Speaker 1: was fired upon. In response, Congress authorized President Lyndon B. Johnson, 86 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:07,360 Speaker 1: who had stepped into the presidency, to use full military 87 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:13,839 Speaker 1: force against North Vietnam. This marked the official beginning of 88 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:20,440 Speaker 1: US hostilities in the Vietnam War. MLK once said that 89 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:23,520 Speaker 1: a riot is the language of the unheard. At the 90 00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:27,760 Speaker 1: end of August, black Philadelphians chose to express themselves in 91 00:06:27,839 --> 00:06:33,560 Speaker 1: a full throated uprising against police brutality. Philadelphia exploded in 92 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:41,840 Speaker 1: three days of violence and flames. In October of that 93 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:44,880 Speaker 1: same year, Doctor King was recovering from a bout of 94 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:49,039 Speaker 1: extreme exhaustion in an Atlanta hospital room when his wife, 95 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:53,240 Speaker 1: Coreta told King the surprising news he'd been awarded the 96 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:57,360 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty four Nobel Peace Prize. Accepting the award in 97 00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:01,560 Speaker 1: Oslo that December, doctor King credited the civil rights workers 98 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:05,440 Speaker 1: and activists in his mighty Army of Love. He said 99 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:09,200 Speaker 1: the prize signaled that the tide of world opinion is 100 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:13,640 Speaker 1: in aw favle the very next day at the United 101 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:17,680 Speaker 1: Nations headquarters in New York to protest the Cuban revolutionary 102 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:20,600 Speaker 1: leader chaiy Guavarre's speech on the floor of the UN 103 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:25,560 Speaker 1: General Assembly, An incensed critic of the Marxist revolutionary fired 104 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:31,200 Speaker 1: at the UN with a bazooka. With each passing day 105 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:34,640 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty four, it felt more and more inevitable 106 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:37,840 Speaker 1: that the troubles to come in the country and across 107 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:42,400 Speaker 1: the globe could not be solved with nonviolent resistance. A 108 00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:46,520 Speaker 1: fight was brewing under the surface, behind the scenes, off 109 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:53,400 Speaker 1: the television screens. South African singer, songwriter and civil rights 110 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:58,160 Speaker 1: activist Miriam Mikaba also spoke at the UN bravely, honestly, 111 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:02,000 Speaker 1: and with great purpose. Mckiba called out the evils of apartheid. 112 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:05,240 Speaker 8: I ask you and all the leaders of the rules. 113 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:07,920 Speaker 1: Would you act differently? 114 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:11,960 Speaker 8: Would you keep silent and do nothing if you were 115 00:08:11,960 --> 00:08:15,640 Speaker 8: in our place? Would you not resist if you were 116 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:19,600 Speaker 8: allowed no rights in your own country because the color 117 00:08:19,640 --> 00:08:22,240 Speaker 8: of your skin is different to that of the rulers. 118 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:26,680 Speaker 8: And if you were punished or even asking for equality. 119 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 1: And what did the nation of South Africa do in response? Punished? 120 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:33,880 Speaker 1: The singer for daring to speak out against the ruling 121 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:39,240 Speaker 1: apartheid government by revoking her citizenship, Mary Mickayble was made stateless, 122 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:43,280 Speaker 1: exiled from her homeland. As my Pops, Zarreon Burnett recalled 123 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 1: of that time, at. 124 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:47,800 Speaker 6: That point in the early sixties, we knew very little 125 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:50,960 Speaker 6: about South Africa in terms of the internal workings of it. 126 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:55,040 Speaker 6: But we also knew that they had the most similar 127 00:08:55,160 --> 00:08:59,720 Speaker 6: situation to us in terms of apartheid, and the white 128 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:01,560 Speaker 6: man already know all that kind of bullshit. 129 00:09:03,679 --> 00:09:07,600 Speaker 1: A decade later, in nineteen seventy four, Miriam Micayba and 130 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:11,480 Speaker 1: Muhammad al Li would be together in Zaiir. She a singer, 131 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:16,360 Speaker 1: he a boxer. Both beloved freedom fighters. But back in 132 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:20,360 Speaker 1: the turbulence of nineteen sixty four, Cassius Clay was new 133 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:23,320 Speaker 1: to standing up against the powers that be. He was 134 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:27,800 Speaker 1: still learning the ropes, so to speak, and like Miriam Micayba, 135 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:30,800 Speaker 1: he knew he needed help to change the world. 136 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:34,360 Speaker 8: I appeal to you, and through you, to all the 137 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:38,160 Speaker 8: countries of the world, to do everything you can to 138 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:39,920 Speaker 8: stop the coming tragedy. 139 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:49,720 Speaker 1: The day after Cassius Clay became the heavyweight champion of 140 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:52,640 Speaker 1: the world, he called a press conference in New York City. 141 00:09:53,240 --> 00:09:57,160 Speaker 1: Standing there next to the champ was Malcolm X, the 142 00:09:57,240 --> 00:10:00,760 Speaker 1: most hated man in America. The shrewd eye minister of 143 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:04,000 Speaker 1: the Nation of Islam nodded along as the new champ 144 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:08,000 Speaker 1: declared he'd changed his name and his religion and that 145 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:10,680 Speaker 1: he would now be known as Cassius X. 146 00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:13,440 Speaker 6: Malcolm X was there, and they announced that he had 147 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:16,319 Speaker 6: changed his name to Cassius X. That was fun, because 148 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:18,679 Speaker 6: you know, that's black power shit. You know, like this 149 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:22,760 Speaker 6: is some more shit to fuck with people about. That's 150 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:23,840 Speaker 6: how my pops puts it. 151 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:26,679 Speaker 1: But anyone who saw it all go down would argue 152 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:31,480 Speaker 1: Cassius Clay's conversion to Islam shocked the world, especially someone 153 00:10:31,559 --> 00:10:32,640 Speaker 1: who saw it up close. 154 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:34,520 Speaker 9: My name is Elijah Muhammad. 155 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:37,839 Speaker 10: I'm the son of Jabber Herbert Muhammad and the grandson 156 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:40,520 Speaker 10: of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. 157 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:46,839 Speaker 1: According to what Elijah Muhammad recalls of Cassius Clay's surprise conversion, 158 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:51,040 Speaker 1: it wasn't an overnight decision or attracted. 159 00:10:50,679 --> 00:10:53,760 Speaker 9: Him when he was even a lot younger, But then 160 00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:56,040 Speaker 9: he started attending the meetings. 161 00:10:56,600 --> 00:10:59,599 Speaker 1: Cassius Clay and his brother attended their first meeting in 162 00:10:59,679 --> 00:11:03,840 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty two. At that meeting, the young charismatic minister 163 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:08,439 Speaker 1: Malcolm X spoke. His words captured Casius Clay's full attention. 164 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:12,920 Speaker 1: These were clearly men who burned with a similar fire. 165 00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:17,520 Speaker 1: For the next two years, he continued to attend meetings, 166 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:21,880 Speaker 1: and Brother Malcolm personally guided the young Boxer's instruction in 167 00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:25,760 Speaker 1: the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the leader of 168 00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:31,760 Speaker 1: the Nation of Islam. In nineteen fifty nine, the Future 169 00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:35,600 Speaker 1: Sixty Minutes journalist Mike Wallace produced an hour long TV 170 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:39,760 Speaker 1: documentary called The Hate That Hate Produced, and in it 171 00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:44,360 Speaker 1: he focused on the Black nationalism movement and specifically the 172 00:11:44,440 --> 00:11:49,079 Speaker 1: Nation of Islam. A young minister named Malcolm X features 173 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:53,320 Speaker 1: prominently in the documentary, and his words shocked the nation 174 00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:57,000 Speaker 1: accustomed to the black and Christian leaders of the civil 175 00:11:57,080 --> 00:12:01,400 Speaker 1: rights movement. Three years later, by nineteen sixty two, Malcolm 176 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:04,839 Speaker 1: X was a household name, made famous for his professed 177 00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:09,200 Speaker 1: hatred against whites and liberals. In a syndicated story from 178 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:13,960 Speaker 1: August nineteen sixty three, Malcolm X says, quote, America is 179 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:17,080 Speaker 1: still a plantation and Uncle Sam is a slave master. 180 00:12:18,559 --> 00:12:21,520 Speaker 1: For the next two years, Malcolm X became an ever 181 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:26,520 Speaker 1: present story in the media. He was different, He was unrepentant, 182 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:30,920 Speaker 1: and he was self assured. He called for the separation 183 00:12:31,120 --> 00:12:35,080 Speaker 1: of the races and vehemently disagreed with Martin Luther King 184 00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:40,000 Speaker 1: Junior's calls for integration and nonviolence. In an interview with 185 00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:44,120 Speaker 1: The Charlotte Observer, Malcolm X says, the strongest and best 186 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:47,120 Speaker 1: parts of the tree are its roots, and you never 187 00:12:47,240 --> 00:12:52,800 Speaker 1: see them. They are underground. The insinuation being that America 188 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:56,400 Speaker 1: could not see the Black revolution coming for them, and 189 00:12:56,440 --> 00:13:00,240 Speaker 1: thus by sixty three Malcolm X was referred to who 190 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:04,640 Speaker 1: as the most hated man in America, treated as a 191 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:10,080 Speaker 1: hate monger, and now he had the new charismatic heavyweight 192 00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:15,400 Speaker 1: champion doing his bidding. That sparked the big fear for 193 00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:19,679 Speaker 1: both Cassius Clay's white investors in Louisville and his new 194 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:23,080 Speaker 1: found family of faith, the Nation of Islam. They shared 195 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:26,520 Speaker 1: an overarching concern that due to the influence and association 196 00:13:26,679 --> 00:13:27,600 Speaker 1: with Malcolm X. 197 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:31,400 Speaker 9: People would turn against Muhammad. He had already controversial in it. 198 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:34,280 Speaker 9: They call him a lawmark, Braggart and so forth, But 199 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:36,640 Speaker 9: that was his manner of emotium. 200 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:40,520 Speaker 1: So as we already covered Cassius Clay patterned his public 201 00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:45,120 Speaker 1: persona after the great early TV star of the nineteen fifties, Gorge. 202 00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:47,760 Speaker 9: To George, it was a wrestler promote themselves, and it 203 00:13:47,800 --> 00:13:50,400 Speaker 9: would come just to see him get beat up. But 204 00:13:50,520 --> 00:13:53,640 Speaker 9: he would really draw the crowd because of that, you know. 205 00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:58,040 Speaker 1: Gorgeous George taught Cassius Clay that a negative persona is 206 00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:02,000 Speaker 1: one thing, but negative press is something wholly different. A 207 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:05,280 Speaker 1: negative persona is just an act. It's fun to root 208 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:08,400 Speaker 1: against a villain when it's a show or sporting event, 209 00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:12,559 Speaker 1: but it's different when the villain stalks reality. It's different 210 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:15,520 Speaker 1: when a villain is friends with the most hated man 211 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:19,480 Speaker 1: in America. Yet, Cashius Clay and Malcolm X could not 212 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:24,320 Speaker 1: easily be separated, As biographer Jonathan I suggests, the importance 213 00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:28,359 Speaker 1: of Malcolm's presence in Cassius Clay's life cannot be overstated. 214 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:34,560 Speaker 3: Well he meets Malcolm X. Here's this young, brilliant orator 215 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:37,720 Speaker 3: who really feels like someone ALI can relate to. I 216 00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:41,360 Speaker 3: think Elijah Muhammad inspires him and terrifies him a little bit. 217 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:44,000 Speaker 3: He's in awe, But with Malcolm, he can relate to 218 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:47,520 Speaker 3: this guy like I think it's very much a brotherly relationship, 219 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:50,080 Speaker 3: and Ali is just eager to imitate him, to learn 220 00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:52,040 Speaker 3: from him, just to be around him. I think it's 221 00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:54,840 Speaker 3: one of the most important relationships in Ali's life. 222 00:14:55,640 --> 00:14:58,720 Speaker 1: Lewis Ehrenberg, author of the book The Rumble in the Jungle, 223 00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:00,240 Speaker 1: certainly agrees. 224 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:05,000 Speaker 4: Cassius is not only friends with Malcolm X, and is 225 00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:07,560 Speaker 4: mentored by Malcolm X, and has some of the views 226 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:12,280 Speaker 4: of Malcolm X, especially the notion that African Americans are 227 00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:16,160 Speaker 4: oppressed not only at home in the United States, but 228 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:20,960 Speaker 4: in the colonial and post colonial world, and these two 229 00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:23,840 Speaker 4: aspects of oppression are related. 230 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:31,040 Speaker 1: The friendship begins to shape what Casius Clay thinks, and 231 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:34,960 Speaker 1: more importantly, what he says in his many interviews broadcast 232 00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:39,280 Speaker 1: around the world. When Cassius Clay first announced his new name, 233 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:43,120 Speaker 1: the champ told the gathered mostly white press, I know. 234 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:46,280 Speaker 5: Where I'm going, and I know the truth, and I 235 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:48,480 Speaker 5: don't have to be what you want me to be. 236 00:15:49,760 --> 00:15:54,760 Speaker 4: He doesn't have to follow the expectations of white politicians, 237 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:58,480 Speaker 4: white leaders, white religious leadership. He's going to do what 238 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:02,840 Speaker 4: he wants. That's a real sign of liberation, and there's 239 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:08,600 Speaker 4: a sense among boxing writers and public intellectuals that this 240 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:12,040 Speaker 4: guy is dangerous. He's speaking his mind. 241 00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:16,360 Speaker 1: Almost as soon as Cassius Clay announced his conversion, the 242 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:18,280 Speaker 1: Nation of Islam was divided. 243 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:21,360 Speaker 3: When Malcolm breaks with the Nation of Islam and begins 244 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:25,040 Speaker 3: to those faith in Elijah Muhammad, a Holly has to 245 00:16:25,040 --> 00:16:27,360 Speaker 3: make a choice, and he's still Cassius Clay at that point, 246 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:29,680 Speaker 3: and at first he says he's going to become Cassius X. 247 00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:33,160 Speaker 3: And that's very much the influence of Malcolm. 248 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:37,320 Speaker 1: Nation of Islam leader Elijah Mohammad phoned the then Cassius 249 00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:40,840 Speaker 1: X to instruct him to stay away from his friend 250 00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:44,160 Speaker 1: and mentor, Malcolm X, who had fallen out with the 251 00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:45,600 Speaker 1: honorable Elijah Mohammad. 252 00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:49,960 Speaker 9: My grandfather censored him. I'm making a statement about the 253 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:53,720 Speaker 9: death as a John Kennedy, Malcolm said that it was 254 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:58,040 Speaker 9: like the chickens coming home the roofs. So he suspended 255 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:01,680 Speaker 9: Malcolm from I'm speaking for ninety days. 256 00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:05,919 Speaker 1: Meanwhile, there's now the newly crowned heavyweight champion of the 257 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:08,119 Speaker 1: world who's also a media sensation. 258 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:12,280 Speaker 9: Ooh, they're all struck by the presidents of Muhammad. You know, 259 00:17:12,600 --> 00:17:15,800 Speaker 9: he was a young, very handsome and attractive guy and 260 00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:17,439 Speaker 9: respective to my grandfather. 261 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:21,520 Speaker 3: Elijah Muhammad calls ALIDI and tells him he's giving him 262 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:24,480 Speaker 3: this special name, that it's not going to be Cassius Sexts, 263 00:17:24,480 --> 00:17:26,159 Speaker 3: It's going to be Muhammad Ali. And this is a 264 00:17:26,280 --> 00:17:29,080 Speaker 3: great privilege to have a name bestowed on you by 265 00:17:29,119 --> 00:17:30,000 Speaker 3: Elijah Muhammad. 266 00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:35,200 Speaker 1: On March sixth, nineteen sixty four, in a radio address, 267 00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:38,520 Speaker 1: the Honorable Elijah Muhammad announced that he had anointed the 268 00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:41,800 Speaker 1: new heavyweight champion of the World with a full Muslim name, 269 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:47,960 Speaker 1: Muhammad Ali, thus losing the X and any associations with Malcolm. 270 00:17:48,359 --> 00:17:52,399 Speaker 5: This is an honorable name, Mohammad Ali, given to me 271 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:56,680 Speaker 5: by my religious leader and teacher, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. 272 00:17:56,920 --> 00:17:59,399 Speaker 5: And I would like to say that Muhammad means in 273 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:04,199 Speaker 5: Arabic one who's worthy of praise or one who's praise worthy, 274 00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:07,320 Speaker 5: and Ali means the most high. 275 00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:10,919 Speaker 1: Just like that, he walked away from Malcolm X, the 276 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:14,320 Speaker 1: champ chose to turn his back on his spiritual brother. 277 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:19,320 Speaker 3: That's a huge moment in Ali's life. And if Ali 278 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:22,440 Speaker 3: leaves the Nation of Islam and goes with Malcolm, history 279 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:26,160 Speaker 3: might be very different today. Who knows what might have happened. 280 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:30,800 Speaker 1: His new name and new identity, along with its connection 281 00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:34,439 Speaker 1: to a more glorious past in Africa, was a wondrous 282 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:37,600 Speaker 1: feeling for the champ It was a feeling that many 283 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:41,080 Speaker 1: were attracted to, and thus they followed Ali into the 284 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:44,720 Speaker 1: Nation of Islam. The self pride evident in the members 285 00:18:44,720 --> 00:18:48,840 Speaker 1: of the nation inspired non members to reconsider their own 286 00:18:48,920 --> 00:18:52,520 Speaker 1: blackness and to be proud rather than ashamed of their 287 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:55,240 Speaker 1: past and its associations with slavery. 288 00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:58,320 Speaker 7: In the Americas, the Nation of Islam was sort of 289 00:18:58,359 --> 00:19:01,879 Speaker 7: like an awakening period, and it all came at a 290 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:03,760 Speaker 7: very critical time. 291 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:04,359 Speaker 11: In the sixties. 292 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:08,520 Speaker 1: Whenever Ali spoke of his new faith, he always praised 293 00:19:08,560 --> 00:19:11,480 Speaker 1: the Nation of Islam, repeating the teachings of its founder 294 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:16,600 Speaker 1: and connecting their faith to the larger global Muslim community 295 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:20,240 Speaker 1: and the Islamic faith that the enslaved Africans brought with 296 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:24,639 Speaker 1: them to America. The fact that African Muslims were technically 297 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:28,320 Speaker 1: in the Americas before the English became a point of 298 00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:30,280 Speaker 1: pride for many black Americans. 299 00:19:30,920 --> 00:19:33,879 Speaker 9: His message was basically, we don't need the whites to 300 00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:36,240 Speaker 9: help us do anything. We can do it for ourselves. 301 00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:39,320 Speaker 9: We ought to have a sense of dignity, respect, and 302 00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:42,240 Speaker 9: know that we're just as capable of anybody else. 303 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:47,400 Speaker 1: Muhammad Ali, the Nation of Islam had a perfect spokesperson, 304 00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:50,280 Speaker 1: a black man who embodied the message of the founder, 305 00:19:50,359 --> 00:19:54,199 Speaker 1: the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. And by sidelining Malcolm X and 306 00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:58,520 Speaker 1: swapping him out with Muhammad Ali, the Honorable Elijah Mohammad 307 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:02,359 Speaker 1: slyly traded quote the most hated man in America for 308 00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:05,760 Speaker 1: the irresistibly charming heavyweight champion of the world. 309 00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:09,560 Speaker 9: As far as him taking Malcolm's place, he did take 310 00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:12,679 Speaker 9: his place in a sense, and that he was another 311 00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:15,760 Speaker 9: very charismatic figure and he loved. 312 00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:17,280 Speaker 2: The motive my grandfather in the. 313 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:20,480 Speaker 9: Ast of Islam, So it just kind of like happened 314 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:23,439 Speaker 9: that way, you know, my grandfather took advantage of it. 315 00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:30,480 Speaker 4: Elijah Muhammad was very savvy. He's aware of how things work. 316 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:36,399 Speaker 1: Most tragically, Malcolm X was assassinated the following year in 317 00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:40,399 Speaker 1: February of nineteen sixty five, killed by gunmen from the 318 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:52,720 Speaker 1: Nation of Islam. Amidst the social turbulence of the sixties 319 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:56,080 Speaker 1: and seventies, there were many proud young black men and 320 00:20:56,119 --> 00:20:59,120 Speaker 1: women willing to speak up, to use their platform and 321 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:02,920 Speaker 1: their portion of the cultural stage to stand on business. 322 00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:07,000 Speaker 1: One of them is integral to this story, Hugh Masekela, 323 00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:09,879 Speaker 1: and he will also show up on stage as a 324 00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:12,760 Speaker 1: central figure in Zaire in nineteen seventy four. 325 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:16,280 Speaker 12: Well, my name is Selimma Masekella, and I am the 326 00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:19,119 Speaker 12: son of Hugh Masekella, and so that is how I 327 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:21,119 Speaker 12: am related to this world. 328 00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:26,119 Speaker 1: Hugh Masekela passed away in twenty eighteen, but Selima remembers 329 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:30,000 Speaker 1: well his father's big personality and his proud legacy. 330 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:36,920 Speaker 12: My father was a trumpet player, flugelhorn player, singer, activist, 331 00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:40,480 Speaker 12: comedian and all around one of the coolest human beings 332 00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:44,520 Speaker 12: that you ever met. He was also a product of apartheid. 333 00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:50,639 Speaker 1: For reasons obvious to apartheid, the talented young musician left 334 00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:53,840 Speaker 1: South Africa behind for the shores of the United States. 335 00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:58,800 Speaker 1: Apartheid was a brutal form of race based depression specific 336 00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:02,520 Speaker 1: to South Africa. Beginning in nineteen forty eight, South Africa 337 00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:06,959 Speaker 1: created a caste system, whereupon the white minority was legally 338 00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:10,919 Speaker 1: enshrined as the ruling social class. Next in the hierarchy 339 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:14,560 Speaker 1: came people of Indian descent, then people of mixed race 340 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:20,040 Speaker 1: called coloreds. Finally, at the bottom, black Africans, the native population. 341 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:23,520 Speaker 1: In order for a minority to oppress a majority the 342 00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:29,200 Speaker 1: size of South Africa's Black African population, wholesale systemic violence 343 00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:35,320 Speaker 1: was required daily, fierce physically violent repression, but also mental 344 00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:40,280 Speaker 1: violence imparted through state power, particularly in law and in education. 345 00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:44,680 Speaker 1: That's why in nineteen sixty Ugh Masekela came to America 346 00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:48,320 Speaker 1: for a chance at a free life and as an artist, 347 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:52,160 Speaker 1: to claim his place in New York's vibrant jazz scene. 348 00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:54,280 Speaker 12: When he got to New York and we got to 349 00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:56,760 Speaker 12: Manhatan School music imagined, like I think it was one 350 00:22:56,760 --> 00:23:00,280 Speaker 12: of his second nights in town, and suddenly he's like 351 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:03,639 Speaker 12: rubbing his shoulders with Miles, and he's meeting Monk, and 352 00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:05,200 Speaker 12: like all these dudes. 353 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:09,360 Speaker 1: That's Miles Davis and Felonious Monk, two of the greatest 354 00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:13,199 Speaker 1: jazz musicians of all time. These men were inventors of 355 00:23:13,320 --> 00:23:18,280 Speaker 1: whole subgenres of jazz. And now Hugh Masekela was lucky 356 00:23:18,359 --> 00:23:21,000 Speaker 1: enough to be sitting in a club hearing them play, 357 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:25,560 Speaker 1: watching their fingers work, eventually joining them on stage. 358 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:31,560 Speaker 12: The nieceus like, what is my life. And what was 359 00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:34,719 Speaker 12: really interesting about him is that he really wanted to 360 00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:39,199 Speaker 12: earn their approval in the style of how he played 361 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:41,800 Speaker 12: and be able to play bebop and like really have 362 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:44,399 Speaker 12: them be like, yeah, you're cool, man. And at a 363 00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:47,840 Speaker 12: certain point they were like, Hugh, man, like it's cool 364 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:50,800 Speaker 12: that you can play our shit, but like play your shit. 365 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:53,720 Speaker 12: Give us some of that shit, you know, And they 366 00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:56,000 Speaker 12: really kind of helped to give him the license to 367 00:23:56,040 --> 00:24:00,160 Speaker 12: be like that it's okay to express himself as an 368 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:03,760 Speaker 12: African in this place in America in New York in 369 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:05,080 Speaker 12: the midst of jazz. 370 00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:09,320 Speaker 1: By the mid sixties, Hugh Masekela relocated to the West Coast. 371 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:12,840 Speaker 1: He played a gig and saw how life was in California. 372 00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:17,040 Speaker 1: After that he made all new plans. Hugh Masekela told 373 00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:19,200 Speaker 1: Fresh Air host Terry Gross. 374 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:22,080 Speaker 13: I wanted to play the first Watch Jazz festival of 375 00:24:22,119 --> 00:24:25,000 Speaker 13: a fifteen thousand people came and it was like a 376 00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:30,480 Speaker 13: record attendant. So I called my friend Stuart Levigne, you 377 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:32,960 Speaker 13: know later became my partner and produced most of My 378 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:34,560 Speaker 13: Love and I said, man, this is the place we 379 00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:36,080 Speaker 13: should be coming back. 380 00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:41,240 Speaker 1: That was nineteen sixty six. He did indeed stay. Later 381 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:45,639 Speaker 1: that same year, Hugh Masekela recorded his fifth studio album. 382 00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:49,320 Speaker 1: He gave it the title The Emancipation of Hugh Masekela. 383 00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:53,119 Speaker 1: The cover of the album featured a photo of Masekela 384 00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:57,879 Speaker 1: wearing an exaggerated Abraham Lincoln style beard. It was a 385 00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:03,800 Speaker 1: visual pun for his newfound free him. By this point 386 00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:07,240 Speaker 1: in his life, Hugh Masekela was firmly committed to the 387 00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:11,560 Speaker 1: nascent Black power movement, much like Muhammad Ali. By the 388 00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:14,680 Speaker 1: late sixties, Hugh Masekela was prepared to. 389 00:25:14,840 --> 00:25:18,840 Speaker 12: Like stand on business. You know, he loved Ali. They 390 00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:21,600 Speaker 12: were friends. My father always talked about all you have 391 00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:22,800 Speaker 12: to worry about is being you. 392 00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:27,920 Speaker 1: Just like Ali, Hugh Masekela was uncompromising when it came 393 00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:31,840 Speaker 1: to chasing after what his heart believed in and what 394 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:35,920 Speaker 1: his values instructed him he must do, and he knew 395 00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:40,440 Speaker 1: to expect the blows that come from such acts of bravery. 396 00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:43,720 Speaker 12: If you choose to be like, Okay, who do you 397 00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:47,200 Speaker 12: all need me to be? And I'll be that, They're 398 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:48,880 Speaker 12: always going to want you to be a little less 399 00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:51,280 Speaker 12: this or a little more this so that you can 400 00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:54,560 Speaker 12: be more digestible and so The advice that my father 401 00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:58,440 Speaker 12: gave me is like, stop being so fucking digestible. 402 00:25:58,520 --> 00:25:58,720 Speaker 9: Man. 403 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:02,840 Speaker 12: If they can't chew on you, then you know for them. 404 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:07,280 Speaker 1: There is an inescapable, inarguable truth to that advice. If 405 00:26:07,280 --> 00:26:10,760 Speaker 1: you wish to be free, you must never be beholden 406 00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:15,440 Speaker 1: to pleasing the passing preference of anyone else. You must 407 00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:17,320 Speaker 1: be a difficult bite. 408 00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:23,680 Speaker 12: And that just makes it so much easier. Why trying 409 00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:26,679 Speaker 12: to like put new ingredients in the recipe that is you. 410 00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:30,600 Speaker 12: It's perfect as you are, but it also is not 411 00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:34,960 Speaker 12: for everyone. And the second that you can be like 412 00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:37,800 Speaker 12: wholly okay with that is when you actually get to 413 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:41,159 Speaker 12: live freely in your existence. 414 00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:50,320 Speaker 1: On April twenty eighth, nineteen sixty seven, Muhammad Ali reported 415 00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:53,239 Speaker 1: to an army based in Houston, Texas to answer the 416 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:56,200 Speaker 1: call of the draft board of the US Armed Forces. 417 00:26:56,600 --> 00:26:59,600 Speaker 1: Seated with the other young men all called up to 418 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:03,840 Speaker 1: serve in the Vietnam War, Muhammad Ali finally heard his 419 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:08,960 Speaker 1: name ring in the air, Cassius Marcellus Clay Junior. He 420 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:14,480 Speaker 1: remained seated again his birth name was called Cashus Marcella's 421 00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:22,119 Speaker 1: Clay Junior. Again, Ali sat silent and still a third time, 422 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:26,679 Speaker 1: his name was read aloud, and again Ali refused to 423 00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:31,480 Speaker 1: step forward, so instead, an army officer stepped to Ali. 424 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:35,840 Speaker 1: The officer informed Ali that if he continued to resist 425 00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:39,000 Speaker 1: the draft, he would be arrested, He would be tried, 426 00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:42,440 Speaker 1: and he would be found guilty of a felony punishable 427 00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:46,240 Speaker 1: with five years in a federal prison, as well as 428 00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:49,280 Speaker 1: a fine of ten thousand dollars that would be about 429 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:54,200 Speaker 1: ninety five thousand dollars today. Ali's name was called one 430 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:57,600 Speaker 1: last time. When he still refused to step forward and 431 00:27:57,640 --> 00:28:02,000 Speaker 1: be inducted into the US Armed Forces, Muhammad Ali was arrested. 432 00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:06,280 Speaker 1: With the sound of those handcuffs closing around his very 433 00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:12,280 Speaker 1: famous risks, Ali made it official the newly born soul 434 00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:15,720 Speaker 1: rebel was indeed willing to risk all that he had 435 00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:21,440 Speaker 1: fought to gain to stand on principle. Author Lewis Ehrenberg 436 00:28:21,560 --> 00:28:25,720 Speaker 1: has deeply considered the larger questions of Ali's resistance. 437 00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:32,480 Speaker 4: This is obviously really controversial, and the black community is 438 00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:36,960 Speaker 4: split over this because the notion is, if you have 439 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:42,480 Speaker 4: a black champion, he is a model citizen, a respectable 440 00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:48,120 Speaker 4: person who by his very example could advance civil rights 441 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:50,200 Speaker 4: and freedom for African Americans. 442 00:28:52,240 --> 00:28:57,080 Speaker 1: At the time, civil rights leaders avoided any serious criticism 443 00:28:57,200 --> 00:28:57,840 Speaker 1: of the war. 444 00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:02,560 Speaker 4: The notion was that if African Americans served in the 445 00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:05,760 Speaker 4: army and the armed forces and served the country, then 446 00:29:06,320 --> 00:29:11,920 Speaker 4: they would make it possible for greater freedom for African Americans. 447 00:29:12,240 --> 00:29:13,760 Speaker 1: Ali took the other tech. 448 00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:19,000 Speaker 4: Muhammad Ali does not follow this model, and he earns 449 00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:24,880 Speaker 4: the ire and anger of so many white and black Americans. 450 00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:29,440 Speaker 1: The Brooklyn Dodger Jackie Robinson, the famed baseball legend that 451 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:33,760 Speaker 1: broke the color line, bravely defends Muhammad Ali's choice to 452 00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:38,360 Speaker 1: resist the draft. Robinson wrote in his syndicated newspaper column, quote, 453 00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:41,360 Speaker 1: during my career in sports, I came to learn there 454 00:29:41,360 --> 00:29:44,800 Speaker 1: are many writers who like tame negroes who quote stay 455 00:29:44,840 --> 00:29:47,840 Speaker 1: in their place. Of course, by backing up his words, 456 00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:52,640 Speaker 1: clay Or Ali has clearly demonstrated where his quote place is, 457 00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:54,480 Speaker 1: right up there at the top. 458 00:29:55,200 --> 00:30:00,960 Speaker 4: He saw what Ali was doing was serious and was 459 00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:04,240 Speaker 4: not the act of a coward or an ignorant person, 460 00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:07,320 Speaker 4: but someone who had truly believed in what he was 461 00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:08,120 Speaker 4: saying and doing. 462 00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:12,640 Speaker 1: The very same day he refused to enlist. 463 00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:17,600 Speaker 4: The New York State Boxing Commission withdrew his license, which 464 00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:22,120 Speaker 4: basically banned him even though he had not yet been convicted. 465 00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:26,320 Speaker 1: The World Boxing Association followed suit and stripped him of 466 00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:30,120 Speaker 1: his title. Heavyweight Champion of the World was now open 467 00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:35,480 Speaker 1: for someone else to claim, but Ali's active defiance only 468 00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:38,200 Speaker 1: fortified his growth into what we know him to be, 469 00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:39,800 Speaker 1: the people's champ. 470 00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:45,320 Speaker 4: He was willing to stand by his convictions and a 471 00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:47,880 Speaker 4: face conviction for draft evasion. 472 00:30:56,280 --> 00:31:00,280 Speaker 1: On April twenty seventh, nineteen sixty seven, Muhammad Ali was 473 00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:03,560 Speaker 1: the heavyweight Champion of the World. The very next day, 474 00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:07,720 Speaker 1: he was not, when the New York State Athletic Commission 475 00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:13,320 Speaker 1: suspended Ali's boxing license in response to the champ's quote 476 00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:16,280 Speaker 1: refusal to submit to induction in the Armed Forces of 477 00:31:16,280 --> 00:31:20,440 Speaker 1: the United States and quote. Ali had yet to be 478 00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:23,040 Speaker 1: tried or convicted in a court of law. It was 479 00:31:23,120 --> 00:31:28,920 Speaker 1: just the Boxing Commission's unilateral decision based on vibes. One 480 00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:32,880 Speaker 1: month later, Muhammad Azli's trial began in the U S 481 00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:36,000 Speaker 1: District Court of the Southern District of Texas. His case 482 00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:39,160 Speaker 1: was heard before a judge and an all white jury, 483 00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:42,320 Speaker 1: which by law, was considered to be a jury of 484 00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:46,840 Speaker 1: his peers. No surprise, Ali was tried convicted and found 485 00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:49,920 Speaker 1: guilty of quote the federal felony of refusing to submit 486 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:53,640 Speaker 1: to induction into the armed forces, and was sentenced to 487 00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:57,600 Speaker 1: a term of five years imprisonment For the next three years, 488 00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:02,520 Speaker 1: Ali fought to stay out of federal prison. While many 489 00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:06,520 Speaker 1: at the time doubted his convictions, his biographer Jonathan Iig, 490 00:32:06,680 --> 00:32:09,960 Speaker 1: found Ali's commitment to his principles to be as real 491 00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:14,360 Speaker 1: as any true radicals. He has a unique perspective on this, 492 00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:17,400 Speaker 1: since Ig is also the author of a Politrer Prize 493 00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:21,720 Speaker 1: winning biography on doctor Martin Luther King Junior. That book 494 00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:23,560 Speaker 1: is entitled King a Life. 495 00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:28,840 Speaker 3: Ali is clearly willing to sacrifice when he refuses to 496 00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:32,320 Speaker 3: fight in Vietnamen, and when he's banned from boxing and 497 00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:36,000 Speaker 3: his license has taken away and his passport's taken away, 498 00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:38,280 Speaker 3: and remember thought it was forever. 499 00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:42,320 Speaker 1: Ali had every reason to believe he would never again 500 00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:46,200 Speaker 1: set foot inside a professional boxing ring. But not only 501 00:32:46,320 --> 00:32:50,880 Speaker 1: that he might also lose his freedom. Ali wasn't just talking, 502 00:32:51,120 --> 00:32:52,400 Speaker 1: he was walking. 503 00:32:52,520 --> 00:32:54,080 Speaker 3: And he thought he might go to jail, and he 504 00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:57,200 Speaker 3: was prepared to make that sacrifice. It's interesting to think 505 00:32:57,240 --> 00:32:59,960 Speaker 3: about a boxer positioning himself as a non violent actor 506 00:33:00,320 --> 00:33:03,800 Speaker 3: as an anti war protester, and he's engaged in the 507 00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:06,840 Speaker 3: business of violence, but he sees that there's a different 508 00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:10,040 Speaker 3: kind of violence in the world and that it pitsman 509 00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:14,280 Speaker 3: against man, nation against nation, black against white, and that's 510 00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:16,960 Speaker 3: what he's opposed to. It has nothing to do with boxing, 511 00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:18,920 Speaker 3: which happens to be his career. I think he's trying 512 00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:21,520 Speaker 3: to make the larger point that you know, we're all 513 00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:24,120 Speaker 3: God's children, the same argument that King was making. 514 00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:29,200 Speaker 1: And thus, like King, Ali would face imprisonment for his convictions. 515 00:33:29,640 --> 00:33:34,160 Speaker 1: For three plus years, Muhammad Ali was legally not allowed 516 00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:38,160 Speaker 1: to box. He existed in a state of exile. That 517 00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:42,040 Speaker 1: also meant he had no income, so Ali had to 518 00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:44,320 Speaker 1: dramatically reinvent his life. 519 00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:48,800 Speaker 4: He had a difficult time making money. He went on 520 00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:52,479 Speaker 4: the lecture circuit. He appeared at various campuses, and I 521 00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:57,560 Speaker 4: heard him at UCLA in nineteen sixty six sixty seven, 522 00:33:57,720 --> 00:34:02,040 Speaker 4: and that gained him real stature, and it's something that 523 00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:07,480 Speaker 4: carried on through what happened in Zaire and his role 524 00:34:08,239 --> 00:34:09,400 Speaker 4: in that fight. 525 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:13,720 Speaker 1: Ali kept fighting from the lectern all across the country, 526 00:34:13,800 --> 00:34:16,480 Speaker 1: and he fought to be heard as he debated the press. 527 00:34:16,680 --> 00:34:19,520 Speaker 1: Both the sporting press, as well as the larger news 528 00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:24,200 Speaker 1: press at home and abroad. It's noteworthy that not long 529 00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:28,520 Speaker 1: after Ali came out forcefully against the Vietnam War, MLK 530 00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:33,120 Speaker 1: did two on April fourth, nineteen sixty seven. 531 00:34:33,640 --> 00:34:37,839 Speaker 11: Over the past two years, as I have moved to 532 00:34:37,880 --> 00:34:42,680 Speaker 11: break the betrayal of my own silences and to speak 533 00:34:42,719 --> 00:34:47,200 Speaker 11: from the burnings of my own heart, as I have 534 00:34:47,360 --> 00:34:53,560 Speaker 11: called for radical departures from the destruction in Vietnam, many 535 00:34:53,680 --> 00:34:56,680 Speaker 11: persons have questioned me about the wisdom of my path. 536 00:34:57,680 --> 00:35:00,440 Speaker 11: At the heart of their concerns, this query has often 537 00:35:00,520 --> 00:35:07,400 Speaker 11: loomed large and loud. Why are you speaking about the war, 538 00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:12,280 Speaker 11: doctor King? Why are you joining the voices of dissent? 539 00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:16,759 Speaker 11: Peace and civil rights don't mix? They say? Aren't you 540 00:35:16,880 --> 00:35:20,879 Speaker 11: hurting the cause of your people? They ask? And when 541 00:35:20,920 --> 00:35:23,880 Speaker 11: I hear them, though I often understand the source of 542 00:35:23,920 --> 00:35:29,480 Speaker 11: their concern, I am nevertheless greatly saddened. For such questions 543 00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:35,279 Speaker 11: mean the inquirers have not really known me, my commitment, 544 00:35:36,200 --> 00:35:40,120 Speaker 11: or my calling. Indeed, their question suggests that they do 545 00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:42,359 Speaker 11: not know the world in which they live. 546 00:35:44,640 --> 00:35:48,600 Speaker 1: In conclusion, Doctor King called for a cease fire. King 547 00:35:48,719 --> 00:35:52,880 Speaker 1: also said the Vietnamese people should lead the peace process, 548 00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:56,560 Speaker 1: and that a timeline for America's withdrawal should be planned 549 00:35:56,760 --> 00:36:01,120 Speaker 1: and announced. Sadly, America would not leave Vietnam for nearly 550 00:36:01,200 --> 00:36:07,160 Speaker 1: another half decade. It could be argued that Ali gave 551 00:36:07,320 --> 00:36:10,040 Speaker 1: Doctor King cover to publicly oppose the war. 552 00:36:10,680 --> 00:36:16,160 Speaker 4: It certainly helped that Ali came out first, and it 553 00:36:16,200 --> 00:36:21,000 Speaker 4: took a hit, and King could learn from that see 554 00:36:21,120 --> 00:36:23,960 Speaker 4: the kinds of opposition he would face as a result. 555 00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:28,560 Speaker 1: After his notable anti war speech, both the Washington Post 556 00:36:28,719 --> 00:36:32,880 Speaker 1: and New York Times published editorials characterizing King as a 557 00:36:33,000 --> 00:36:36,319 Speaker 1: dilettante in the case of world peace, a leader who 558 00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:40,120 Speaker 1: had quote diminished his usefulness to his cause, to his country, 559 00:36:40,160 --> 00:36:44,040 Speaker 1: and to his people. In other words, stay in your lane, Negro. 560 00:36:44,760 --> 00:36:47,680 Speaker 1: But doctor King was no longer willing to stay silent 561 00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:48,520 Speaker 1: on Vietnam. 562 00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:53,839 Speaker 4: Both of them, I think linked freedom at home with 563 00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:58,040 Speaker 4: freedom abroad, and the notion that you know, you got 564 00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:04,680 Speaker 4: brown people killing brown people, and the colonial situation around 565 00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:08,920 Speaker 4: the world was linked to the American domestic situation, and 566 00:37:09,200 --> 00:37:12,960 Speaker 4: that I think helped radicalize King to a degree. 567 00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:18,120 Speaker 1: If indeed Muhammad Ali helped to radicalize Martin Luther King Junior, 568 00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:21,279 Speaker 1: that's what it means to shake up the world. But 569 00:37:21,360 --> 00:37:25,360 Speaker 1: as Jonathan I cautions, we can't give Ali all the credit. 570 00:37:25,640 --> 00:37:27,960 Speaker 3: Kreda gets the credit more than Ali. Kreda was pushing 571 00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:30,319 Speaker 3: him for a long time on the war, and you 572 00:37:30,360 --> 00:37:32,520 Speaker 3: can see that that King was heading in that direction, 573 00:37:32,719 --> 00:37:34,200 Speaker 3: you know, long before he met Ali. 574 00:37:34,719 --> 00:37:38,520 Speaker 1: We should never steal any credit from Kreta. Yet, also 575 00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:43,360 Speaker 1: you can still see how Ali's brave stance was something 576 00:37:43,400 --> 00:37:47,200 Speaker 1: that doctor King admired. How could he not appreciate Ali's 577 00:37:47,200 --> 00:37:53,479 Speaker 1: expression the love in the face of violence. As far 578 00:37:53,640 --> 00:37:57,080 Speaker 1: as expressions of love go, James Brown was the voice 579 00:37:57,200 --> 00:37:59,880 Speaker 1: of love for black people. In nineteen sixty eight. 580 00:38:00,120 --> 00:38:03,839 Speaker 10: Hi, this is Fred Wesley, James Brown baby famous when 581 00:38:03,880 --> 00:38:05,680 Speaker 10: I played in his band that. 582 00:38:05,800 --> 00:38:09,600 Speaker 1: Same year, Trombonis. Fred Wesley walked into a recording studio 583 00:38:09,640 --> 00:38:12,840 Speaker 1: in Los Angeles for his very first recording session with 584 00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:15,640 Speaker 1: James Brown and his backing band, the JB's. 585 00:38:16,400 --> 00:38:20,160 Speaker 10: We used to have rehearsal every day. This was my 586 00:38:20,239 --> 00:38:21,440 Speaker 10: first time in the band. 587 00:38:22,160 --> 00:38:26,439 Speaker 1: The band leader for the JBS was Alfred p Wee Ellis. 588 00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:28,600 Speaker 10: And we rehearsing this tune. We didn't know what the 589 00:38:28,680 --> 00:38:31,160 Speaker 10: name of it was, but it was just a track 590 00:38:31,200 --> 00:38:34,840 Speaker 10: that we were doing dad that we had no idea 591 00:38:34,960 --> 00:38:37,880 Speaker 10: that it was going to become a great tune. We 592 00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:42,000 Speaker 10: were in California in the hotel and they call came 593 00:38:42,200 --> 00:38:45,840 Speaker 10: and say they wanted the band to come to the 594 00:38:45,960 --> 00:38:50,879 Speaker 10: Vox studio in Los Angeles to do this recording. So 595 00:38:51,160 --> 00:38:54,560 Speaker 10: we went to the studio and we rehearsed the same 596 00:38:54,640 --> 00:38:57,200 Speaker 10: tune bad Bat It light up. 597 00:38:59,239 --> 00:39:03,640 Speaker 1: But James somehow had the instincts that the song needed 598 00:39:03,640 --> 00:39:06,440 Speaker 1: something else to make it feel special, so he went 599 00:39:06,480 --> 00:39:08,080 Speaker 1: out on the streets of LA. 600 00:39:08,080 --> 00:39:11,120 Speaker 10: And Jane Brown came in the studio with a bunch 601 00:39:11,120 --> 00:39:11,720 Speaker 10: of kids. 602 00:39:12,120 --> 00:39:12,800 Speaker 1: By day. 603 00:39:13,080 --> 00:39:15,640 Speaker 10: We kept doing the thing we were doing, and James 604 00:39:15,680 --> 00:39:18,439 Speaker 10: Brown said, say it loud, and if the kid said, 605 00:39:18,520 --> 00:39:22,359 Speaker 10: I'm black and I'm proud. So we now knew that 606 00:39:22,440 --> 00:39:25,360 Speaker 10: the tune was say it loud, I'm Black and I'm proud, 607 00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:26,560 Speaker 10: and we kept doing it. 608 00:39:26,920 --> 00:39:31,680 Speaker 1: That refrain possessed an inarguable eloquence. It said it all, 609 00:39:32,040 --> 00:39:34,480 Speaker 1: and it did so with this evident joy. 610 00:39:37,360 --> 00:39:40,000 Speaker 10: It ended up being not an anthem for black people, 611 00:39:40,080 --> 00:39:43,319 Speaker 10: you know, because we were proud, but we didn't know 612 00:39:43,480 --> 00:39:45,040 Speaker 10: that we were proud of being black. 613 00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:48,920 Speaker 1: As a young black girl, Lola Love knew how different 614 00:39:48,960 --> 00:39:51,360 Speaker 1: it felt to be called colored or negro. 615 00:39:51,719 --> 00:39:54,960 Speaker 14: You're talking about the sixties, and prior to that, you 616 00:39:55,000 --> 00:39:58,600 Speaker 14: couldn't call a person black, Okay, it with negro. And 617 00:39:58,640 --> 00:40:02,280 Speaker 14: then you have that switch where it was say it loud, 618 00:40:02,360 --> 00:40:05,799 Speaker 14: I'm black and I'm proud, and James Brown made that 619 00:40:05,960 --> 00:40:07,440 Speaker 14: very popular because all you got to just make a 620 00:40:07,480 --> 00:40:11,239 Speaker 14: song and everybody sings it. But it was shifting where 621 00:40:11,280 --> 00:40:16,120 Speaker 14: we as black people in America were identifying with the 622 00:40:16,160 --> 00:40:17,040 Speaker 14: Mother Continent. 623 00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:21,720 Speaker 1: Black was more than the English language version of negro. 624 00:40:22,040 --> 00:40:25,160 Speaker 1: It was also a term that black people chose for themselves. 625 00:40:25,800 --> 00:40:30,000 Speaker 1: Much credit belongs to Kwame Braithwaite's Blackest Beautiful movement of 626 00:40:30,040 --> 00:40:34,880 Speaker 1: the fifties and sixties. Later came newer terms like Afro 627 00:40:35,040 --> 00:40:40,600 Speaker 1: American and African American. They offered something new, something else connection. 628 00:40:41,640 --> 00:40:44,120 Speaker 14: I'm a child growing up in that area with all 629 00:40:44,160 --> 00:40:47,480 Speaker 14: the Italians, the Irish. You had people who came from 630 00:40:47,960 --> 00:40:52,240 Speaker 14: Puerto Rico. They had a home country. But American blacks 631 00:40:52,360 --> 00:40:56,240 Speaker 14: did not have a country to connect with. So therefore, 632 00:40:56,440 --> 00:41:00,360 Speaker 14: getting to the word black and identifying with that, that 633 00:41:00,640 --> 00:41:04,040 Speaker 14: was a step. And then they bought an African American 634 00:41:04,800 --> 00:41:08,840 Speaker 14: and so now we have a country that we're connected 635 00:41:08,920 --> 00:41:13,640 Speaker 14: to and being able to go to the continent. 636 00:41:15,920 --> 00:41:25,960 Speaker 1: For black Americans, that changed everything. On the next episode 637 00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:30,520 Speaker 1: of Rumble, Where's Joe Frazier, Where's the White Folks Champion? 638 00:41:30,680 --> 00:41:34,120 Speaker 3: He keeps relying on these racist tropes to try to 639 00:41:34,200 --> 00:41:36,680 Speaker 3: downgrade his opponents, to say that they're not black enough. 640 00:41:36,800 --> 00:41:40,160 Speaker 6: He can promote the fight without calling him a gorilla. 641 00:41:40,280 --> 00:41:43,240 Speaker 11: The Negro must boldly throw off the manacles of self 642 00:41:43,320 --> 00:41:48,400 Speaker 11: abnegation and say to himself and to the world, I 643 00:41:48,600 --> 00:41:49,440 Speaker 11: am somebody. 644 00:41:53,520 --> 00:41:57,080 Speaker 15: Rumble is a production of School of Humans and iHeart Podcasts. 645 00:41:57,800 --> 00:42:00,600 Speaker 15: Rumble is written and hosted by Sarah and Burnett. The 646 00:42:00,640 --> 00:42:05,400 Speaker 15: third produced and directed by Julia Chriscau. Sound design and 647 00:42:05,480 --> 00:42:11,280 Speaker 15: scoring by Jesse Niswanger. Original music by Jordan Manley and t. J. Merritt. 648 00:42:12,239 --> 00:42:17,120 Speaker 15: Our Senior producer is Amelia Brock. Series concept by Gary Stromberg. 649 00:42:17,400 --> 00:42:22,440 Speaker 15: Executive producers are Jason English, Sean ty Tone, Gary Stromberg, 650 00:42:23,160 --> 00:42:28,520 Speaker 15: Virginia Prescott, L. C. Crowley, and Brandon Barr. Production manager 651 00:42:28,880 --> 00:42:34,680 Speaker 15: Daisy Church, fact checker Savannah Hugley. Additional production by Claire Keating. 652 00:42:35,120 --> 00:42:39,360 Speaker 15: Legal services provided by Canoel han Lee PC casting director 653 00:42:39,600 --> 00:42:45,000 Speaker 15: Julia Chriscau. Episode two cast Abraham Amka as Muhammad Ali, 654 00:42:45,840 --> 00:42:49,880 Speaker 15: Johnny Mack as Doctor Martin Luther King. Junior Casting support 655 00:42:50,000 --> 00:42:54,719 Speaker 15: services provided by Breakdown Express. Special thanks to Lewis Ehrenberg. 656 00:42:55,080 --> 00:42:57,239 Speaker 15: Check out his book Rumble in the Jungle. It's a 657 00:42:57,280 --> 00:43:01,840 Speaker 15: great resource. Also thanks to Jonathan for his book Ali 658 00:43:02,120 --> 00:43:06,680 Speaker 15: a Life. And finally thanks to Zarenz pops Zeke, who 659 00:43:06,760 --> 00:43:09,320 Speaker 15: grounds this material like no one else. If you like 660 00:43:09,400 --> 00:43:13,360 Speaker 15: the show, let us know, like subscribe, leave five star reviews. 661 00:43:13,480 --> 00:43:16,840 Speaker 15: It really helps. Also check out our show notes for 662 00:43:16,920 --> 00:43:18,759 Speaker 15: a full list of reference materials.