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Well, now, with just
a slight skip of the heart,
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00:00:33,033 --> 00:00:35,666
we have, I think, got through
to Chicago and Muhammad Ali.
3
00:00:35,668 --> 00:00:38,936
Are you hearing us from London,
Muhammad? -Yes, sir. Loud and clear.
4
00:00:38,938 --> 00:00:42,273
How are you doing today? -Very well.
Thank you. Welcome to the show.
5
00:00:42,275 --> 00:00:47,645
Thank you for allowing me to come to
you live by Early Bird satellite.
6
00:00:47,647 --> 00:00:50,815
Now, let me just get a few
facts straight with you.
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00:00:50,817 --> 00:00:53,618
You're a professional
fighter, right?
8
00:00:53,620 --> 00:00:57,789
I am a minister of
the religion of Islam also.
9
00:00:57,791 --> 00:00:59,824
A professional fighter
and a minister as well.
10
00:00:59,826 --> 00:01:05,063
Yes, sir. -David Susskind would like to
ask you some questions. David.
11
00:01:05,065 --> 00:01:06,431
Well, I don't know
where to begin.
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00:01:06,433 --> 00:01:12,003
I find nothing amusing or interesting
or tolerable about this man.
13
00:01:12,005 --> 00:01:15,406
He's a disgrace to
his country, his race...
14
00:01:15,408 --> 00:01:18,609
and what he laughingly
describes as his profession.
15
00:01:18,611 --> 00:01:22,013
He is a convicted felon
in the United States.
16
00:01:22,015 --> 00:01:24,515
He has been found guilty.
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00:01:24,516 --> 00:01:25,484
He is out on bail.
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00:01:25,485 --> 00:01:28,786
He will inevitably go to prison,
as well he should.
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00:01:28,788 --> 00:01:32,623
He's a simplistic fool
and a pawn.
20
00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:37,728
Muhammad Ali.
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00:01:38,831 --> 00:01:41,499
One of the greatest athletes
of all time.
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00:01:41,501 --> 00:01:45,903
As the first three-time heavyweight
boxing champion of the world,
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00:01:45,905 --> 00:01:49,040
he thrilled, entertained
and inspired us.
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00:01:49,042 --> 00:01:52,743
He was
given the Medal of Freedom...
25
00:01:52,745 --> 00:01:54,779
by the president
of the United States.
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00:01:54,781 --> 00:01:58,883
The American people
are proud to call Muhammad Ali...
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00:01:58,885 --> 00:02:01,819
one of our own.
28
00:02:07,426 --> 00:02:13,064
What does it mean,
the Medal of Freedom?
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00:02:13,066 --> 00:02:14,599
We bring you up. Oh, yes.
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00:02:14,601 --> 00:02:20,104
This is Muhammad Ali, the great fighter,
the great humanitarian,
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00:02:20,106 --> 00:02:22,140
the great Muslim.
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00:02:22,142 --> 00:02:23,608
Years ago,
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00:02:23,610 --> 00:02:26,544
Ali came and sat right here.
34
00:02:26,546 --> 00:02:29,413
And Ali looked at me.
35
00:02:29,415 --> 00:02:34,318
He said, "Still a nigger."
36
00:02:35,487 --> 00:02:37,755
I said, "Oh, Ali.
37
00:02:37,757 --> 00:02:40,591
Don't talk like that."
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00:02:40,593 --> 00:02:44,795
He said, "Still a nigger."
39
00:02:45,964 --> 00:02:49,400
What did my brother mean?
40
00:03:11,890 --> 00:03:14,559
Olympic champion,
and the flag is going...
41
00:03:18,531 --> 00:03:20,798
And I'm standing so proud.
42
00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:21,999
I just hear the man say,
43
00:03:22,001 --> 00:03:26,737
"Champion of the whole world...
Cassius Clay."
44
00:03:27,172 --> 00:03:29,240
Olympic champion of the world...
45
00:03:29,241 --> 00:03:30,042
...from Kentucky.
46
00:03:30,043 --> 00:03:33,811
Southern boy raised poor becoming
a gold medal winner, oh, man.
47
00:03:33,813 --> 00:03:37,014
Oh! I still get excited.
48
00:03:37,516 --> 00:03:42,153
Me, my mother, my father
were standing at the terminal
49
00:03:42,155 --> 00:03:44,322
when he came off the plane.
50
00:03:44,324 --> 00:03:45,723
I was so happy.
51
00:03:45,725 --> 00:03:48,459
It was beautiful.
Beautiful.
52
00:03:52,965 --> 00:03:55,032
Any ideas now as to whom
you might sign with?
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00:03:55,034 --> 00:03:58,769
I would like to get with a nice,
honest crowd. Nice, clean people.
54
00:03:58,771 --> 00:04:02,106
And with the right backing,
I believe I'll have a chance...
55
00:04:02,108 --> 00:04:03,774
to become the world's
heavyweight champion.
56
00:04:03,776 --> 00:04:08,846
It's best to be with somebody you know
and from your own town if possible.
57
00:04:16,888 --> 00:04:21,024
I'm Gordon B. Davidson, attorney for
the Louisville Sponsoring Group,
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00:04:21,026 --> 00:04:22,563
owner of Cassius Clay
59
00:04:22,564 --> 00:04:26,064
and the hired hand to
keep the group and Cassius Clay together.
60
00:04:26,065 --> 00:04:30,768
We had a contract
with Ali for six years.
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00:04:30,770 --> 00:04:35,806
We were as powerful a group as you
could put together in Louisville.
62
00:04:35,808 --> 00:04:38,776
These were all capitalists.
63
00:04:38,778 --> 00:04:43,047
I'm Bill Faversham,
vice president of Brown-Foreman,
64
00:04:43,049 --> 00:04:45,983
and one of the founders
of the group of Cassius Clay.
65
00:04:45,985 --> 00:04:48,552
I'm also his manager.
66
00:04:50,722 --> 00:04:51,989
I'm W.L. Lyons Brown,
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00:04:51,991 --> 00:04:55,660
chairman of the board of
Brown-Foreman Distillers Corporation.
68
00:04:55,662 --> 00:04:58,062
I'm also a farmer
and in the oil business.
69
00:04:58,064 --> 00:05:01,866
The original group,
they're all deceased.
70
00:05:01,868 --> 00:05:04,235
I'm the only survivor.
71
00:05:04,770 --> 00:05:10,574
The reason for the group was
to aid, assist and protect...
72
00:05:10,576 --> 00:05:13,844
this fine Louisville athlete.
73
00:05:13,846 --> 00:05:17,815
He was a young fellow
who wanted to be great.
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00:05:19,785 --> 00:05:22,355
Cassius, you say you're gonna be
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00:05:22,356 --> 00:05:24,056
champion by the time
you're 21. Is that right?
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00:05:24,057 --> 00:05:29,193
As you know, today is the jet age.
Everybody's trying to break records.
77
00:05:29,195 --> 00:05:33,297
There's the man who says that
he'll be on the moon by 1970.
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00:05:33,299 --> 00:05:36,233
They're gonna make cars
that will run by sunlight.
79
00:05:36,235 --> 00:05:39,003
Well, those are pretty
game predictions.
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00:05:39,005 --> 00:05:41,672
I wouldn't want to do
too much bragging about it,
81
00:05:41,674 --> 00:05:44,512
but everybody that watches me,
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00:05:44,513 --> 00:05:48,113
they say that
I'm the greatest that they've ever seen.
83
00:05:48,114 --> 00:05:51,615
But did I think he
would be the heavyweight champion?
84
00:05:51,617 --> 00:05:53,984
I had doubts about it.
85
00:05:54,119 --> 00:05:55,753
And I think the group
had doubts about it...
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00:05:55,755 --> 00:05:59,357
because the odds,
it's like winning the Kentucky Derby.
87
00:05:59,359 --> 00:06:03,361
You have a horse,
and the horse looks pretty good,
88
00:06:03,363 --> 00:06:06,464
but it is gonna win the Derby?
89
00:06:06,598 --> 00:06:09,667
He never had a doubt about it.
90
00:06:09,801 --> 00:06:13,037
For me to say it was
a civic thing...
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00:06:13,039 --> 00:06:15,005
...it was.
92
00:06:15,774 --> 00:06:19,710
This is the house behind us that
Muhammad and I were raised in...
93
00:06:19,712 --> 00:06:22,880
for the first 13 years
of our life.
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00:06:27,619 --> 00:06:30,921
Who's the champ?
I'm the champ.
95
00:06:30,923 --> 00:06:32,490
- Come on.
- You come on.
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00:06:32,492 --> 00:06:35,960
I was good,
but he was more gifted than I.
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00:06:36,928 --> 00:06:38,562
Left jab,
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00:06:38,564 --> 00:06:39,897
right cross,
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00:06:39,899 --> 00:06:41,332
hook.
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00:06:42,901 --> 00:06:46,904
And we shared a room together.
It had twin beds.
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00:06:46,906 --> 00:06:48,739
He had a bed
on one side on the room.
102
00:06:48,741 --> 00:06:51,041
I had a bed
on the side of the room.
103
00:06:53,678 --> 00:06:56,414
And from Mom, we got kindness,
104
00:06:56,416 --> 00:06:59,884
gentleness, sweetness
and affection, love.
105
00:06:59,886 --> 00:07:02,386
All the good things from Mom.
106
00:07:02,388 --> 00:07:05,790
My father, his name was
Cassius M. Clay Sr.
107
00:07:05,792 --> 00:07:08,392
As I understand, I'm
Cassius Marcellus Clay VI.
108
00:07:08,394 --> 00:07:12,029
Well, Cassius Marcellus Clay
is a great name in Kentucky.
109
00:07:12,031 --> 00:07:14,131
Cassius Marcellus Clay...
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00:07:14,133 --> 00:07:16,333
the old guy, the white guy,
111
00:07:16,335 --> 00:07:18,836
for whom Cassius was named...
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00:07:18,838 --> 00:07:22,206
he was a very strong
abolitionist.
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00:07:22,208 --> 00:07:27,812
I did talk to the Clays a lot.
Always a very friendly relationship.
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00:07:27,814 --> 00:07:33,384
The father was kind of
an in-and-out sort of fellow...
115
00:07:33,652 --> 00:07:38,255
who painted signs
and other things for a living.
116
00:07:38,990 --> 00:07:43,994
My father was painting
the churches here in Louisville.
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00:08:00,946 --> 00:08:03,647
My dad painted
this beautiful portrait of
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00:08:03,649 --> 00:08:06,650
Jesus Christ rescuing Peter.
119
00:08:07,018 --> 00:08:11,856
Peter started denying to believe
in Christ and he started sinking.
120
00:08:11,858 --> 00:08:13,858
When I went
to church on Sunday,
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00:08:13,860 --> 00:08:15,092
and I always asked my mother,
122
00:08:15,094 --> 00:08:16,894
"How come is everything white?"
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00:08:16,896 --> 00:08:21,465
I said, "Why is Jesus white
with blond hair and blue eyes?
124
00:08:21,467 --> 00:08:22,633
Angels are white."
125
00:08:22,635 --> 00:08:26,337
I knew something was wrong,
but I couldn't pinpoint it.
126
00:08:27,706 --> 00:08:31,275
They had a lawyer
whose name was Alberta Jones.
127
00:08:31,277 --> 00:08:36,013
She was an African-American
lawyer and a very good one.
128
00:08:36,015 --> 00:08:41,952
He had little regard for money,
except he wanted to have it to spend.
129
00:08:41,954 --> 00:08:43,521
When the group had him,
130
00:08:43,523 --> 00:08:49,193
the top rate
for income tax was 91%.
131
00:08:49,195 --> 00:08:50,794
It's now 35.
132
00:08:50,796 --> 00:08:56,901
So the more he made,
the more he paid to the government.
133
00:08:56,903 --> 00:08:58,569
To solve that problem,
134
00:08:58,571 --> 00:09:01,038
the group paid
for everything...
135
00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:05,609
so he could just concentrate
on his boxing.
136
00:09:08,113 --> 00:09:10,347
Cassius,
do you believe that a fighter...
137
00:09:10,349 --> 00:09:12,283
actually tries to
kill another fighter?
138
00:09:12,285 --> 00:09:14,885
Does he get that vicious?
Do you get that vicious?
139
00:09:14,887 --> 00:09:18,322
Every time I enter a ring,
I intend to down him.
140
00:09:18,324 --> 00:09:19,490
And if he should fall,
he falls.
141
00:09:19,492 --> 00:09:24,662
Well, that's everybody's
intention or we wouldn't go in.
142
00:09:26,665 --> 00:09:33,070
We had a fund that we fondly jokingly
called "The Orange Juice Fund."
143
00:09:33,072 --> 00:09:37,007
When he was in Florida,
we would get the bills...
144
00:09:37,009 --> 00:09:40,444
and they would be
in the range of, say,
145
00:09:40,446 --> 00:09:43,914
2,000 gallons worth
of orange juice.
146
00:09:43,916 --> 00:09:49,753
And we knew that he wasn't drinking
2,000 gallons of orange juice.
147
00:09:49,755 --> 00:09:55,125
But the entourage managed to get
a little one way or another.
148
00:09:55,127 --> 00:09:59,163
We could not foresee the
difficulties that would lie ahead...
149
00:09:59,165 --> 00:10:06,165
as far as military service and,
of course, the Muslim affiliation.
150
00:10:09,074 --> 00:10:12,610
This is the corner where
I met Cassius Clay in 1961.
151
00:10:12,612 --> 00:10:19,416
I'm standing on the corner of Second
Avenue and Sixth Street in Miami, Florida.
152
00:10:19,418 --> 00:10:22,353
I was selling the Muhammad
Speaks newspaper...
153
00:10:22,355 --> 00:10:25,923
to propagate
the faith of Islam.
154
00:10:27,525 --> 00:10:30,527
We tried to clean
our people up.
155
00:10:31,997 --> 00:10:36,934
We were trying to be the best
citizens that American had.
156
00:10:36,936 --> 00:10:39,236
People trying to be righteous.
157
00:10:40,071 --> 00:10:44,074
We didn't smoke.
We didn't use drugs.
158
00:10:45,410 --> 00:10:47,144
We respected our women.
159
00:10:47,146 --> 00:10:52,449
We train our children to be the same way.
This is what he saw.
160
00:10:52,451 --> 00:10:54,952
Cassius Clay holler
across the street at me.
161
00:10:54,954 --> 00:10:59,256
He say, "Hey, brother,
why are we called Negroes?"
162
00:10:59,258 --> 00:11:01,392
Why are we called Negroes?
163
00:11:01,394 --> 00:11:03,160
"Why are we blind,
deaf and dumb?"
164
00:11:03,162 --> 00:11:05,996
Why are we deaf,
dumb and blind?
165
00:11:05,998 --> 00:11:08,399
Why is everybody
making progress...
166
00:11:08,401 --> 00:11:12,536
and yet we lag so far behind?
167
00:11:14,205 --> 00:11:17,141
I say, "Hey, man. You hip
to the teachings then."
168
00:11:17,143 --> 00:11:18,175
He say, "Yeah, man."
169
00:11:18,177 --> 00:11:22,379
Well, I took it on myself
to program him, we might say,
170
00:11:22,381 --> 00:11:27,184
keep after him to become
a Muslim in the Nation of Islam.
171
00:11:27,186 --> 00:11:28,485
But I wasn't the first one
he heard it from,
172
00:11:28,487 --> 00:11:33,957
'cause he heard it mainly from that
record Minister Farrakhan put out...
173
00:11:33,959 --> 00:11:37,394
"White Man's Heaven
is a Black Man's Hell."
174
00:11:39,130 --> 00:11:43,967
♪ When the slave
master wanted to have some sport ♪
175
00:11:43,969 --> 00:11:49,373
♪ He would heap on our parents
cruelties of the worst sort ♪
176
00:11:49,375 --> 00:11:51,408
♪ Burn them at stake ♪
177
00:11:51,410 --> 00:11:53,243
♪ Hang them on trees ♪
178
00:11:53,245 --> 00:11:57,114
♪ His ears were deaf
to our parents' pleas ♪
179
00:11:57,116 --> 00:12:01,051
♪ Oh, my friend,
it's easy to tell ♪
180
00:12:01,053 --> 00:12:05,489
♪ White man heaven
is a black man hell ♪♪
181
00:12:05,491 --> 00:12:09,493
When Cassius
Marcellus Clay heard the song...
182
00:12:09,495 --> 00:12:13,097
"A White Man's Heaven
is a Black Man's Hell"...
183
00:12:13,099 --> 00:12:16,667
which is still true
to this very day...
184
00:12:16,669 --> 00:12:19,903
then he wanted to become
a part of a movement...
185
00:12:19,905 --> 00:12:25,442
that would free the minds and
hearts and spirit of our people.
186
00:12:25,444 --> 00:12:30,647
So he became a follower
of the Nation of Islam.
187
00:12:31,616 --> 00:12:33,684
Black people at that time
were tremendously vulnerable.
188
00:12:33,686 --> 00:12:38,622
Remember, we had no... There was really
no advocate for the black community...
189
00:12:38,624 --> 00:12:42,726
other than Martin Luther King
and the civil rights movement.
190
00:12:42,728 --> 00:12:47,164
But we wanted to overcome
yesterday, not someday.
191
00:12:47,166 --> 00:12:49,366
So the whole
civil rights motif...
192
00:12:49,367 --> 00:12:50,335
was not attractive to us.
193
00:12:50,336 --> 00:12:56,540
The overalls and the Southern
agrarian accoutrement...
194
00:12:56,542 --> 00:12:58,108
that they were fond of,
195
00:12:58,110 --> 00:12:59,476
this rubbed us the wrong way.
196
00:12:59,478 --> 00:13:01,645
I mean, we were city guys,
you know.
197
00:13:01,647 --> 00:13:04,248
We wanted to look cool
and urbane.
198
00:13:04,250 --> 00:13:08,352
We didn't want to act as if we
were farm workers, you know.
199
00:13:08,354 --> 00:13:13,290
1962,
I took Cassius Clay to Detroit.
200
00:13:13,292 --> 00:13:16,226
I kind of introduced him
to Malcolm at that time.
201
00:13:17,496 --> 00:13:21,098
It is time for you and me
to stand up for ourselves.
202
00:13:21,100 --> 00:13:25,269
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad
teaches us...
203
00:13:25,271 --> 00:13:27,337
don't let the white man
speak for you...
204
00:13:27,339 --> 00:13:30,140
and don't let the white man
fight for you.
205
00:13:32,377 --> 00:13:34,778
I think Malcolm
X was absolutely critical...
206
00:13:34,780 --> 00:13:37,481
to bringing Ali in
to the Nation of Islam.
207
00:13:37,483 --> 00:13:41,218
He was charismatic and Ali
was equally charismatic.
208
00:13:41,220 --> 00:13:43,687
And Ali was not very
sophisticated politically.
209
00:13:43,689 --> 00:13:49,493
I think Malcolm simply bowled him over
with his wisdom and his eloquence.
210
00:13:49,495 --> 00:13:51,695
Egypt was judged
for enslaving the Hebrews.
211
00:13:51,697 --> 00:13:55,165
God destroyed them.
This was the Judgment Day in their day.
212
00:13:55,167 --> 00:13:56,566
Today, America's faced
with the same thing.
213
00:13:56,568 --> 00:13:58,070
If she doesn't let us go with
214
00:13:58,071 --> 00:13:59,571
the Honorable
Elijah Muhammad out of this country,
215
00:13:59,572 --> 00:14:04,541
then America will be destroyed just
as surely as Egypt was destroyed...
216
00:14:04,543 --> 00:14:07,077
and Babylon was destroyed.
217
00:14:09,848 --> 00:14:16,086
I came into the
Nation of Islam in 1950.
218
00:14:16,088 --> 00:14:19,189
The minister
was talking about...
219
00:14:19,191 --> 00:14:22,192
this cross...
220
00:14:22,194 --> 00:14:25,729
that black people
had been nailed to.
221
00:14:27,265 --> 00:14:33,203
Said their hands had been nailed to the
cross where they couldn't use them...
222
00:14:33,205 --> 00:14:35,539
to work for themselves.
223
00:14:35,673 --> 00:14:39,810
Their feet had been nailed
to this cross...
224
00:14:39,812 --> 00:14:43,814
where they couldn't travel
as free men.
225
00:14:44,082 --> 00:14:49,219
A crown of thorns had been
crushed into their brain...
226
00:14:49,221 --> 00:14:54,157
where they were unable
to think for themselves.
227
00:14:54,159 --> 00:14:56,760
And at that moment,
228
00:14:56,762 --> 00:14:58,595
it appeared as though that...
229
00:14:58,597 --> 00:15:00,898
you know,
when you turn a light on...
230
00:15:00,900 --> 00:15:04,501
bling, it clicked on
in my head.
231
00:15:04,503 --> 00:15:09,206
The Nation of Islam will say,
"Well, this is white America.
232
00:15:09,208 --> 00:15:10,474
Why should they include you?
233
00:15:10,476 --> 00:15:17,476
This is their country. Um, don't expect
to be included in their mythology.
234
00:15:17,716 --> 00:15:20,550
Create your own mythology."
235
00:15:22,754 --> 00:15:24,521
One of the reasons why
we could never progress...
236
00:15:24,523 --> 00:15:29,626
is because we had been indoctrinated
by a culture that demeaned us.
237
00:15:29,628 --> 00:15:34,431
Christianity was widely interpreted
to be a slave-making religion.
238
00:15:34,433 --> 00:15:37,567
Islam was seen to be
a slave-breaking religion.
239
00:15:37,569 --> 00:15:39,369
Greetings to you.
240
00:15:39,371 --> 00:15:45,175
I'm Elijah Muhammad, the preacher
of freedom, justice and equality...
241
00:15:45,177 --> 00:15:50,213
for my people who has been lost
and now found.
242
00:15:50,215 --> 00:15:53,016
If you are a free man, don't say
243
00:15:53,018 --> 00:15:57,087
"I wanna make you treat me right"
and you have made a slave
244
00:15:57,089 --> 00:16:03,293
out of my fathers, mothers,
sisters and brothers for 400 years.
245
00:16:03,294 --> 00:16:03,528
No.
246
00:16:03,529 --> 00:16:09,066
I don't want to make you
do nothing but let me go!
247
00:16:10,335 --> 00:16:13,804
Do you feel that
integration is meaningless?
248
00:16:13,806 --> 00:16:17,407
I think integration
is completely sin
249
00:16:17,409 --> 00:16:20,544
...to the black man
and white man.
250
00:16:20,546 --> 00:16:24,081
Separatism
is the only solution.
251
00:16:24,083 --> 00:16:26,717
I don't think many
members of the Nation of Islam...
252
00:16:26,719 --> 00:16:32,122
were concerned really with the
intricacies of the religion itself.
253
00:16:32,124 --> 00:16:36,860
Elijah Muhammad reinterpreted Islam
as part of a liberatory ideology.
254
00:16:36,862 --> 00:16:40,030
And that's the way it was
presented to the Nation of Islam.
255
00:16:40,032 --> 00:16:43,867
I said the earth belongs
to the black man.
256
00:16:48,373 --> 00:16:50,741
I don't know. There's some
mysterious force there.
257
00:16:50,743 --> 00:16:52,542
Because he wasn't really
a charismatic guy.
258
00:16:52,544 --> 00:16:56,580
But yet he had this amazing
attraction to some of the...
259
00:16:56,582 --> 00:16:59,483
the meanest
and most sociopathic
260
00:16:59,485 --> 00:17:00,951
members of the community,
261
00:17:00,953 --> 00:17:03,820
as well as righteous folk.
262
00:17:03,822 --> 00:17:07,657
He was indeed
a majestic leader.
263
00:17:07,859 --> 00:17:10,994
When I first went to Miami
training for a professional fight,
264
00:17:10,996 --> 00:17:12,462
I went to a Muslim meeting.
265
00:17:12,464 --> 00:17:17,467
And as soon as I heard it, I knew this is
what I've been looking for all of my life.
266
00:17:17,469 --> 00:17:20,470
Well, the man proved to me
that I was not a Negro,
267
00:17:20,472 --> 00:17:21,571
that Cassius Clay
was not my name,
268
00:17:21,573 --> 00:17:24,708
and I didn't know my language
or my culture, my religion.
269
00:17:24,710 --> 00:17:27,811
Today, few Negro leaders...
militant or moderate...
270
00:17:27,813 --> 00:17:32,783
feel that the Negro masses will accept
the Black Muslim social doctrine.
271
00:17:32,785 --> 00:17:35,952
I'm convinced that a doctrine
of black supremacy...
272
00:17:35,954 --> 00:17:39,222
is as dangerous as a doctrine
of white supremacy.
273
00:17:40,559 --> 00:17:42,893
Fear of the secret dark.
274
00:17:42,895 --> 00:17:43,895
They are black Muslims,
275
00:17:43,896 --> 00:17:48,732
a national religious cult that says it
will take over the United States...
276
00:17:48,734 --> 00:17:50,267
and eventually the world.
277
00:17:50,269 --> 00:17:54,471
Black capitalists...
they preach "build black, buy black."
278
00:17:54,473 --> 00:18:00,043
The Muslims operate 47 schools of
their own in the United States,
279
00:18:00,045 --> 00:18:04,781
including the University
of Islam in Chicago.
280
00:18:05,416 --> 00:18:10,854
Growing up in the Nation of
Islam was extraordinary.
281
00:18:10,856 --> 00:18:15,792
We were living in a nation
within a nation,
282
00:18:15,794 --> 00:18:18,395
which is this nation.
283
00:18:18,729 --> 00:18:22,399
Cassius Marcellus Clay
came to Chicago...
284
00:18:22,401 --> 00:18:27,571
to visit the Honorable
Elijah Muhammad's empire.
285
00:18:27,573 --> 00:18:29,973
He said, "This Elijah Muhammad,
286
00:18:29,975 --> 00:18:36,046
he called white men the devil and...
I mean, that's pretty bold.
287
00:18:36,048 --> 00:18:38,949
I want to meet
this powerful man."
288
00:18:38,951 --> 00:18:40,851
And that's where I was at.
289
00:18:40,853 --> 00:18:44,688
I was in the school,
and I was 10 years old.
290
00:18:44,690 --> 00:18:49,559
Clay, he was introduced to the
whole masses in the auditorium.
291
00:18:49,561 --> 00:18:53,163
And he stood up there
and said to us...
292
00:18:53,498 --> 00:18:57,570
"I'm gonna be heavyweight
champion before I'm 21.
293
00:18:57,571 --> 00:19:00,071
So get your autographs now."
294
00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:05,876
So he came to me.
He says, "Hey, little girl"...
295
00:19:05,878 --> 00:19:07,544
And he was
scribbling his name...
296
00:19:07,546 --> 00:19:11,915
I says, "Brother,
I'm gonna tell you something."
297
00:19:12,016 --> 00:19:14,818
And as I'm telling him this,
I'm tearing up the autograph.
298
00:19:14,820 --> 00:19:19,956
"And you learn who you are and you
don't have the white man's name...
299
00:19:19,958 --> 00:19:21,925
the slave name, you know...
300
00:19:21,927 --> 00:19:23,827
then you can come back to me
and we'll talk."
301
00:19:23,829 --> 00:19:28,098
And I opened up his hand
and put the paper in his hand.
302
00:19:28,100 --> 00:19:31,635
And he froze.
And he said,
303
00:19:31,836 --> 00:19:38,008
"What? Who is she?"
And I walked away.
304
00:19:55,627 --> 00:19:57,694
55,000 people came that night.
305
00:19:57,696 --> 00:20:00,597
You should have seen
the people. One layer.
306
00:20:00,599 --> 00:20:06,937
Two layers. 10,000 on each layer.
15,000, 20,000 on some.
307
00:20:06,939 --> 00:20:08,572
Four layers and a fifth layer.
308
00:20:08,574 --> 00:20:10,540
People were looking
down on the ring.
309
00:20:10,542 --> 00:20:13,243
55,000 and Cleopatra
was at ringside.
310
00:20:13,245 --> 00:20:16,012
We don't believe it.
The fifth round came.
311
00:20:16,014 --> 00:20:18,014
I hit him.
312
00:20:18,016 --> 00:20:20,750
Yeah, I said, "Come on, sucker."
313
00:20:20,752 --> 00:20:24,087
And he said, "Break it up."
I said, "There he is."
314
00:20:24,089 --> 00:20:26,656
Let me see you close your
mouth and just keep it closed.
315
00:20:26,658 --> 00:20:29,092
- Well, you know that's impossible.
- No, no, now keep it closed.
316
00:20:29,094 --> 00:20:31,228
You know that's impossible.
I'm the greatest.
317
00:20:31,230 --> 00:20:32,996
And I'm knocking out all bums.
318
00:20:32,998 --> 00:20:37,133
And if you get too smart,
I'll knock you out.
319
00:20:40,938 --> 00:20:46,843
Cassius Clay was training
for the Sonny Liston fight.
320
00:20:46,845 --> 00:20:49,012
For the heavyweight championship.
321
00:20:49,014 --> 00:20:52,415
I wanted him to be
a registered Muslim.
322
00:20:52,550 --> 00:20:55,585
When you come into Islam,
we write a letter...
323
00:20:55,587 --> 00:20:57,520
saying we believe
in the teachings.
324
00:20:57,522 --> 00:21:00,056
And we put our slave name
in the letter.
325
00:21:00,058 --> 00:21:04,761
Those were the names the slave master
had when they owned our ancestors.
326
00:21:04,763 --> 00:21:07,931
So he wrote his letter
and sent if off to Chicago...
327
00:21:07,933 --> 00:21:12,202
and then they sent back
what we called "X."
328
00:21:12,204 --> 00:21:14,104
He became Cassius X.
329
00:21:14,106 --> 00:21:21,044
And then the promoters, they was trying
to get Ali to denounce the religion.
330
00:21:21,046 --> 00:21:22,212
And they told Ali,
331
00:21:22,214 --> 00:21:26,049
"You got to get rid of them
Muslim kooks...
332
00:21:26,051 --> 00:21:27,884
and Captain Sam"...
That's me...
333
00:21:27,886 --> 00:21:31,021
"and denounce that religion,
otherwise there ain't gonna be no fight."
334
00:21:31,023 --> 00:21:35,692
Well, Ali had been training all his life for
a fight for the heavyweight championship.
335
00:21:35,694 --> 00:21:38,862
So that summer
scare a man to death.
336
00:21:39,930 --> 00:21:42,666
I said, "Man,
don't believe that."
337
00:21:42,668 --> 00:21:44,134
I said, "Money's
the white man's god."
338
00:21:44,136 --> 00:21:47,037
And I said, "You the only one
who can make any money for 'em."
339
00:21:47,038 --> 00:21:47,838
I said, "Hold to your belief."
340
00:21:47,839 --> 00:21:52,842
Ali was packing up his bus to leave Miami,
and they ran over there.
341
00:21:52,844 --> 00:21:54,611
"Uh, where you goin', Champ?"
342
00:21:54,613 --> 00:21:56,079
He said, "I'm fin
to go to Louisville."
343
00:21:56,081 --> 00:21:58,148
They said, "Wait a minute.
The fight's on. The fight's on.
344
00:21:58,150 --> 00:22:01,785
You just don't say you're a Muslim.
We ain't gonna say it neither."
345
00:22:01,787 --> 00:22:04,788
Ali said, "All right,
I won't talk about it."
346
00:22:05,657 --> 00:22:12,529
Cassius Clay had no right to be
in a ring with Sonny Liston.
347
00:22:18,836 --> 00:22:23,640
He had never beaten anybody
of importance.
348
00:22:23,641 --> 00:22:24,208
He was untried.
349
00:22:24,209 --> 00:22:27,277
Jerry, I'm the greatest fighter
that ever stepped foot in the ring.
350
00:22:27,279 --> 00:22:31,748
But I'm getting ready to participate
in the biggest fight of all time.
351
00:22:31,750 --> 00:22:32,849
More money will be
lost that night.
352
00:22:32,851 --> 00:22:37,087
This will be the biggest upset
in the century of all boxing.
353
00:22:37,089 --> 00:22:38,888
I think you're
a big bag of wind.
354
00:22:38,890 --> 00:22:41,725
Now, just hear me out.
Wait a minute. Hold it a second.
355
00:22:41,727 --> 00:22:43,960
- I think that, one...
- Bodyguards.
356
00:22:43,962 --> 00:22:45,395
Hold it.
357
00:22:45,397 --> 00:22:48,365
I think that you're the damnedest
showman that ever lived,
358
00:22:48,367 --> 00:22:49,766
- and you ain't kidding anybody.
- People...
359
00:22:49,768 --> 00:22:53,103
Will you let me finish and shut
your mouth for one minute.
360
00:22:54,206 --> 00:22:56,508
Cassius, Sonny Liston said that
361
00:22:56,509 --> 00:22:58,709
you should be arrested
for impersonating a fighter.
362
00:22:58,710 --> 00:23:02,712
He said you should be turned
over his knee and spanked.
363
00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:06,783
The odds were 7-to-1.
It's very big odds...
364
00:23:06,785 --> 00:23:09,018
for a heavyweight
championship fight.
365
00:23:09,020 --> 00:23:12,689
I'm just ready to fight.
And I'm glad it'll be here...
366
00:23:12,691 --> 00:23:15,058
where all these bigmouth people
here in Miami...
367
00:23:15,060 --> 00:23:17,694
talking about I talk too much
and Liston's gonna whup me.
368
00:23:17,696 --> 00:23:20,098
Well, I want all of them to be there.
369
00:23:20,099 --> 00:23:21,699
And I'm gonna shut up
all of you's mouths.
370
00:23:21,700 --> 00:23:26,035
The challenger from
Louisville, Kentucky...
371
00:23:26,037 --> 00:23:28,037
Cassius Clay.
372
00:23:28,039 --> 00:23:31,975
- Clay.
- Cassius Marcellus Clay, 22 years of age.
373
00:23:31,977 --> 00:23:34,010
Going for all the marbles
in the boxing business.
374
00:23:34,012 --> 00:23:38,214
In my opinion, fights are always won
with fists and not with mouth talk.
375
00:23:38,216 --> 00:23:39,916
I pick Liston to win
by the fifth round.
376
00:23:39,918 --> 00:23:43,086
- It has to be Liston.
- Liston is a much bigger puncher.
377
00:23:43,088 --> 00:23:45,889
- The fifth round.
- Oh, I think in the third.
378
00:23:45,891 --> 00:23:49,492
I'm not quite sure that anything
human can hurt Sonny Liston.
379
00:23:56,000 --> 00:24:00,670
Cassius Clay
on the move as we see.
380
00:24:01,639 --> 00:24:04,674
The right hand!
The best punch of the fight so far!
381
00:24:04,676 --> 00:24:07,710
It was not a heavyweight
championship fight physically.
382
00:24:07,711 --> 00:24:08,412
There was more to it than that.
383
00:24:08,413 --> 00:24:12,816
I looked at all of the historic things
that were taking place on this earth,
384
00:24:12,818 --> 00:24:17,821
and to me, time itself
was on Cassius's side.
385
00:24:18,923 --> 00:24:24,060
Seconds
remaining in the sixth.
386
00:24:26,798 --> 00:24:29,332
The crowd now cheering
the challenger.
387
00:24:29,334 --> 00:24:32,769
What do you think is going on
in Sonny's mind at this point?
388
00:24:32,771 --> 00:24:34,571
Well,
I think Sonny's beginning to worry now.
389
00:24:34,573 --> 00:24:36,673
At least his corner's beginning to worry.
390
00:24:36,675 --> 00:24:42,178
They might be stopping it.
That might be all, ladies and gentlemen.
391
00:24:42,180 --> 00:24:45,081
It's a technical knockout.
392
00:24:48,052 --> 00:24:50,954
Okay, get Cassius Clay...
Wait! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
393
00:24:50,956 --> 00:24:53,823
At the black
Muslims convention in Chicago,
394
00:24:53,825 --> 00:24:57,095
Elijah Muhammad came
closer than anyone so far
395
00:24:57,096 --> 00:24:58,796
in proclaiming Clay a member.
396
00:24:58,797 --> 00:25:01,297
Clay has hinted that he is
at least on the fringe.
397
00:25:01,299 --> 00:25:04,767
Elijah Muhammad all but
pushed him across.
398
00:25:04,769 --> 00:25:06,736
The enemy wanted him
399
00:25:06,738 --> 00:25:10,273
to come out all blasted.
400
00:25:10,975 --> 00:25:13,343
They had said the he would-
401
00:25:13,345 --> 00:25:16,412
Liston would tear up
that pretty face of yours.
402
00:25:20,084 --> 00:25:23,486
But Allah and myself said,
"No, no."
403
00:25:26,490 --> 00:25:29,192
God's with me!
Can't nobody be against me!
404
00:25:29,194 --> 00:25:30,593
I shook up the world!
405
00:25:30,595 --> 00:25:33,496
I know God!
I know the real God!
406
00:25:33,498 --> 00:25:36,399
You must listen to me!
407
00:25:37,902 --> 00:25:40,270
You tell it, boy.
408
00:25:40,272 --> 00:25:44,340
The morning after,
he was very subdued.
409
00:25:44,342 --> 00:25:47,076
I don't have to talk no more.
I done proved my point.
410
00:25:47,078 --> 00:25:51,047
All I have to do is just be a nice,
clean gentleman. That's all.
411
00:25:52,350 --> 00:25:53,350
Nice, clean gentleman.
412
00:25:53,351 --> 00:25:59,055
At that moment,
all the older reporters walked away.
413
00:25:59,057 --> 00:26:00,924
And then one young reporter
said,
414
00:26:00,926 --> 00:26:05,562
"What about the rumor that
you're a card-carrying Muslim?"
415
00:26:05,564 --> 00:26:09,165
And he... What...
You know, what does that mean?
416
00:26:09,167 --> 00:26:11,134
I like everybody.
417
00:26:11,136 --> 00:26:12,936
I treat everybody right.
418
00:26:12,937 --> 00:26:14,204
"What about segregation?
419
00:26:14,205 --> 00:26:17,841
Don't you want to be part of the civil
rights struggle? Integration?"
420
00:26:17,842 --> 00:26:18,542
He said, "No."
421
00:26:18,543 --> 00:26:21,911
I don't have to be
what you want me to be.
422
00:26:22,079 --> 00:26:25,181
I'm free to be what I want to be
and think what I want to think.
423
00:26:25,183 --> 00:26:28,451
That was kind of his
Declaration of Independence.
424
00:26:28,453 --> 00:26:32,288
This is complete freedom, not just a
cup of coffee or a seat in a school...
425
00:26:32,290 --> 00:26:35,058
or a token...
This is real.
426
00:26:37,027 --> 00:26:39,731
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad say
427
00:26:39,732 --> 00:26:42,032
he was too big of a man
to carry that "X"...
428
00:26:42,033 --> 00:26:45,101
and named him Muhammad Ali.
429
00:26:45,369 --> 00:26:48,204
I remember the exact moment
we told my dad and mom.
430
00:26:48,206 --> 00:26:52,909
We said, "The Honorable Elijah
Muhammad gave us our name."
431
00:26:52,911 --> 00:26:54,277
They became very angry.
432
00:26:54,279 --> 00:26:56,045
They said,
"What in the world do you mean?"
433
00:26:56,047 --> 00:27:02,051
My brother said, "Dad, I'm
Muhammad Ali." You got to accept it.
434
00:27:02,052 --> 00:27:02,920
What does it mean?
435
00:27:02,921 --> 00:27:08,124
"Muhammad" means "worthy of all
praises" and "Ali" means "most high."
436
00:27:09,026 --> 00:27:13,262
At the New York Times,
the top editor felt...
437
00:27:13,264 --> 00:27:14,330
we met you as Cassius Clay.
438
00:27:14,332 --> 00:27:20,403
Until you go into a court of law and
change your name, you are Cassius Clay.
439
00:27:20,405 --> 00:27:22,105
And it really
kind of bothered me.
440
00:27:22,107 --> 00:27:25,875
Nobody asked John Wayne or Rock
Hudson what their names were.
441
00:27:25,877 --> 00:27:28,444
But I tried to slip it in
when I could.
442
00:27:28,446 --> 00:27:34,217
I usually ended up writing
"Muhammad Ali, a.k.a. Cassius Clay."
443
00:27:34,219 --> 00:27:37,353
His change of name,
what did it threaten?
444
00:27:37,355 --> 00:27:41,357
If he was white, they would be referring
to him as the All-American boy.
445
00:27:41,359 --> 00:27:43,526
It was an
affront to many Americans...
446
00:27:43,528 --> 00:27:45,428
that the heavyweight
champion of the world...
447
00:27:45,430 --> 00:27:48,898
would reject American identity
and all of that entails...
448
00:27:48,900 --> 00:27:53,102
for something as obscure and
cultish as the Nation of Islam.
449
00:27:53,104 --> 00:27:56,039
Cassius, you're... -I'm not Cassius.
You still calling me...
450
00:27:56,041 --> 00:27:59,509
- Or Muhammad, you're talking...
- I'm not no white man.
451
00:27:59,511 --> 00:28:03,046
So you want to keep calling me a
white man's name. I'm not white.
452
00:28:03,048 --> 00:28:05,682
I don't want to be called
after your name no more.
453
00:28:05,684 --> 00:28:09,285
I'm not no slave.
I'm Muhammad Ali.
454
00:28:14,258 --> 00:28:16,626
I was working in the bakery...
455
00:28:16,628 --> 00:28:20,296
and he would go in
and he would say,
456
00:28:20,298 --> 00:28:24,600
"I know your name.
I know your name."
457
00:28:26,570 --> 00:28:29,972
And I'd say, "Well, whoop-de-do."
I says that.
458
00:28:29,974 --> 00:28:36,512
He says, "And I got a name of culture
now. My name is Muhammad Ali."
459
00:28:40,985 --> 00:28:44,153
Now that he gave me the beautiful
name of Muhammad Ali...
460
00:28:44,155 --> 00:28:46,989
and took away that slave name
of Cassius Clay,
461
00:28:46,991 --> 00:28:48,624
now I can go all over the world.
462
00:28:48,626 --> 00:28:52,662
All over the world!
463
00:28:53,263 --> 00:28:57,934
Muslims all over the world
who never followed boxing said,
464
00:28:57,936 --> 00:28:59,402
"Ooh! Look.
465
00:28:59,404 --> 00:29:06,042
There's a Muslim in America
named Muhammad Ali.
466
00:29:06,044 --> 00:29:11,214
Those are big, big names
in the Islamic world.
467
00:29:11,715 --> 00:29:16,052
His international appeal,
it was vast.
468
00:29:16,053 --> 00:29:16,520
Welcome.
469
00:29:16,521 --> 00:29:19,522
The young people of Ghana
want to welcome you.
470
00:29:19,524 --> 00:29:22,625
Ghana, Nigeria,
Pakistan and Turkey,
471
00:29:22,627 --> 00:29:26,062
they call me
their champion too.
472
00:29:26,530 --> 00:29:29,398
I was surprised.
The whole world was watching it.
473
00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:32,001
- They sure were.
- Yeah.
474
00:29:44,915 --> 00:29:47,150
What kind of impression
do you try to leave...
475
00:29:47,152 --> 00:29:48,684
on the nations
you visit over there?
476
00:29:48,686 --> 00:29:54,090
Well, uh,
just as a clean-living Muslim.
477
00:29:54,092 --> 00:29:57,627
Letting them know they have
hundreds and thousands of brothers
478
00:29:57,628 --> 00:29:58,228
here in America.
479
00:29:58,229 --> 00:30:00,797
All of these are Muslim
countries that I've been to.
480
00:30:00,799 --> 00:30:02,698
He's in a better position
than anyone else...
481
00:30:02,700 --> 00:30:07,336
to restore the racial pride to not
only our people in this country,
482
00:30:07,338 --> 00:30:08,571
but all over the world.
483
00:30:08,573 --> 00:30:12,241
As-salaam alaikum.
484
00:30:12,243 --> 00:30:15,244
I've been all over into
the deepest parts of Africa...
485
00:30:15,246 --> 00:30:21,150
and Egypt, and everybody knows and are
talking about the Muslims in America.
486
00:30:21,152 --> 00:30:23,686
Everybody.
487
00:30:24,121 --> 00:30:28,658
And if it was not for the teachings
of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad...
488
00:30:28,660 --> 00:30:31,093
not bragging,
but a man in my position...
489
00:30:31,095 --> 00:30:34,230
that would be the last place
I would go is Africa and Egypt.
490
00:30:34,232 --> 00:30:39,569
The first stop would have been Paris,
London, France, like the rest of them.
491
00:30:47,644 --> 00:30:52,348
He hired Elijah
Muhammad's son to be his "manager."
492
00:30:52,350 --> 00:30:56,054
But it was very clear
that he didn't really mean
493
00:30:56,055 --> 00:30:58,155
manager like the Louisville
Sponsoring Group.
494
00:30:58,156 --> 00:30:59,755
How many managers do you have?
495
00:30:59,757 --> 00:31:04,093
Oh, I have 11 backers.
I don't... I have one manager.
496
00:31:04,095 --> 00:31:05,194
They flattered him.
497
00:31:05,196 --> 00:31:11,200
They treated him as a very important
person, which, of course, he was.
498
00:31:11,202 --> 00:31:13,336
They made him a hero.
499
00:31:13,338 --> 00:31:14,570
He didn't live
in Louisville anymore.
500
00:31:14,572 --> 00:31:19,475
But he was never introduced as anything
except from Louisville, Kentucky.
501
00:31:19,477 --> 00:31:24,347
To a boxer, that's not a small thing,
how you're announced.
502
00:31:24,349 --> 00:31:30,086
Ali kept his word on every
fight that we made for him.
503
00:31:30,088 --> 00:31:36,926
And he never argued about black
or white problems with us.
504
00:31:36,928 --> 00:31:39,161
I think Ali probably told
the Muslims
505
00:31:39,163 --> 00:31:43,065
don't mess with the
Louisville Sponsoring Group.
506
00:31:43,067 --> 00:31:45,434
Leave them alone.
507
00:31:46,403 --> 00:31:50,806
I understand that you're headed
to meet with Elijah Muhammad.
508
00:31:50,808 --> 00:31:53,609
- Yes, sir. Having dinner with him.
- Uh-huh.
509
00:31:53,611 --> 00:31:56,846
One of the main reasons is your
friendship with Malcolm X.
510
00:31:56,848 --> 00:32:00,483
- He's a friend of yours now, isn't he?
- Yeah. He is a brother of mine.
511
00:32:00,485 --> 00:32:03,519
He's my brother. Whatever he do,
he's my brother. -Uh-huh.
512
00:32:03,521 --> 00:32:04,620
Now that he's split away
from the...
513
00:32:04,622 --> 00:32:08,758
I don't know about splitting. I'll have
to see the higher authority on that.
514
00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:10,793
There's been great
publicity given to the fact...
515
00:32:10,795 --> 00:32:14,330
that heavyweight champion Cassius
Clay is one of your followers.
516
00:32:14,332 --> 00:32:16,632
Well, Cassius is following
Elijah Muhammad.
517
00:32:16,634 --> 00:32:22,838
And, uh, I'm no longer a follower
of Elijah Muhammad myself.
518
00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:24,907
And I think that
the black Muslim movement,
519
00:32:24,909 --> 00:32:28,711
if it doesn't adopt
the Sunni practice of Islam,
520
00:32:28,713 --> 00:32:31,614
that it will disintegrate
and fall apart.
521
00:32:31,616 --> 00:32:34,517
There's no organization
in this country...
522
00:32:34,519 --> 00:32:37,954
that could do more
for the struggling black man...
523
00:32:37,956 --> 00:32:41,757
than the black Muslim movement
if it wanted to.
524
00:32:41,759 --> 00:32:44,560
But it has gotten
into the possession...
525
00:32:44,562 --> 00:32:46,429
of a man who's become senile,
526
00:32:46,431 --> 00:32:49,732
and then he has surrounded
himself by his children...
527
00:32:49,734 --> 00:32:53,369
who are now in power
and want nothing but luxury...
528
00:32:53,371 --> 00:32:56,472
and will do anything to
safeguard their own interests.
529
00:32:56,474 --> 00:33:03,474
People like myself and Ali,
we were in the valley of decision.
530
00:33:03,715 --> 00:33:07,717
Should I follow a man
that taught me...
531
00:33:07,719 --> 00:33:12,788
or should I follow the teacher
of the man who taught me?
532
00:33:12,790 --> 00:33:15,691
Elijah Muhammad called
all of his officials...
533
00:33:15,693 --> 00:33:18,594
national officials
to Chicago in October...
534
00:33:18,596 --> 00:33:24,367
and ordered them to kill
or maim any of his followers...
535
00:33:24,369 --> 00:33:26,736
who leave him to follow me.
536
00:33:26,738 --> 00:33:29,005
Does this split disturb you
that's been reported?
537
00:33:29,007 --> 00:33:33,175
No. What Malcolm X does is his business.
He's one man.
538
00:33:33,343 --> 00:33:38,881
Muhammad Ali chose to go
with the establishment, so to speak.
539
00:33:38,883 --> 00:33:43,819
Elijah Muhammad has given
his blessing to a new recruiter...
540
00:33:43,821 --> 00:33:46,355
Cassius Muhammad Ali Clay.
541
00:33:46,357 --> 00:33:49,592
We are the greatest!
542
00:33:49,594 --> 00:33:51,494
Clay is no Malcolm X,
543
00:33:51,496 --> 00:33:55,531
but he has become
an idol for youngsters.
544
00:33:55,699 --> 00:33:58,300
A lot of Malcolmites
who were following Malcolm...
545
00:33:58,302 --> 00:34:01,604
were really not equally attracted
to the Nation of Islam.
546
00:34:01,606 --> 00:34:05,307
They were attracted to Malcolm's
audacity, his eloquence...
547
00:34:05,309 --> 00:34:08,079
and his vision, which, in some ways,
548
00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:09,780
elaborated the vision
of the Nation of Islam.
549
00:34:09,781 --> 00:34:14,850
I pray that God will bless you
in everything that you do.
550
00:34:15,352 --> 00:34:18,888
I pray that you
will grow intellectually...
551
00:34:18,890 --> 00:34:21,690
so that you can understand
the problems of the world...
552
00:34:21,692 --> 00:34:25,928
and where you fit into
in that world picture.
553
00:34:35,073 --> 00:34:37,940
He's a hero to me.
He stood out among all black people.
554
00:34:37,942 --> 00:34:39,442
He showed the white man
where it was at.
555
00:34:39,444 --> 00:34:41,710
Who do you believe is
responsible for Malcolm X's death?
556
00:34:41,712 --> 00:34:42,912
The white power structure
is America is behind it.
557
00:34:42,914 --> 00:34:47,950
And they're quick to capitalize on it by
saying that one of his own kind did it.
558
00:34:47,952 --> 00:34:50,586
But they put it up to be done.
559
00:34:55,725 --> 00:34:59,063
Now, I give him credit
for the good work he done
560
00:34:59,064 --> 00:35:00,864
when he was with the Nation of Islam.
561
00:35:00,865 --> 00:35:03,365
We didn't have nobody better.
562
00:35:03,934 --> 00:35:07,203
But Elijah Muhammad made him.
563
00:35:07,471 --> 00:35:08,737
When Malcolm was a good man...
564
00:35:08,739 --> 00:35:11,740
preaching the teachings of
the Honorable Elijah Muhammad,
565
00:35:11,742 --> 00:35:14,477
I would have
gave my life for him.
566
00:35:14,479 --> 00:35:16,579
But when he turned viciously...
567
00:35:16,581 --> 00:35:18,747
against the Honorable
Elijah Muhammad,
568
00:35:18,749 --> 00:35:22,618
if I could have got a hold of him,
I might have killed him myself.
569
00:35:22,620 --> 00:35:24,553
But we didn't kill him.
'Cause you know why?
570
00:35:24,555 --> 00:35:26,989
Because we took orders from
the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.
571
00:35:26,991 --> 00:35:29,758
He told us not to touch him.
Let him just go.
572
00:35:29,760 --> 00:35:34,029
Malcolm is the victim
of his own preaching.
573
00:35:34,031 --> 00:35:36,765
He preached violence,
and so he become the victim of it.
574
00:35:36,767 --> 00:35:40,636
So many things have
been said wrong about Malcolm X.
575
00:35:40,638 --> 00:35:45,474
Malcolm X was
a very nice person.
576
00:35:45,542 --> 00:35:49,812
The Bible says "He without sin
cast the first stone."
577
00:35:49,814 --> 00:35:51,580
That's a strong statement.
578
00:35:54,952 --> 00:35:57,686
The night that
Malcolm X was killed,
579
00:35:57,688 --> 00:36:02,391
there was a fire
in Ali's apartment.
580
00:36:03,026 --> 00:36:06,829
The implication
was that it was arson.
581
00:36:07,464 --> 00:36:10,666
That it was some
sort of revenge.
582
00:36:10,668 --> 00:36:11,934
Uh, I don't know.
583
00:36:11,936 --> 00:36:17,940
I think there's no question that Ali
had to have been scared himself.
584
00:36:17,942 --> 00:36:19,909
Malcolm, in many ways,
585
00:36:19,911 --> 00:36:24,146
was a more important political
figure than Muhammad Ali.
586
00:36:24,148 --> 00:36:30,553
I mean, if you could waste him,
you could certainly waste Ali.
587
00:36:30,555 --> 00:36:32,888
He was still just a boxer.
588
00:36:32,890 --> 00:36:38,127
I feel for his life because the
condition the world is in today.
589
00:36:38,129 --> 00:36:41,163
And, uh, you never know
what's going to happen...
590
00:36:41,165 --> 00:36:43,165
when you're in public life
like he is.
591
00:36:43,167 --> 00:36:48,137
And I'm much concerned about the
fire that started in his apartment.
592
00:36:48,139 --> 00:36:51,907
And I do wish that he would
withdraw from this movement...
593
00:36:51,909 --> 00:36:55,010
because I am awful worried
about him.
594
00:36:55,012 --> 00:36:57,046
We raised him
to be a Christian...
595
00:36:57,048 --> 00:37:00,883
and took him to church every
Sunday when he was small...
596
00:37:00,885 --> 00:37:05,187
on up till he got out, you know,
in the world on his own.
597
00:37:05,189 --> 00:37:09,225
And then he got in this organization
which we do not approve of at all.
598
00:37:09,227 --> 00:37:12,661
Your mother was quoted
yesterday in Louisville as saying...
599
00:37:12,663 --> 00:37:14,096
that she felt you ought to
leave the Muslim movement.
600
00:37:14,098 --> 00:37:15,599
How do you feel about...
601
00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:17,500
It's natural for a mother to be
worried about her son...
602
00:37:17,501 --> 00:37:21,537
with the press writing all of these
things about somebody's life's in danger.
603
00:37:21,539 --> 00:37:22,871
You know how the press
can blow things up...
604
00:37:22,873 --> 00:37:26,275
and make it look like we
in a war with some black people.
605
00:37:26,277 --> 00:37:28,744
We not at war with nobody.
606
00:37:28,812 --> 00:37:31,513
And I'm walking the
streets daily by myself.
607
00:37:31,515 --> 00:37:35,217
And, uh, if anybody want me,
they can find me.
608
00:37:35,219 --> 00:37:39,121
Malcolm X and anybody else
who attacks, uh...
609
00:37:39,123 --> 00:37:42,258
talks about attacking
Elijah Muhammad will die.
610
00:37:42,260 --> 00:37:47,060
No man can oppose the message
of Almighty God,
611
00:37:47,061 --> 00:37:49,261
uh, verbally or physically...
612
00:37:49,267 --> 00:37:51,700
and get away with it.
613
00:37:59,709 --> 00:38:05,082
Floyd Patterson didn't think
that there should be a Muslim
614
00:38:05,083 --> 00:38:06,283
heavyweight champion.
615
00:38:06,284 --> 00:38:11,020
Refused to call Ali
by his new name.
616
00:38:11,022 --> 00:38:13,922
Cassius Clay
doesn't fully understand...
617
00:38:13,924 --> 00:38:17,126
what the black Muslim
stands for.
618
00:38:17,994 --> 00:38:20,029
It's like the Ku Klux Klan.
619
00:38:20,031 --> 00:38:24,566
I think that hurts
the championship quite a bit.
620
00:38:27,871 --> 00:38:30,005
Oh, I'm gonna have to
give him a good whipping.
621
00:38:30,007 --> 00:38:32,312
And I have entitled it
622
00:38:32,313 --> 00:38:36,713
"A Floyd Patterson Humiliation
Punishment."
623
00:38:45,689 --> 00:38:49,090
Floyd was kind
of a hero to us at one point.
624
00:38:49,092 --> 00:38:49,960
You know,
625
00:38:49,961 --> 00:38:51,961
a black heavyweight champion is
always a big hit in the black community.
626
00:38:51,962 --> 00:38:55,964
But when he came up
against Muhammad Ali,
627
00:38:55,966 --> 00:38:58,267
he was fighting the fight
of America...
628
00:38:58,269 --> 00:39:01,737
doing the job of slaying
the militant Negro.
629
00:39:01,739 --> 00:39:03,906
I was at the
Floyd Patterson fight.
630
00:39:03,908 --> 00:39:08,177
The man was bent over like
somebody with osteoporosis.
631
00:39:08,179 --> 00:39:13,649
He couldn't really defend himself.
The fight should have been stopped.
632
00:39:13,651 --> 00:39:17,720
One or two good combinations
and he'd be gone.
633
00:39:17,722 --> 00:39:23,058
I think he carried Floyd Patterson just
so that he could inflict the punishment.
634
00:39:23,060 --> 00:39:27,763
The champion
continues to be on target.
635
00:39:28,498 --> 00:39:30,733
It was disgusting.
636
00:39:30,735 --> 00:39:34,169
Muhammad Ali had
prolonged the punishment...
637
00:39:34,171 --> 00:39:37,172
to make sure Patterson
understood his offense.
638
00:39:37,174 --> 00:39:40,809
It perfectly harmonized with our
feelings about Floyd Patterson.
639
00:39:40,811 --> 00:39:44,113
So Muhammad Ali became
even more heroic.
640
00:39:45,816 --> 00:39:49,351
It was a truly terrible moment
in boxing,
641
00:39:49,353 --> 00:39:52,988
as was the way he took apart
Ernie Terrell.
642
00:39:52,990 --> 00:39:54,289
I don't usually
make predictions,
643
00:39:54,291 --> 00:39:57,860
but I see Clay with
such limited ability...
644
00:39:57,862 --> 00:39:59,395
that I'm predicting
that I will knock him out.
645
00:39:59,397 --> 00:40:02,067
My name is Muhammad Ali,
646
00:40:02,068 --> 00:40:05,068
and you will announce it right there
in the center of that ring...
647
00:40:05,069 --> 00:40:07,169
after the fight
if you don't do it now.
648
00:40:07,171 --> 00:40:11,173
You are acting just like
an old Uncle Tom.
649
00:40:11,175 --> 00:40:14,343
In this age of
beatification of Muhammad Ali,
650
00:40:14,345 --> 00:40:18,280
we forget just how great
a fighter he was.
651
00:40:18,282 --> 00:40:22,553
And I don't think it's possible
to be a great fighter
652
00:40:22,554 --> 00:40:24,954
unless you have a mean streak.
653
00:40:24,954 --> 00:40:25,889
He had it.
654
00:40:25,890 --> 00:40:29,291
Ali continues
to scream at Terrell.
655
00:40:29,293 --> 00:40:31,326
He beat the hell out of those
656
00:40:31,328 --> 00:40:33,762
who didn't want
to use his name.
657
00:40:33,764 --> 00:40:38,400
"My name is Muhammad Ali.
What's my name?" Bam, bam, bam.
658
00:40:39,470 --> 00:40:43,071
And that's the bell.
659
00:40:43,073 --> 00:40:44,907
Ali continues his taunts.
660
00:40:44,909 --> 00:40:48,243
Ali was exemplifying
a freedom...
661
00:40:48,245 --> 00:40:51,880
that most black people
did not enjoy.
662
00:40:54,351 --> 00:41:00,422
So that made him
loved by some and hated by others.
663
00:41:00,424 --> 00:41:04,359
There's a rule in boxing.
They say this fella has a killer instinct...
664
00:41:04,361 --> 00:41:05,961
or he don't have
a killer instinct.
665
00:41:05,963 --> 00:41:11,066
But I call it aggressive...
aggressive instinct.
666
00:41:11,068 --> 00:41:13,168
Uh, we're not out
to kill nobody.
667
00:41:13,170 --> 00:41:20,170
I don't know if my conscience would
let me live if I even killed someone.
668
00:41:27,951 --> 00:41:31,220
This is really war.
669
00:41:31,287 --> 00:41:33,922
It is guided by North Vietnam.
670
00:41:33,924 --> 00:41:38,894
Its goal is to defeat
American power.
671
00:41:41,164 --> 00:41:43,899
Muhammad Ali gets a phone call.
672
00:41:43,901 --> 00:41:47,870
And he runs in,
answers the phone,
673
00:41:47,872 --> 00:41:50,472
comes back and he is wild.
674
00:41:50,474 --> 00:41:57,179
And he tells me that he had
just been reclassified 1-A.
675
00:41:58,414 --> 00:42:00,315
And another thing
I don't understand...
676
00:42:00,317 --> 00:42:06,722
is why me, a man who pays the salary
of at least 50,000 men in Vietnam,
677
00:42:06,724 --> 00:42:09,094
a man who the government
678
00:42:09,095 --> 00:42:11,895
takes six million
dollars from a year out in two fights,
679
00:42:11,896 --> 00:42:17,266
a man who can pay, in two fights,
for three bomber planes,
680
00:42:17,268 --> 00:42:20,536
why would you take
and seek out and be anxious...
681
00:42:20,538 --> 00:42:23,872
to call me out of 30 men
who you could have called?
682
00:42:23,874 --> 00:42:25,507
And I'm fighting for
the government every day.
683
00:42:25,509 --> 00:42:28,411
In other words, you think they called you
684
00:42:28,412 --> 00:42:29,512
only because you're
the heavyweight champion...
685
00:42:29,513 --> 00:42:33,248
And a Muslim too.
Ever since I've joined the Muslim religion,
686
00:42:33,250 --> 00:42:34,449
I've been catching hell
from here...
687
00:42:34,451 --> 00:42:37,853
Somebody said,
"So, you could be drafted...
688
00:42:37,855 --> 00:42:41,790
and you're gonna go in the army
and you're gonna go to Vietnam...
689
00:42:41,792 --> 00:42:43,458
and you're gonna be on
the front lines...
690
00:42:43,460 --> 00:42:45,093
and you're gonna have to
kill Vietcong.
691
00:42:45,095 --> 00:42:47,162
I mean, how do you feel
about all of this?"
692
00:42:47,164 --> 00:42:51,433
And he said, "I ain't got
nothing against them Vietcong."
693
00:42:51,534 --> 00:42:58,373
I mean, that... that was carved
in the stone facade of history.
694
00:42:58,375 --> 00:43:00,309
And then later on,
695
00:43:00,311 --> 00:43:01,410
it was embellished...
696
00:43:01,412 --> 00:43:04,479
"I ain't got no quarrel
with them Vietcong."
697
00:43:04,481 --> 00:43:08,083
"No Vietcong ever
called me nigger."
698
00:43:08,217 --> 00:43:12,588
I'm asking you if you apologize for
the unpatriotic remarks that you made.
699
00:43:12,590 --> 00:43:15,624
I'm not apologizing for nothing
like that because I don't have to.
700
00:43:15,626 --> 00:43:20,529
I'm just apologizing for what I said
to the newspapers and to the press.
701
00:43:20,531 --> 00:43:25,233
- Mr. Clay...
- Muhammad Ali, sir.
702
00:43:25,235 --> 00:43:28,971
- Or Mr. Muhammad Ali, either one.
- Yes, sir. Just Muhammad Ali.
703
00:43:28,973 --> 00:43:32,040
When you appeared before
this commission before,
704
00:43:32,042 --> 00:43:33,208
if I recall correctly,
705
00:43:33,210 --> 00:43:36,878
you said you were the people's
champion? -Yes, sir.
706
00:43:36,880 --> 00:43:40,849
Do you think that you're acting
like a people's champion?
707
00:43:40,851 --> 00:43:43,051
Yes, sir.
708
00:43:47,457 --> 00:43:53,095
Members of the group went to various
reserve units, uh, in the community...
709
00:43:53,097 --> 00:43:59,001
to see whether or not they would
take him in in the National Guard...
710
00:43:59,003 --> 00:44:02,337
or the Navy Reserve
or whatever.
711
00:44:02,339 --> 00:44:03,905
They all said they would.
712
00:44:03,907 --> 00:44:08,043
We felt that he would be
a Joe Louis.
713
00:44:08,645 --> 00:44:11,113
Joe Louis served
and never carried a gun.
714
00:44:11,115 --> 00:44:13,448
But he boxed,
wore the uniform...
715
00:44:13,450 --> 00:44:16,985
and did a fine service
to his country.
716
00:44:21,257 --> 00:44:24,292
I got a call and Ali said,
717
00:44:24,294 --> 00:44:29,231
"If I went to war, I would probably be in
one of them boxing things like Joe Louis.
718
00:44:29,233 --> 00:44:31,400
I wouldn't be really
fighting in the war."
719
00:44:31,402 --> 00:44:33,235
I says, "That's not the point.
720
00:44:33,237 --> 00:44:39,107
You have to understand that once
you sign your name to that army,
721
00:44:39,109 --> 00:44:43,645
then you are
their slave forever.
722
00:44:43,647 --> 00:44:45,080
Okay?
723
00:44:45,082 --> 00:44:48,150
So just say hell no,
you ain't gonna go.
724
00:44:48,152 --> 00:44:51,119
Rhyme it.
Do what you do best.
725
00:44:51,121 --> 00:44:55,357
Those people over there in
Vietnam did not lynch you,
726
00:44:55,359 --> 00:44:58,226
did not break up your family.
727
00:44:58,228 --> 00:45:02,030
Those Vietnamese people
are your brothers.
728
00:45:02,032 --> 00:45:05,033
This was a wrongful war.
729
00:45:05,035 --> 00:45:07,602
War is wrong. Period.
730
00:45:12,241 --> 00:45:15,977
War is made from the devil."
731
00:45:22,285 --> 00:45:26,321
I was sitting in my office in
Louisville and the phone rang...
732
00:45:26,322 --> 00:45:27,256
and it was Angelo Dundee.
733
00:45:27,257 --> 00:45:33,528
And he said the champ is gonna announce
he's gonna be a conscientious objector,
734
00:45:33,530 --> 00:45:37,065
and he's not gonna
take that step forward.
735
00:45:38,000 --> 00:45:40,068
And I said, "Oh."
736
00:45:40,070 --> 00:45:43,472
I said, uh,
"I'll be right up there."
737
00:45:45,975 --> 00:45:51,113
The conscientious objector thing
was a complete shock.
738
00:45:53,616 --> 00:45:56,318
A conscientious objector,
as a matter of law,
739
00:45:56,320 --> 00:46:03,320
was that if you believed that you should
not kill somebody or carry a weapon...
740
00:46:03,627 --> 00:46:08,663
or participate in an activity
which would result in death,
741
00:46:08,665 --> 00:46:12,234
that you did not have to serve.
742
00:46:12,236 --> 00:46:14,569
I personally told him...
743
00:46:14,571 --> 00:46:19,374
that this was gonna cost him
millions of dollars.
744
00:46:19,376 --> 00:46:21,476
And then I went over,
chapter and verse,
745
00:46:21,478 --> 00:46:25,180
the contracts that were
on my desk to be signed...
746
00:46:25,182 --> 00:46:29,084
would not be offered
to him again.
747
00:46:29,185 --> 00:46:32,154
If he
had not become Muhammad Ali,
748
00:46:32,156 --> 00:46:33,455
he'd have been Cassius Clay,
749
00:46:33,457 --> 00:46:35,557
and he would have went
into that army.
750
00:46:35,559 --> 00:46:37,125
'Cause he asked me straight up.
751
00:46:37,127 --> 00:46:40,195
He said, "What would you do
if you was in my shoes?"
752
00:46:40,197 --> 00:46:41,630
I said, "I'd do what
Elijah Muhammad done."
753
00:46:41,632 --> 00:46:44,666
He said, "What would he did?"
I said, "He went to jail."
754
00:46:44,668 --> 00:46:49,404
Elijah Muhammad
went to prison for five years.
755
00:46:49,406 --> 00:46:53,074
For sedition and draft dodging,
756
00:46:53,076 --> 00:46:55,110
they called it.
757
00:46:55,112 --> 00:46:58,213
He set the standard.
758
00:46:58,948 --> 00:47:00,415
The contract with the
759
00:47:00,417 --> 00:47:03,451
Louisville Sponsoring
Group was expiring.
760
00:47:03,453 --> 00:47:05,754
The group...
they were disappointed,
761
00:47:05,756 --> 00:47:09,224
and one or two didn't want
to be affiliated with...
762
00:47:09,226 --> 00:47:14,262
It was more of the draft business
than it was the Muslim business.
763
00:47:14,264 --> 00:47:16,731
Although that was part of it.
764
00:47:16,733 --> 00:47:21,736
He called all members
to say thanks and shake hands,
765
00:47:21,738 --> 00:47:25,607
and au revoir.
766
00:47:34,450 --> 00:47:38,687
And I will say here
boldly now on television...
767
00:47:38,689 --> 00:47:39,689
no.
768
00:47:39,690 --> 00:47:44,159
I will not go 10,000 miles
from here...
769
00:47:44,161 --> 00:47:49,197
to help murder and kill
another poor people...
770
00:47:49,199 --> 00:47:53,468
simply to continue
the domination...
771
00:47:53,470 --> 00:48:00,242
of white slave masters over the
darker people of the earth.
772
00:48:00,409 --> 00:48:04,179
You fight when you
have something to fight for.
773
00:48:04,181 --> 00:48:05,413
But what are we fighting for?
774
00:48:05,415 --> 00:48:10,418
To tell me that I'm
fighting for America...
775
00:48:10,420 --> 00:48:12,821
and her way of life.
776
00:48:12,823 --> 00:48:15,957
What is her way of life?
777
00:48:16,492 --> 00:48:18,827
To come back home
to injustice...
778
00:48:18,829 --> 00:48:22,564
with all these medals
on our chest?
779
00:48:22,565 --> 00:48:23,432
Hell, no.
780
00:48:23,433 --> 00:48:26,902
Mr. Muhammad Ali has just
refused to be inducted...
781
00:48:26,904 --> 00:48:28,737
into the United States
Armed Forces.
782
00:48:28,739 --> 00:48:33,441
Notification of his refusal is being
made to the United States Attorney...
783
00:48:33,443 --> 00:48:35,477
and the local
Selective Service Board...
784
00:48:35,479 --> 00:48:37,412
for whatever action
deem to be appropriate.
785
00:48:37,414 --> 00:48:43,385
And so it is all over for the heavyweight
champion of the world, Muhammad Ali.
786
00:48:43,387 --> 00:48:45,887
What happens now to his title?
787
00:48:45,889 --> 00:48:47,522
He will doubtless
be stripped of it...
788
00:48:47,524 --> 00:48:50,292
by every state boxing commission
in this country...
789
00:48:50,294 --> 00:48:51,927
and by
the World Boxing Association.
790
00:48:51,929 --> 00:48:54,496
All type of moves
have been made against me...
791
00:48:54,498 --> 00:48:56,898
that's never been made before
in the history of boxing.
792
00:48:56,900 --> 00:49:01,503
Regardless of the ultimate
disposition of his case legally,
793
00:49:01,505 --> 00:49:05,173
he will no longer be
the champion.
794
00:49:10,313 --> 00:49:13,484
Well, now that they've taken
Cassius Clay's title away,
795
00:49:13,485 --> 00:49:15,885
do you think they should have?
796
00:49:15,886 --> 00:49:18,687
Well, I don't know.
I think they should, yes.
797
00:49:18,689 --> 00:49:21,623
I think that any man who don't
wanna fight for his country,
798
00:49:21,625 --> 00:49:24,526
I don't think he should have
the honor of being champion.
799
00:49:24,527 --> 00:49:25,294
The tragedy to me is...
800
00:49:25,295 --> 00:49:30,532
that Cassius has made millions of
dollars off of the American public.
801
00:49:30,534 --> 00:49:34,502
And now he's not willing
to show his appreciation.
802
00:49:34,504 --> 00:49:36,071
Hurts the morale of a lot of
803
00:49:36,073 --> 00:49:38,473
young Negro soldiers
over in Vietnam.
804
00:49:38,475 --> 00:49:39,841
You won't fight
for your country?
805
00:49:39,843 --> 00:49:42,610
- You refuse to go into the...
- I'm a minister. My religion.
806
00:49:42,612 --> 00:49:43,845
This country
has laws for ministers.
807
00:49:43,847 --> 00:49:45,747
- Are you an ordained minister?
- By my leader.
808
00:49:45,749 --> 00:49:50,885
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad.
Almighty God Allah fights battles for us.
809
00:49:50,887 --> 00:49:53,822
We are forbidden
to carry anything like a weapon.
810
00:49:53,824 --> 00:49:55,690
We are peaceful people.
811
00:49:55,692 --> 00:49:57,459
Do you think
there's anything wrong...
812
00:49:57,461 --> 00:50:01,896
in someone like Cassius Clay,
Muhammad Ali, in refusing induction?
813
00:50:01,898 --> 00:50:02,898
Yes, sir, I certainly do.
814
00:50:02,899 --> 00:50:05,000
- Why?
- 'Cause he's no better than the rest of us.
815
00:50:05,002 --> 00:50:07,302
I got a wife and three kids
I'd like to stay here with,
816
00:50:07,304 --> 00:50:08,603
but if they need me,
I reckon I'll go.
817
00:50:08,605 --> 00:50:11,439
Simply because Muhammad Ali
has these beliefs,
818
00:50:11,441 --> 00:50:15,110
there's no reason why people
should go against him.
819
00:50:21,083 --> 00:50:23,485
It took an all-white jury
less than a half hour...
820
00:50:23,487 --> 00:50:27,889
to find Muhammad Ali guilty of
all charges and specifications.
821
00:50:27,891 --> 00:50:31,826
He was sentenced to the maximum
five years in prison...
822
00:50:31,828 --> 00:50:34,696
and was fined $10,000.
823
00:50:34,864 --> 00:50:39,401
To have a heavyweight
champion refuse to be inducted,
824
00:50:39,403 --> 00:50:40,502
that was almost blasphemous.
825
00:50:40,504 --> 00:50:45,373
This would mean, of course, that
you stand the chance of going to jail...
826
00:50:45,375 --> 00:50:47,609
as a result of not going
into service.
827
00:50:47,611 --> 00:50:48,910
Well, whatever the punishment,
828
00:50:48,912 --> 00:50:53,281
whatever the persecution is for
standing up for my religious beliefs,
829
00:50:53,283 --> 00:50:55,884
even if it mean facing
machine gun fire that day,
830
00:50:55,886 --> 00:51:01,689
I will face it before denouncing Elijah
Muhammad and the religion of Islam.
831
00:51:01,691 --> 00:51:02,991
I'm ready to die.
832
00:51:02,993 --> 00:51:07,896
I was happy that this
black man, he actually stood up...
833
00:51:07,898 --> 00:51:10,365
and did what a Muslim would do.
834
00:51:10,367 --> 00:51:13,568
And that took a lot of balls.
835
00:51:16,672 --> 00:51:17,739
And he would come into my...
836
00:51:17,741 --> 00:51:22,544
He would try to, you know...
try to get to me, but he couldn't.
837
00:51:22,546 --> 00:51:25,580
And he would be trying
to look for me.
838
00:51:25,582 --> 00:51:28,349
But by us having
all the white unis on,
839
00:51:28,351 --> 00:51:31,386
he had to try to look at your
face because he couldn't tell.
840
00:51:31,388 --> 00:51:33,621
So he would always eye
at me in the mosque...
841
00:51:33,623 --> 00:51:37,892
and keep his eyes and all that... you know,
flirting like.
842
00:51:37,894 --> 00:51:40,929
I knew he was mine.
He was mine then.
843
00:51:40,931 --> 00:51:43,932
When I find
out that's who he was gonna marry,
844
00:51:43,933 --> 00:51:44,567
I jumped for joy.
845
00:51:44,568 --> 00:51:48,770
It was a big
blessing to him. She was a virgin.
846
00:51:48,772 --> 00:51:50,672
To marry a virgin...
847
00:51:50,674 --> 00:51:56,411
I said, "Boy, you hit the jackpot."
That's what I told him.
848
00:51:56,413 --> 00:51:57,512
And she was young and pretty.
849
00:51:57,514 --> 00:52:04,085
Khalilah... one of a kind.
She's the female Muhammad Ali.
850
00:52:04,087 --> 00:52:06,121
Sweet, kind, good lady.
851
00:52:06,123 --> 00:52:10,358
He loved the fact that I stuck with
him when he didn't have anything.
852
00:52:10,360 --> 00:52:12,827
I tried to keep
everything positive...
853
00:52:12,829 --> 00:52:15,530
and started a family,
and that was a good thing.
854
00:52:15,532 --> 00:52:17,932
I'm not having no trouble out of you.
855
00:52:17,934 --> 00:52:19,601
There ain't but one
big mouth in this family.
856
00:52:19,603 --> 00:52:21,803
I said, "Brother,
let me tell you something.
857
00:52:21,805 --> 00:52:27,442
If you keep your body in shape and keep
your mind clear, you will win this fight."
858
00:52:27,444 --> 00:52:31,179
The government fight has cost
nearly some $200,000...
859
00:52:31,181 --> 00:52:33,516
plus my living expenses... my mother,
860
00:52:33,517 --> 00:52:35,017
my father, my brother,
my wife, my children.
861
00:52:35,018 --> 00:52:39,154
Boxing commissions around the
country wouldn't sanction his fights.
862
00:52:39,156 --> 00:52:43,558
I'm just about broke. I'm not
allowed to work here now in America.
863
00:52:43,560 --> 00:52:45,693
I'm not allowed
to leave America.
864
00:52:45,695 --> 00:52:48,463
Is there any chance
of you boxing?
865
00:52:48,465 --> 00:52:49,964
I really don't know.
866
00:52:49,966 --> 00:52:51,833
One day we might.
I'm not too sure.
867
00:52:51,835 --> 00:52:55,803
I tried to get
him back into the ring...
868
00:52:55,805 --> 00:53:01,075
and get governors to allow
him to fight in their state.
869
00:53:01,077 --> 00:53:03,878
Alabama.
870
00:53:03,880 --> 00:53:05,079
Utah.
871
00:53:05,081 --> 00:53:07,015
Jackson, Mississippi.
872
00:53:07,017 --> 00:53:10,518
The white man told me
to get back on the airplane.
873
00:53:12,154 --> 00:53:13,888
I tried Alcatraz Island.
874
00:53:13,890 --> 00:53:16,791
I tried every place
that I could think of.
875
00:53:16,793 --> 00:53:19,861
The only answer to the
beleaguerments of Muhammad Ali...
876
00:53:19,863 --> 00:53:24,866
might be the stripped jet plane sailing
above all local jurisdictions...
877
00:53:24,868 --> 00:53:27,101
with two fighters and 200 fans.
878
00:53:27,103 --> 00:53:31,139
They had tried to put
a ring inside a 757.
879
00:53:31,141 --> 00:53:35,009
Wilt, there's been rumors that
you are ready to fight Cassius Clay.
880
00:53:35,010 --> 00:53:35,945
Are any of these rumors true?
881
00:53:35,946 --> 00:53:38,947
Actually fighting
Muhammad Ali was not a rumor.
882
00:53:38,949 --> 00:53:42,550
That was a plan. But right now
it's all down the drain.
883
00:53:43,252 --> 00:53:46,387
We start doing
the speaking engagements.
884
00:53:46,555 --> 00:53:51,059
That was the circuit
that really sustained him.
885
00:53:51,060 --> 00:53:51,994
He got paid.
886
00:53:51,995 --> 00:53:55,863
Black and white are
opposite of one another.
887
00:53:55,865 --> 00:53:58,132
The opposite of good is bad.
888
00:53:58,134 --> 00:54:00,034
The opposite of hot is cold.
889
00:54:00,036 --> 00:54:03,805
In the beginning,
he was terrible.
890
00:54:03,807 --> 00:54:06,774
And the opposite
of black is white.
891
00:54:06,776 --> 00:54:09,244
He would go into Muslim dogma.
892
00:54:09,246 --> 00:54:12,747
What is it
that the Muslims believe?
893
00:54:12,749 --> 00:54:18,586
Number one, we're gonna say a few
things on what the Muslims want.
894
00:54:18,588 --> 00:54:21,990
Remember, he was 12 years old...
895
00:54:21,992 --> 00:54:24,759
when he committed himself
to boxing.
896
00:54:24,761 --> 00:54:28,062
Suddenly, you're
in this tunnel of your talent.
897
00:54:28,064 --> 00:54:33,868
You just concentrate on being this
great boxer, which he became.
898
00:54:33,870 --> 00:54:38,373
You wave through so many
of the tollbooths of life.
899
00:54:39,675 --> 00:54:44,279
So now suddenly, it's 1967.
900
00:54:44,281 --> 00:54:47,482
He has refused to step forward.
901
00:54:47,484 --> 00:54:49,984
He's 25 years old.
902
00:54:51,920 --> 00:54:54,689
He's out on his own.
He's on college campuses.
903
00:54:54,691 --> 00:54:57,692
He thought all these kids were
really smart kids out there.
904
00:54:57,694 --> 00:54:59,560
They were going to ask him
really tough questions,
905
00:54:59,562 --> 00:55:01,729
which, to a great extent,
they did.
906
00:55:01,731 --> 00:55:05,533
In time of peace,
would you allow yourself to be drafted?
907
00:55:05,535 --> 00:55:08,503
- Would you?
- Yes, sir.
908
00:55:09,105 --> 00:55:10,105
Why?
909
00:55:10,106 --> 00:55:14,642
Do you think that the United
States will eventually separate...
910
00:55:14,644 --> 00:55:17,278
into two different societies,
black and white?
911
00:55:17,280 --> 00:55:21,816
Well, the latest government
fact-finding committee...
912
00:55:21,818 --> 00:55:24,285
said that this is
what it's coming to be...
913
00:55:24,287 --> 00:55:26,554
and this is what
it's shaping up to be.
914
00:55:26,556 --> 00:55:28,990
I'd like to ask you
why you're still a Muslim...
915
00:55:28,992 --> 00:55:33,661
since it's a far-gone conclusion
that the Muslim... Muslims...
916
00:55:33,663 --> 00:55:36,230
or two or three...
I don't know which...
917
00:55:36,232 --> 00:55:38,800
did assassinate Malcolm X.
918
00:55:38,802 --> 00:55:41,002
Anybody that'd
assassinate anybody...
919
00:55:41,004 --> 00:55:43,938
or anybody that carry
weapons are not Muslims.
920
00:55:43,940 --> 00:55:46,307
A Muslim
wouldn't carry a weapon,
921
00:55:46,309 --> 00:55:48,142
and a Muslim wouldn't
assassinate nobody.
922
00:55:48,144 --> 00:55:53,981
Muslims have always been
under surveillance all our lives.
923
00:55:54,583 --> 00:55:57,585
You see, Elijah Muhammad has
taught us about Big Brother.
924
00:55:57,587 --> 00:55:59,887
Brother Government
was always watching us...
925
00:55:59,889 --> 00:56:04,792
to find anything they can to
put these Muslims down or out.
926
00:56:04,794 --> 00:56:08,463
They're there
waiting for that moment.
927
00:56:17,606 --> 00:56:21,309
I did a lot
of those spots with Ali.
928
00:56:21,311 --> 00:56:23,878
He got exposure, being free.
929
00:56:23,880 --> 00:56:28,416
And away from being coached,
930
00:56:28,418 --> 00:56:32,220
I just watched him grow up
to become a man.
931
00:56:32,222 --> 00:56:38,092
Well, I would say Black Power would be
the same thing to me that White Power is,
932
00:56:38,094 --> 00:56:39,994
but leave out the brutality.
933
00:56:39,996 --> 00:56:42,730
Like this is White Power...
934
00:56:42,732 --> 00:56:46,734
your own schools,
your airports, your jet planes.
935
00:56:46,736 --> 00:56:50,271
Being independent
and not dependent on others.
936
00:56:50,273 --> 00:56:52,707
Building your own houses,
factories and hospitals.
937
00:56:52,709 --> 00:56:57,079
I think that he's teaching
the black people to hate white,
938
00:56:57,080 --> 00:56:58,280
and I think that's very wrong.
939
00:56:58,281 --> 00:57:00,848
I was opposed to his views
before he came here,
940
00:57:00,850 --> 00:57:02,383
and I still am
opposed to his views...
941
00:57:02,385 --> 00:57:04,118
because I feel
if he wants American rights,
942
00:57:04,120 --> 00:57:05,887
then he should assume
responsibility of the draft.
943
00:57:05,889 --> 00:57:09,323
Somebody would
come out of nowhere...
944
00:57:09,325 --> 00:57:12,927
and say, "You draft-dodger
nigger, go home."
945
00:57:12,929 --> 00:57:14,762
Well, he didn't
like that at all.
946
00:57:14,764 --> 00:57:16,664
I said, "We have to do this
for a living, man.
947
00:57:16,666 --> 00:57:20,268
Don't worry about what people say
about you. You got to keep going."
948
00:57:20,270 --> 00:57:21,702
And then he'd talk back
at me and says,
949
00:57:21,704 --> 00:57:23,572
"You're not out there
getting embarrassed.
950
00:57:23,573 --> 00:57:24,973
I'm out there getting embarrassed.
951
00:57:24,974 --> 00:57:27,842
What would you do
if somebody did that to you?"
952
00:57:27,844 --> 00:57:30,912
I'm not gonna help nobody get
something that Negroes don't have.
953
00:57:30,914 --> 00:57:34,015
If I'm gonna die, I'll die now
right here fighting you.
954
00:57:34,016 --> 00:57:34,783
You my enemy.
955
00:57:34,784 --> 00:57:38,820
My enemy is the white people,
not Vietcong or Chinese or Japanese.
956
00:57:38,822 --> 00:57:41,122
You my opposer
when I want freedom.
957
00:57:41,124 --> 00:57:42,890
You my opposer
when I want justice.
958
00:57:42,892 --> 00:57:44,058
You my opposer
when I want equality.
959
00:57:44,060 --> 00:57:47,795
You won't even stand up for me in
America for my religious beliefs,
960
00:57:47,797 --> 00:57:49,330
and you want me
to go somewhere and fight,
961
00:57:49,332 --> 00:57:52,033
but you won't even stand up
for me here at home.
962
00:57:54,103 --> 00:57:58,239
The exiled
years was the worst years...
963
00:57:58,241 --> 00:58:01,375
of me and Ali's life.
964
00:58:02,678 --> 00:58:09,083
In Islam we
feel like we're being attacked unjustly.
965
00:58:09,085 --> 00:58:13,988
We feel like there's
a trial period for us,
966
00:58:13,990 --> 00:58:18,793
and if we stand
on righteousness and truth,
967
00:58:18,795 --> 00:58:20,761
God gonna bring us through it.
968
00:58:20,763 --> 00:58:23,564
And that's the way I saw Ali.
969
00:58:23,566 --> 00:58:27,201
I suffered with my brother. He suffered.
I suffered. We're like that.
970
00:58:27,203 --> 00:58:30,204
I felt the way he felt.
971
00:58:30,206 --> 00:58:34,408
I share my brother's pain.
I share his...
972
00:58:45,487 --> 00:58:47,255
You got to forgive me.
973
00:58:47,257 --> 00:58:51,259
I'm very emotional
when it comes to this.
974
00:58:51,261 --> 00:58:53,861
He paid the price.
975
00:59:05,541 --> 00:59:08,142
He did what he had to do.
976
00:59:08,977 --> 00:59:11,078
He's the champ.
977
00:59:15,985 --> 00:59:18,920
The country was beginning
to pull apart.
978
00:59:18,922 --> 00:59:23,891
This was a time when the
ideals of rebellion were spreading.
979
00:59:23,893 --> 00:59:29,864
Urban insurrections and violence were
popping out in cities across the country.
980
00:59:29,866 --> 00:59:32,333
Violence is a part
of America's culture.
981
00:59:32,335 --> 00:59:35,002
It is as American
as cherry pie.
982
00:59:35,004 --> 00:59:37,572
America taught the black people
to be violent.
983
00:59:37,574 --> 00:59:42,577
We will use that violence to rid
ourselves of oppression if necessary.
984
00:59:42,579 --> 00:59:44,912
When the white race
attack the black people,
985
00:59:44,914 --> 00:59:47,882
you don't ask us what's our
religion or what's our belief.
986
00:59:47,884 --> 00:59:49,317
You just start whupping
black heads.
987
00:59:49,319 --> 00:59:50,985
They don't say are you a Catholic,
are you a Baptist,
988
00:59:50,987 --> 00:59:54,121
are you a black Muslim,
are you a Martin Luther King follower,
989
00:59:54,123 --> 00:59:55,423
are you with Whitney Young.
990
00:59:55,425 --> 00:59:58,693
They just go...
991
00:59:58,827 --> 01:00:01,662
There is no need for us to go
anywhere and fight for democracy.
992
01:00:01,664 --> 01:00:05,933
We working for our liberation,
and it's gonna be in this country.
993
01:00:05,935 --> 01:00:08,235
And what we gonna say
across this country,
994
01:00:08,237 --> 01:00:13,174
from Muhammad Ali to a little
black boy in Cardozo High School,
995
01:00:13,176 --> 01:00:16,510
"Hell, no. We won't go."
996
01:00:18,314 --> 01:00:20,214
Hell, no!
We won't go!
997
01:00:20,216 --> 01:00:23,217
I'm not here to talk and
say I don't agree with Stokely.
998
01:00:23,218 --> 01:00:24,086
I don't agree with Rap Brown.
999
01:00:24,087 --> 01:00:26,921
We're all black people who are fighting
for freedom, justice and equality.
1000
01:00:26,923 --> 01:00:29,223
Everybody have their approach.
One man believe in integrating.
1001
01:00:29,225 --> 01:00:32,994
One day we all be white, he say.
Look like white people after 200 years.
1002
01:00:32,996 --> 01:00:35,129
One believes that education
and politics will solve it.
1003
01:00:35,131 --> 01:00:38,366
One believes shooting and looting and
burning up the country will solve it.
1004
01:00:38,368 --> 01:00:39,934
One man believes
integration will solve it.
1005
01:00:39,936 --> 01:00:42,570
And we believe separation,
somewhere to ourselves, will solve it.
1006
01:00:42,572 --> 01:00:46,040
You were quoted as saying on
one occasion, "All whites are devils."
1007
01:00:46,042 --> 01:00:48,643
- But that's not true, is it?
- Elijah Muhammad teaches us...
1008
01:00:48,645 --> 01:00:51,545
that God told him
that all whites are devils.
1009
01:00:51,547 --> 01:00:53,314
Well, God was wrong
on that occasion, wasn't he?
1010
01:00:53,316 --> 01:00:54,649
- You don't...
- I believe every word of it.
1011
01:00:54,651 --> 01:00:57,551
But you don't actually believe that all
whites are devils. -I believe every word...
1012
01:00:57,553 --> 01:01:00,021
Yes, sir. I believe
everything he preach.
1013
01:01:00,023 --> 01:01:01,455
- I mean, I just...
- You said "all," didn't you?
1014
01:01:01,457 --> 01:01:04,992
Yeah. I'm trying... -I really believe
that all white people are devils.
1015
01:01:04,994 --> 01:01:09,230
I'm not gonna be no phony.
I done gave up $10 million in fighting.
1016
01:01:09,232 --> 01:01:11,165
I'll go to jail for five years.
1017
01:01:11,167 --> 01:01:15,169
And you think I'm gonna get on this
TV show and deny what I believe?
1018
01:01:15,171 --> 01:01:17,571
- No.
- I believe every bit of it.
1019
01:01:17,573 --> 01:01:18,573
From my point of view,
1020
01:01:18,574 --> 01:01:24,111
what Elijah Muhammad is doing
to you is diseasing your mind.
1021
01:01:24,113 --> 01:01:26,647
And you have the nerve
to be on a TV show...
1022
01:01:26,649 --> 01:01:28,149
and look at me
like I'm wrong...
1023
01:01:28,151 --> 01:01:30,451
for saying,
Elijah Muhammad is poisoning you...
1024
01:01:30,453 --> 01:01:32,420
by telling you
that we're your enemies.
1025
01:01:32,422 --> 01:01:33,521
And I feel it
and see it every day.
1026
01:01:33,523 --> 01:01:36,390
And every black man watching
this show know you our enemies,
1027
01:01:36,392 --> 01:01:38,359
and you have the nerve
to stand up here...
1028
01:01:38,361 --> 01:01:40,327
and say Elijah Muhammad
is poisoning my mind.
1029
01:01:40,329 --> 01:01:43,964
He cannot teach us that you our enemy.
You taught us.
1030
01:01:43,966 --> 01:01:48,102
And Ali liked intimidating you,
pissing you off.
1031
01:01:48,104 --> 01:01:51,138
He loved that.
That's his comfort zone.
1032
01:01:51,140 --> 01:01:53,174
And when you're
in your comfort zone,
1033
01:01:53,176 --> 01:01:55,576
nobody in the world
can penetrate you,
1034
01:01:55,578 --> 01:01:57,378
and you can be
who you wanna be.
1035
01:01:57,380 --> 01:02:01,182
I'd like to start off by saying,
As-salaam alaikum.
1036
01:02:01,184 --> 01:02:03,651
Wa alaikum.
1037
01:02:03,653 --> 01:02:05,052
Ooh. You all...
1038
01:02:05,054 --> 01:02:09,290
I didn't know you all knew that up here.
1039
01:02:09,292 --> 01:02:10,491
Within a year of this,
1040
01:02:10,493 --> 01:02:13,928
he was a much more
attractive character.
1041
01:02:13,930 --> 01:02:16,330
And once you
find out who you are,
1042
01:02:16,332 --> 01:02:20,101
then you're start saying,
"I am the greatest."
1043
01:02:23,505 --> 01:02:28,142
To those people who think
that I lost so much...
1044
01:02:28,144 --> 01:02:30,077
by not taking the step,
1045
01:02:30,079 --> 01:02:32,613
I haven't lost one thing.
1046
01:02:32,615 --> 01:02:36,150
I have gained a lot.
1047
01:02:36,152 --> 01:02:39,420
Number one...
1048
01:02:43,725 --> 01:02:48,496
Number one,
I have gained a peace of mind.
1049
01:02:48,498 --> 01:02:52,066
Yeah!
1050
01:02:52,068 --> 01:02:55,569
I have gained a peace of heart.
1051
01:02:55,571 --> 01:02:58,773
I now know
that I'm in content...
1052
01:02:58,775 --> 01:03:02,643
with Almighty God himself.
1053
01:03:02,744 --> 01:03:05,780
And there are those who are seeking...
1054
01:03:05,782 --> 01:03:11,118
to equate dissent
with disloyalty.
1055
01:03:11,120 --> 01:03:13,287
It is my hope...
1056
01:03:13,289 --> 01:03:16,357
that every young man
in this country...
1057
01:03:16,359 --> 01:03:22,763
who finds this war objectionable
and abominable and unjust...
1058
01:03:22,765 --> 01:03:26,767
would file
as a conscientious objector.
1059
01:03:26,769 --> 01:03:30,104
And no matter what you think...
1060
01:03:30,106 --> 01:03:34,542
of Mr. Muhammad Ali's religion,
1061
01:03:34,544 --> 01:03:40,347
you certainly have
to admire his courage.
1062
01:03:52,627 --> 01:03:56,831
Our great leaders like
Martin Luther King, to bump him off.
1063
01:03:56,833 --> 01:04:01,402
And when the white man can
just bump us off like nothing,
1064
01:04:01,404 --> 01:04:03,771
then what chance
does the common man have?
1065
01:04:03,773 --> 01:04:05,706
He just don't care.
He sees no future...
1066
01:04:05,708 --> 01:04:09,677
because his hope,
his inspiration are wiped out like nothing.
1067
01:04:09,679 --> 01:04:12,215
Muhammad Ali's making
statements
1068
01:04:12,216 --> 01:04:14,516
about what was happening
in his life and his world...
1069
01:04:14,517 --> 01:04:15,616
in this society
in which we live,
1070
01:04:15,618 --> 01:04:20,454
and you gonna crucify him and take
his means to support his family away?
1071
01:04:20,456 --> 01:04:23,224
Oh, it was wrong.
Simple as that.
1072
01:04:23,758 --> 01:04:27,194
The United States leads
the Olympics in medal awards...
1073
01:04:27,196 --> 01:04:29,797
and is just about supreme
in the sprint races,
1074
01:04:29,799 --> 01:04:33,267
thanks to men like Tommie
Smith and John Carlos.
1075
01:04:33,269 --> 01:04:36,303
They came in first and third.
1076
01:04:36,305 --> 01:04:39,340
Any time they
have an Olympic Games...
1077
01:04:39,342 --> 01:04:42,810
or any time they do a national
anthem at a football game,
1078
01:04:42,812 --> 01:04:44,144
that's politics right there.
1079
01:04:44,146 --> 01:04:46,780
We felt that
as young individual athletes...
1080
01:04:46,782 --> 01:04:50,517
that we could make a significant
difference in society.
1081
01:04:50,519 --> 01:04:53,687
I said, "Look, Tommie,
I wanna make a statement."
1082
01:04:57,994 --> 01:05:02,162
"Let's put a black glove on and say
although we're proud to be Americans,
1083
01:05:02,164 --> 01:05:04,665
we're prouder
to be black Americans."
1084
01:05:04,667 --> 01:05:07,735
I had a black shirt on
to cover up my U.S.A...
1085
01:05:07,737 --> 01:05:09,536
because I was ashamed
of America...
1086
01:05:09,538 --> 01:05:12,840
the way America
has been all these years.
1087
01:05:12,842 --> 01:05:14,475
We have a great history
in this country.
1088
01:05:14,477 --> 01:05:18,712
But at the same time, we have a
history that we should be ashamed of.
1089
01:05:18,714 --> 01:05:20,381
The number-one statement
in my mind...
1090
01:05:20,383 --> 01:05:25,719
was to have Muhammad Ali vindicated
from all the nonsense, negativities...
1091
01:05:25,721 --> 01:05:27,254
that they try
and put around him...
1092
01:05:27,256 --> 01:05:30,157
and give him the right to be
the champion that he deserve.
1093
01:05:30,159 --> 01:05:32,693
Wanna let
the whole world know...
1094
01:05:32,695 --> 01:05:36,530
that we are going to pick
our heroes from today on.
1095
01:05:36,532 --> 01:05:39,366
And brother Tommie Smith,
brother John Carlos...
1096
01:05:39,368 --> 01:05:40,634
join the rank
of brother Muhammad Ali...
1097
01:05:40,636 --> 01:05:44,139
because we want black people
who are concerned with us first
1098
01:05:44,140 --> 01:05:45,540
and with sports second.
1099
01:05:45,541 --> 01:05:47,541
- Yeah!
- Yea!
1100
01:05:47,543 --> 01:05:50,678
When you refused to be drafted,
1101
01:05:50,680 --> 01:05:53,347
do you think that it
set a mark in history...
1102
01:05:53,349 --> 01:05:55,849
as one black person who just
out and out refused to...
1103
01:05:55,851 --> 01:05:58,786
Many have done it before me,
but they were not famous cases.
1104
01:05:58,788 --> 01:06:03,290
And I just don't think I should
go 10,000 miles from here...
1105
01:06:03,292 --> 01:06:05,559
and shoot some black people
who never called me "nigger,"
1106
01:06:05,561 --> 01:06:07,795
never lynched me,
never put dogs on me,
1107
01:06:07,797 --> 01:06:09,964
never raped my mama,
enslaved me...
1108
01:06:09,966 --> 01:06:13,400
and deprived me of freedom,
justice and equality.
1109
01:06:13,402 --> 01:06:15,569
And he's black too.
I just can't shoot him.
1110
01:06:15,571 --> 01:06:19,239
And with this in mind, and plus
my religious beliefs too,
1111
01:06:19,241 --> 01:06:21,408
which is the legal reason
I'm not going,
1112
01:06:21,410 --> 01:06:24,445
I just can't go over there
and shoot them people...
1113
01:06:24,447 --> 01:06:27,581
and come back home
I'm still a nigger.
1114
01:06:27,583 --> 01:06:32,319
It has been said that
I have two alternatives...
1115
01:06:32,321 --> 01:06:36,423
either go to jail
or go to the army.
1116
01:06:36,425 --> 01:06:40,594
But I would like to say that
there is another alternative.
1117
01:06:40,596 --> 01:06:45,432
And that alternative
is justice.
1118
01:06:52,507 --> 01:06:55,342
I came to work
for Justice Harlan...
1119
01:06:55,344 --> 01:06:58,812
in the summer of 1970,
1120
01:06:58,814 --> 01:07:00,781
which during the term
I was there...
1121
01:07:00,783 --> 01:07:03,283
that the Vietnam Veterans
Against the War...
1122
01:07:03,285 --> 01:07:06,320
sat in on the steps
of the Supreme Court.
1123
01:07:06,322 --> 01:07:08,489
No!
1124
01:07:12,661 --> 01:07:14,661
There was controversy...
1125
01:07:14,663 --> 01:07:18,365
just surrounding
every corner of life.
1126
01:07:18,367 --> 01:07:23,570
Black Power!
1127
01:07:23,572 --> 01:07:26,473
Ship all niggers back!
1128
01:07:27,575 --> 01:07:31,512
It was during that year that
Clay against United States...
1129
01:07:31,514 --> 01:07:32,780
came up to the Supreme Court.
1130
01:07:32,782 --> 01:07:37,451
The justices probably
thought Ali wouldn't win.
1131
01:07:37,453 --> 01:07:40,754
He could argue about it,
but he had a fair shot below...
1132
01:07:40,756 --> 01:07:42,756
when reasonable judges
had said no.
1133
01:07:42,758 --> 01:07:45,959
And he didn't present
any unique or unusual issues,
1134
01:07:45,961 --> 01:07:48,495
and so they were just gonna
let the case go away.
1135
01:07:48,497 --> 01:07:50,264
As they were about to announce,
1136
01:07:50,266 --> 01:07:52,032
the solicitor general
came in and said...
1137
01:07:52,034 --> 01:07:55,069
we just learned that there
was an illegal wiretap...
1138
01:07:55,071 --> 01:07:59,475
during which the F.B.I.
overheard Muhammad Ali
1139
01:07:59,476 --> 01:08:01,776
talking to Reverend Martin Luther King.
1140
01:08:01,777 --> 01:08:05,612
We are all victims of the
same system of oppression.
1141
01:08:05,614 --> 01:08:09,983
And even though we may have
different religious beliefs,
1142
01:08:09,985 --> 01:08:14,755
this does not at all bring about a
difference in terms of our concerns.
1143
01:08:14,757 --> 01:08:16,857
We're still brothers.
1144
01:08:17,092 --> 01:08:19,860
So they just did
what was routine in those days.
1145
01:08:19,862 --> 01:08:22,596
We're sending this back down
to the trial judge...
1146
01:08:22,598 --> 01:08:25,732
to determine whether
anything needs to be done.
1147
01:08:25,734 --> 01:08:30,003
I didn't think it would take so long...
three and a half years...
1148
01:08:30,005 --> 01:08:31,905
but I did think
he would be back.
1149
01:08:31,907 --> 01:08:34,641
And he was always doing
something interesting.
1150
01:08:34,643 --> 01:08:37,911
He was in a Broadway show,
Big Time Buck White.
1151
01:08:37,913 --> 01:08:42,182
It was
wonderful and terrible.
1152
01:08:47,889 --> 01:08:52,392
You know, I first came here
some 400 long years ago.
1153
01:08:52,394 --> 01:08:53,494
Yes. Right on,
Big Time.
1154
01:08:53,496 --> 01:08:56,730
- I came as a first-class passenger...
- Yes!
1155
01:08:56,732 --> 01:09:01,435
...on a cold, nasty, muddy,
wet prison of death.
1156
01:09:01,437 --> 01:09:04,705
- Yes! Yes!
- A slave ship.
1157
01:09:04,707 --> 01:09:07,374
♪ We came in chains ♪
1158
01:09:07,375 --> 01:09:08,143
Yeah!
1159
01:09:08,144 --> 01:09:10,878
- ♪ We came in misery ♪
- Uh-huh.
1160
01:09:10,880 --> 01:09:16,650
♪ Now all our suffering and
pains are part of history ♪
1161
01:09:16,651 --> 01:09:17,619
Right on!
1162
01:09:17,620 --> 01:09:19,319
- ♪ We came in chains ♪
- Oh, yes!
1163
01:09:19,321 --> 01:09:22,189
Do you feel in a way that
you're not really acting up there?
1164
01:09:22,191 --> 01:09:24,725
No, I'm not acting at all.
I'm real.
1165
01:09:24,727 --> 01:09:26,160
We may have a little music
in the background,
1166
01:09:26,162 --> 01:09:29,696
but everything that I do,
I look at it as being real.
1167
01:09:29,698 --> 01:09:31,732
♪ Chains, chains, chains ♪
1168
01:09:31,734 --> 01:09:33,400
♪ We came in chains ♪
1169
01:09:33,402 --> 01:09:34,568
♪ Four hundred years ♪
1170
01:09:34,570 --> 01:09:37,171
♪ No justice No
freedom No equality ♪
1171
01:09:37,173 --> 01:09:39,506
♪ Worked from sunup
to sundown ♪
1172
01:09:39,508 --> 01:09:41,608
♪ 1970, still in chains ♪
1173
01:09:41,610 --> 01:09:44,611
♪ Financial chains
Economical chains ♪
1174
01:09:44,613 --> 01:09:46,480
♪ Chains, chains, chains ♪
1175
01:09:46,482 --> 01:09:48,081
♪ America chains ♪
1176
01:09:48,083 --> 01:09:51,485
♪ Chains
Look at these chains ♪
1177
01:09:51,487 --> 01:09:55,622
♪ Chains ♪
1178
01:09:55,624 --> 01:09:58,792
♪ Chains ♪ ♪
1179
01:10:04,098 --> 01:10:06,800
Meanwhile,
a group of Atlanta blacks and whites...
1180
01:10:06,802 --> 01:10:10,904
managed to get Clay a license
and bring the fight to Atlanta.
1181
01:10:10,906 --> 01:10:13,207
No other city has done this.
1182
01:10:13,209 --> 01:10:19,012
We put Mr. Clay, Muhammad Ali,
back into the ring.
1183
01:10:19,847 --> 01:10:21,848
I don't see how
this fight could take place...
1184
01:10:21,850 --> 01:10:23,483
anywhere in the United States
of America...
1185
01:10:23,485 --> 01:10:27,621
by a man that has denounced
his country's uniform...
1186
01:10:27,623 --> 01:10:30,090
and refused to be inducted.
1187
01:10:30,658 --> 01:10:33,527
There are
no state laws in Georgia...
1188
01:10:33,528 --> 01:10:34,229
covering the boxing industry.
1189
01:10:34,230 --> 01:10:40,133
We have secured from the city of
Atlanta the boxing permit, the license.
1190
01:10:40,135 --> 01:10:42,202
We've covered everything.
1191
01:10:42,204 --> 01:10:45,472
Muhammad Ali,
or Cassius Clay, or both...
1192
01:10:45,474 --> 01:10:48,175
will return to the boxing ring
in Atlanta, Georgia.
1193
01:10:48,177 --> 01:10:50,711
Governor Maddox
does not like it.
1194
01:10:50,713 --> 01:10:51,713
But he can't stop it.
1195
01:10:51,714 --> 01:10:53,714
I've called for a day of
mourning because of this,
1196
01:10:53,716 --> 01:10:57,251
that this tragic thing has happened
in this United States of America...
1197
01:10:57,253 --> 01:10:59,055
where men have fought so long
1198
01:10:59,056 --> 01:11:01,856
and their wives and children
have sacrificed so much.
1199
01:11:01,857 --> 01:11:05,993
But there are a lot of people
who feel as Governor Maddox does.
1200
01:11:05,995 --> 01:11:09,496
But Clay has his license
and will fight.
1201
01:11:09,498 --> 01:11:11,765
Your greatest trial
may not be in the ring.
1202
01:11:11,767 --> 01:11:12,799
It may be
with the American public,
1203
01:11:12,801 --> 01:11:18,639
most of whom deeply resent your stance
with regard to military induction.
1204
01:11:19,207 --> 01:11:22,509
Because Ali was
such a visible public figure,
1205
01:11:22,511 --> 01:11:27,714
Justice Brennan thought we just
can't let a case like this go...
1206
01:11:27,716 --> 01:11:28,915
without explaining why.
1207
01:11:28,917 --> 01:11:31,618
So we caught the case
on the bounce back.
1208
01:11:31,620 --> 01:11:34,023
The Supreme Court
agreed today
1209
01:11:34,024 --> 01:11:36,924
to review heavyweight fighter
Muhammad Ali's conviction...
1210
01:11:36,925 --> 01:11:38,692
for refusing induction
into the army.
1211
01:11:38,694 --> 01:11:42,195
Ali claims he cannot be drafted
for religious reasons,
1212
01:11:42,197 --> 01:11:45,999
and now the high court
will decide whether he's right.
1213
01:11:46,001 --> 01:11:47,301
Is your client a pacifist?
1214
01:11:47,303 --> 01:11:51,038
A pacifist is, uh... is...
is, uh, strict language.
1215
01:11:51,040 --> 01:11:54,641
A pacifist means, um...
uh, a Quaker,
1216
01:11:54,643 --> 01:11:58,545
one who does not engage
in any kind of violence.
1217
01:11:58,547 --> 01:12:01,715
It would hardly classify him
as a pacifist.
1218
01:12:01,717 --> 01:12:04,618
Of course there's
this incredible irony...
1219
01:12:04,620 --> 01:12:11,591
that you have this big, powerful
heavyweight champion of the world...
1220
01:12:11,593 --> 01:12:14,995
saying he's
a conscientious objector.
1221
01:12:15,997 --> 01:12:19,733
Justice Thurgood Marshall
recused himself from the case.
1222
01:12:19,735 --> 01:12:22,102
He was largely removing himself
from any case...
1223
01:12:22,104 --> 01:12:24,504
where the N.A.A.C.P.
Legal Defense Fund,
1224
01:12:24,506 --> 01:12:27,808
of which he used to be the head,
was representing a party.
1225
01:12:27,810 --> 01:12:30,210
The fact that Marshall
was not in the case...
1226
01:12:30,212 --> 01:12:31,812
meant there were
only eight justices.
1227
01:12:31,814 --> 01:12:37,617
So there was always the risk that
this case would come out 4:4.
1228
01:12:37,619 --> 01:12:43,323
If the justices vote 4:4,
the decision below is affirmed.
1229
01:12:43,325 --> 01:12:45,892
Ali would go to jail.
1230
01:12:45,894 --> 01:12:49,162
Earlier this year Ali
began retempering the steel...
1231
01:12:49,164 --> 01:12:52,866
that lay beneath the starchy
lecture-circuit lunches.
1232
01:12:52,868 --> 01:12:54,101
All this is to me is a job.
1233
01:12:54,103 --> 01:12:58,372
It means that I have a chance to earn
a living and take care of my family.
1234
01:12:58,374 --> 01:13:00,607
That's all it means to me.
1235
01:13:01,109 --> 01:13:02,809
In exhibitions like this,
1236
01:13:02,811 --> 01:13:06,012
sometimes he floated
like a butterfly in galoshes.
1237
01:13:06,014 --> 01:13:08,648
But there were moments
when a live youth...
1238
01:13:08,650 --> 01:13:12,052
broke through the rusty layers.
1239
01:13:13,187 --> 01:13:15,756
Many critics
say it's impossible...
1240
01:13:15,758 --> 01:13:18,592
for a man to be off
three years and a half...
1241
01:13:18,594 --> 01:13:19,693
and with a six-week notice
be in shape.
1242
01:13:19,695 --> 01:13:26,695
It's impossible for him to have his wind,
his timing, his speed and his legs.
1243
01:13:26,769 --> 01:13:28,969
People are wondering
what can I do,
1244
01:13:28,971 --> 01:13:33,907
and we won't know
until the pressure's put on me.
1245
01:13:34,075 --> 01:13:36,243
A man should be
entitled to do his job.
1246
01:13:36,245 --> 01:13:39,746
He was convicted of a felony,
but he's not in jail.
1247
01:13:39,748 --> 01:13:41,314
And as long as he's free,
1248
01:13:41,316 --> 01:13:45,652
he should be entitled
to make his living.
1249
01:13:49,590 --> 01:13:54,094
Win or lose, he's got the
appeal of his conviction to worry about...
1250
01:13:54,096 --> 01:13:57,764
and the possibility
of five years in prison.
1251
01:14:04,206 --> 01:14:05,206
Time!
1252
01:14:05,207 --> 01:14:08,408
When the case
was argued to the justices,
1253
01:14:08,410 --> 01:14:11,411
almost all the analysis
turned on the question...
1254
01:14:11,413 --> 01:14:14,347
of whether he was a selective
conscientious objector.
1255
01:14:14,349 --> 01:14:20,187
That is, he had a conscientious objection
to this war but not another one.
1256
01:14:20,189 --> 01:14:24,257
There is in this record
a basis, in fact,
1257
01:14:24,259 --> 01:14:25,659
for the conclusion...
1258
01:14:25,661 --> 01:14:28,161
that the
petitioner's objection,
1259
01:14:28,163 --> 01:14:30,464
though religious, is selective.
1260
01:14:30,466 --> 01:14:32,799
- As-salaam alaikum.
- Wa as-salaam.
1261
01:14:32,801 --> 01:14:35,902
That he is,
in fact, oppose to fighting...
1262
01:14:35,904 --> 01:14:38,638
what he regards
as "the white man's wars,"
1263
01:14:38,640 --> 01:14:42,943
although having no religious
or conscientious scruples...
1264
01:14:42,945 --> 01:14:45,045
against participation in war...
1265
01:14:45,047 --> 01:14:48,982
which would defend
the black man's interests.
1266
01:14:49,951 --> 01:14:52,419
The court voted 5:3
against Ali.
1267
01:14:52,421 --> 01:14:54,955
It was all over
but the writing.
1268
01:14:54,957 --> 01:15:01,495
Metaphorically,
Ali had one foot and three toes in prison.
1269
01:15:19,013 --> 01:15:24,284
The chief justice assigned
the opinion to Justice Harlan.
1270
01:15:24,418 --> 01:15:29,856
Justice Harlan... he was in very good
health, with one exception.
1271
01:15:29,858 --> 01:15:30,891
His eyesight was horrible.
1272
01:15:30,893 --> 01:15:35,395
He had had something that
was like a stroke of the eyes.
1273
01:15:35,763 --> 01:15:41,034
Part of the job of being Justice
Harlan's law clerk was to read to him.
1274
01:15:41,036 --> 01:15:42,335
And I told Justice Harlan...
1275
01:15:42,337 --> 01:15:44,938
I might have said it more times
than is really polite...
1276
01:15:44,940 --> 01:15:49,175
"When you go back and you read
The Message to the Blackman... "
1277
01:15:49,177 --> 01:15:51,511
Every one of you should have
this book in your study.
1278
01:15:51,513 --> 01:15:54,848
"...and you read
The Autobiography of Malcolm X,
1279
01:15:54,850 --> 01:15:56,416
the Nation of Islam people
were saying...
1280
01:15:56,418 --> 01:15:59,386
if Allah summons us to war,
then we will go to war.
1281
01:15:59,388 --> 01:16:03,023
If you really took the law
literally seriously,
1282
01:16:03,025 --> 01:16:08,361
you cannot distinguish Jehovah's
Witnesses from the Nation of Islam...
1283
01:16:08,363 --> 01:16:10,263
on this particular issue."
1284
01:16:10,265 --> 01:16:13,333
And so we've got
legal precedent.
1285
01:16:13,335 --> 01:16:17,938
What the Supreme Court had said
about the Jehovah's Witnesses...
1286
01:16:17,940 --> 01:16:20,140
was even though
they're willing to fight...
1287
01:16:20,142 --> 01:16:22,409
in some hypothetical war
declared by God,
1288
01:16:22,411 --> 01:16:26,580
it doesn't mean that you're
not a conscientious objector.
1289
01:16:26,582 --> 01:16:30,951
Congress meant to exempt people
who, in good conscience,
1290
01:16:30,953 --> 01:16:37,157
couldn't participate in a
person-to-person bombs-and-bullets war.
1291
01:16:37,159 --> 01:16:42,162
"We believe that we who declare
ourselves to be righteous Muslims...
1292
01:16:42,164 --> 01:16:47,601
shall not participate in wars which
take the lives of human beings."
1293
01:16:47,603 --> 01:16:49,836
Justice
Harlan sent a memorandum
1294
01:16:49,837 --> 01:16:50,404
essentially saying,
1295
01:16:50,405 --> 01:16:53,206
"Now that I've look
more carefully at the record,
1296
01:16:53,208 --> 01:16:55,408
I think we
were wrong in our vote,
1297
01:16:55,410 --> 01:16:59,913
and I am voting
to reverse the conviction."
1298
01:16:59,915 --> 01:17:01,414
And now we had a problem.
1299
01:17:01,416 --> 01:17:04,985
How are we going to keep
staffing that war machine...
1300
01:17:04,987 --> 01:17:08,521
if it turns out that everybody
who joins the Nation of Islam...
1301
01:17:08,523 --> 01:17:10,624
gets a free pass
out of the draft?
1302
01:17:10,626 --> 01:17:15,328
In war, the intention is
to kill, kill, kill, kill...
1303
01:17:15,330 --> 01:17:18,131
and continue killing innocent people.
1304
01:17:18,133 --> 01:17:21,334
But there is one hell
of a lot of difference...
1305
01:17:21,336 --> 01:17:25,805
in fighting in the ring
and going to war in Vietnam.
1306
01:17:29,510 --> 01:17:32,445
From Louisville, Kentucky,
1307
01:17:32,447 --> 01:17:35,382
return of the champion,
1308
01:17:35,384 --> 01:17:37,651
Muhammad Ali.
1309
01:17:44,125 --> 01:17:49,829
The Quarry fight was
really exciting outside the ring.
1310
01:17:49,831 --> 01:17:54,467
Everybody who was
somebody came to that fight.
1311
01:17:54,469 --> 01:17:57,871
Cadillacs, gangster style.
1312
01:17:57,873 --> 01:18:01,908
Cats with minks and diamonds.
1313
01:18:01,910 --> 01:18:04,310
It was the fight night.
1314
01:18:05,146 --> 01:18:09,916
That left jab
is finding its mark.
1315
01:18:14,889 --> 01:18:19,592
It was a total
explosion of blackness...
1316
01:18:20,327 --> 01:18:23,029
from the highest levels
of civil rights...
1317
01:18:23,031 --> 01:18:29,502
I want to say that you're not only
our champion in the boxing area,
1318
01:18:29,504 --> 01:18:35,208
but you're also a champion of
justice and peace and human dignity.
1319
01:18:35,210 --> 01:18:36,309
Thank you.
1320
01:18:36,311 --> 01:18:39,979
You're the living example
of soul power.
1321
01:18:39,981 --> 01:18:44,250
This was the March on
Washington all in two fists.
1322
01:18:44,252 --> 01:18:47,353
- Thank you.
- Thank you. You're so kind.
1323
01:18:47,922 --> 01:18:50,056
Ali's case exposed...
1324
01:18:50,058 --> 01:18:52,525
how awkward
the legal system was...
1325
01:18:52,527 --> 01:18:56,429
and how arbitrary and capricious
it was in many respects.
1326
01:18:56,431 --> 01:18:59,999
Justice Stewart
dug further into the record...
1327
01:19:00,001 --> 01:19:02,402
and found
an obscure technical point...
1328
01:19:02,404 --> 01:19:05,672
on which the court
could reverse Ali's conviction.
1329
01:19:05,674 --> 01:19:09,476
But this ground for reversal
applied only to Muhammad Ali.
1330
01:19:09,478 --> 01:19:11,945
It didn't apply to anybody else.
1331
01:19:12,146 --> 01:19:19,146
The technicality was that the government
had denied Ali due process of law.
1332
01:19:19,921 --> 01:19:21,621
At the first stage
of this case,
1333
01:19:21,623 --> 01:19:24,324
the government had told
the Louisville draft board...
1334
01:19:24,326 --> 01:19:28,228
that not only was Ali
not opposed to all wars...
1335
01:19:28,230 --> 01:19:31,631
but that he was insincere
in claiming this.
1336
01:19:31,633 --> 01:19:33,366
Then when they got
to the Supreme Court,
1337
01:19:33,368 --> 01:19:37,737
Justice Douglas, at the very end of
the oral argument by the government,
1338
01:19:37,739 --> 01:19:39,439
turned to the solicitor general
and said...
1339
01:19:39,441 --> 01:19:42,542
"You don't question his sincerity?"
1340
01:19:42,544 --> 01:19:44,511
No, Mr. Justice,
we do not.
1341
01:19:44,513 --> 01:19:47,113
That's a denial of due process.
1342
01:19:47,115 --> 01:19:53,052
The government isn't allowed to
tell a judge Ali was insincere...
1343
01:19:53,054 --> 01:19:55,188
and the next day sincere...
1344
01:19:55,190 --> 01:19:57,390
in order to sustain
a conviction.
1345
01:19:57,392 --> 01:20:03,663
This little procedural point turning
this big case into a peewee case...
1346
01:20:03,665 --> 01:20:06,332
immediately got you five votes,
1347
01:20:06,334 --> 01:20:10,203
and other people then started
coming over to the opinion.
1348
01:20:10,205 --> 01:20:13,406
So the final outcome
was a unanimous victory.
1349
01:20:13,408 --> 01:20:19,579
They wrote a case that, insofar
as precedent is concerned...
1350
01:20:19,581 --> 01:20:21,548
the way I say it...
is so thin...
1351
01:20:21,550 --> 01:20:26,085
that if you turn it sideways,
it doesn't even cast a shadow.
1352
01:20:27,021 --> 01:20:29,589
The Supreme
Court ruled 8:0 today...
1353
01:20:29,591 --> 01:20:31,558
that Muhammad Ali
is indeed sincere...
1354
01:20:31,560 --> 01:20:33,560
in his Muslim beliefs
against war.
1355
01:20:33,562 --> 01:20:37,130
That overturns Ali's conviction
for refusing induction...
1356
01:20:37,132 --> 01:20:39,165
and removes the threat
of five years in jail.
1357
01:20:39,167 --> 01:20:42,569
When Ali heard the news,
he said, "Thanks be to Allah."
1358
01:20:42,571 --> 01:20:44,537
I was on 79th Street
on the south side...
1359
01:20:44,539 --> 01:20:45,872
and just bought me
an orange in a grocery store.
1360
01:20:45,874 --> 01:20:48,309
And the grocery owner came out
1361
01:20:48,310 --> 01:20:50,610
and grabbed me and hugged me
with tears in his eyes...
1362
01:20:50,611 --> 01:20:52,048
a little black fella...
1363
01:20:52,049 --> 01:20:55,249
and told me that you've just
been vindicated and you're free.
1364
01:20:55,250 --> 01:20:57,984
Eight judges all voted
in your favor.
1365
01:20:57,986 --> 01:21:00,320
Only God did it, buddy.
1366
01:21:00,322 --> 01:21:02,422
The God of heaven and earth,
these stars -
1367
01:21:02,424 --> 01:21:05,825
He changed hearts.
1368
01:21:05,827 --> 01:21:07,360
Whew!
1369
01:21:07,361 --> 01:21:07,828
Hit me hard.
1370
01:21:07,829 --> 01:21:11,130
Well, all I have to say
is what's concerning my case.
1371
01:21:11,132 --> 01:21:13,566
I don't know what's happening
to this moment.
1372
01:21:13,568 --> 01:21:15,768
I don't know who will
be assassinated tonight.
1373
01:21:15,770 --> 01:21:18,204
I don't know who will be
enslaved or mistreated.
1374
01:21:18,206 --> 01:21:23,042
I don't who will be deprived of
some other justice or equality.
1375
01:21:26,413 --> 01:21:29,315
Well, I think everybody's
looking for truth.
1376
01:21:32,086 --> 01:21:35,188
Everybody's trying
to find himself.
1377
01:21:35,190 --> 01:21:36,322
People sit back now
in their old age...
1378
01:21:36,324 --> 01:21:41,527
and reflect on the crossroads of their life.
"Did I make the right choices?"
1379
01:21:41,529 --> 01:21:46,399
Muhammad Ali stood fast and
never denied what he stood for.
1380
01:21:48,002 --> 01:21:50,904
The first time that
I understood the importance
1381
01:21:50,905 --> 01:21:51,639
of who my father was,
1382
01:21:51,640 --> 01:21:53,506
I was around three years old.
1383
01:21:53,508 --> 01:21:56,709
We had to be lifted out some way
of this massive crowd.
1384
01:21:56,711 --> 01:22:02,282
People were crying. They were on their
knees. They had their hands crossed.
1385
01:22:03,851 --> 01:22:05,418
In a strange sort of way,
1386
01:22:05,420 --> 01:22:10,556
I don't think that he
totally transcended boxing...
1387
01:22:10,558 --> 01:22:12,325
until he went back to boxing,
1388
01:22:12,327 --> 01:22:16,462
until he went back
on that platform.
1389
01:22:18,632 --> 01:22:21,567
This is an incredible scene.
1390
01:22:21,569 --> 01:22:23,136
The place is going wild.
1391
01:22:23,138 --> 01:22:26,906
Muhammad Ali has won!
Muhammad Ali has won!
1392
01:22:26,908 --> 01:22:28,775
Naturally when you're young,
1393
01:22:28,777 --> 01:22:30,610
you want your father
all to yourself.
1394
01:22:30,612 --> 01:22:32,645
My father
would go off on trips,
1395
01:22:32,647 --> 01:22:35,782
going to China or Libya
or wherever,
1396
01:22:35,784 --> 01:22:37,583
and I would cry.
1397
01:22:37,585 --> 01:22:41,387
He said to me one time,
"You know, Hana, I'm your daddy,
1398
01:22:41,389 --> 01:22:42,822
but I'm also the daddy
to the world."
1399
01:22:42,824 --> 01:22:45,959
And I said, "You're not my daddy.
You're Muhammad Ali."
1400
01:22:45,961 --> 01:22:49,228
Whenever he would leave,
he was Muhammad Ali.
1401
01:22:49,396 --> 01:22:51,664
I'll always gonna
be one black one...
1402
01:22:51,666 --> 01:22:54,500
who got big
on your white televisions,
1403
01:22:54,502 --> 01:22:56,803
on your white newspapers,
on your satellites...
1404
01:22:56,805 --> 01:23:00,506
and 100% stay with
and represent my people.
1405
01:23:00,508 --> 01:23:02,875
That was my purpose,
and that's why I'm happy.
1406
01:23:02,877 --> 01:23:04,544
I'm here, and I'm
showing the world...
1407
01:23:04,546 --> 01:23:08,448
that you can be here and still
free and stay yourself...
1408
01:23:08,450 --> 01:23:11,484
and get respect from the world.
1409
01:23:12,453 --> 01:23:14,120
When Elijah Muhammad died in
'75,
1410
01:23:14,122 --> 01:23:20,226
the decision of the leadership was to
name Wallace Muhammad, Elijah's son,
1411
01:23:20,228 --> 01:23:21,327
as the new leader.
1412
01:23:21,329 --> 01:23:23,663
We've arrived here.
The trip was successful.
1413
01:23:23,665 --> 01:23:29,635
He began to change the Nation to
something more akin to traditional Islam.
1414
01:23:29,637 --> 01:23:32,305
Less attention
to black nationalism.
1415
01:23:32,307 --> 01:23:33,539
Less attention to race.
1416
01:23:33,541 --> 01:23:37,677
Muhammad Ali became
a follower of Wallace Muhammad.
1417
01:23:37,679 --> 01:23:39,979
Most members
went along with them at first.
1418
01:23:39,981 --> 01:23:42,982
And then eventually, people
in the Nation convinced
1419
01:23:42,984 --> 01:23:44,384
Louis Farrakhan
to break away...
1420
01:23:44,386 --> 01:23:49,555
and reform Elijah Muhammad's
race-oriented version.
1421
01:23:49,557 --> 01:23:51,090
And that's been that way
ever since.
1422
01:23:51,092 --> 01:23:55,261
In the early days of the religion,
they have black separatism.
1423
01:23:55,263 --> 01:23:57,263
In those days,
you were the devil.
1424
01:23:57,265 --> 01:23:59,799
The white man was the devil.
That's right.
1425
01:23:59,801 --> 01:24:02,702
Ali was constantly evolving,
1426
01:24:02,704 --> 01:24:05,505
constantly growing...
1427
01:24:05,507 --> 01:24:08,608
from the narrow view...
1428
01:24:08,610 --> 01:24:12,712
of the Nation of Islam
in its infancy...
1429
01:24:12,714 --> 01:24:15,782
to the broad universal view...
1430
01:24:15,784 --> 01:24:20,620
of Islam
in its fullest development.
1431
01:24:20,622 --> 01:24:22,555
That's Ali.
1432
01:24:23,824 --> 01:24:25,324
I'm a Muslim,
1433
01:24:25,326 --> 01:24:28,661
and I'm against
killing, violence,
1434
01:24:28,663 --> 01:24:32,265
and all Muslims are against it.
1435
01:24:32,533 --> 01:24:37,837
I think the people should know
the real truth about Islam.
1436
01:24:37,839 --> 01:24:41,541
And I wouldn't be here
to represent Islam...
1437
01:24:41,543 --> 01:24:45,078
if it was really like
the terrorists made it look.
1438
01:24:45,080 --> 01:24:49,082
I think that all the people
should know the truth...
1439
01:24:49,084 --> 01:24:56,084
and come to recognize the truth
because Islam is peace.
1440
01:24:56,557 --> 01:25:01,627
Ali...
he has made more people examine Islam.
1441
01:25:01,629 --> 01:25:04,831
And they find that Islam
ain't what the government...
1442
01:25:04,833 --> 01:25:09,469
and the enemies of Islam
trying to make it out to be.
1443
01:25:10,004 --> 01:25:11,004
Since 9/11,
1444
01:25:11,005 --> 01:25:15,775
Islam has acquired so many layers
and dimensions and textures.
1445
01:25:15,777 --> 01:25:18,911
When the Nation of Islam was
considered as a threatening religion,
1446
01:25:18,913 --> 01:25:23,749
traditional Islam was seen
as a gentle alternative.
1447
01:25:23,751 --> 01:25:26,686
And now quite the contrary.
1448
01:25:26,688 --> 01:25:29,989
The Nation of Islam is seen
as a tame domestic version...
1449
01:25:29,991 --> 01:25:33,993
and traditional Islam is seen
as the threatening thing.
1450
01:25:33,995 --> 01:25:37,096
Muhammad Ali occupies
a weird kind of place...
1451
01:25:37,098 --> 01:25:41,534
in that shifting
interpretation of Islam.
1452
01:25:42,636 --> 01:25:46,639
He'll always be
the greatest fighter ever.
1453
01:25:46,641 --> 01:25:49,442
But I just outgrew him.
1454
01:25:52,146 --> 01:25:54,747
My father's first marriage
was to Sonji Roi,
1455
01:25:54,749 --> 01:25:57,950
and it didn't last long,
about a year.
1456
01:25:57,952 --> 01:26:01,354
His second wife,
he had four kids with.
1457
01:26:04,391 --> 01:26:07,126
His third wife,
Veronica Porsche, my mother,
1458
01:26:07,128 --> 01:26:10,096
he had myself
and my sister, Laila.
1459
01:26:10,098 --> 01:26:11,931
And his current wife, Lonnie,
1460
01:26:11,933 --> 01:26:13,933
they adopted together
one child.
1461
01:26:13,935 --> 01:26:17,837
And my father has two children
by women he was not married to.
1462
01:26:17,839 --> 01:26:20,373
So there's nine of us,
and we're one big happy family...
1463
01:26:20,375 --> 01:26:23,509
'cause he brought us together
in the summers every year.
1464
01:26:23,511 --> 01:26:28,381
Probably drove my mother crazy and
everybody else crazy. We had a ball.
1465
01:26:29,917 --> 01:26:34,020
I see him at
certain family events.
1466
01:26:34,022 --> 01:26:36,522
It hurts sometimes
to look at him too long.
1467
01:26:36,524 --> 01:26:41,360
I can be around for a few minutes
and then I have to walk away.
1468
01:26:41,362 --> 01:26:45,565
But then I see
there's a good aura there.
1469
01:26:45,567 --> 01:26:48,668
Then I'll penetrate it
with some good memories.
1470
01:26:48,670 --> 01:26:53,272
And then I fall in love
with him all over again.
1471
01:26:54,074 --> 01:26:56,209
All the wealth
of the universe...
1472
01:26:56,211 --> 01:27:03,211
and all the wealth on earth
is equal to mosquitoes...
1473
01:27:03,751 --> 01:27:06,852
compared to what you get
in the next life.
1474
01:27:06,854 --> 01:27:09,025
Some who know him believe
1475
01:27:09,026 --> 01:27:12,226
that all those blows to the head
damaged his brain,
1476
01:27:12,227 --> 01:27:15,628
that he is no longer
the man he was inside.
1477
01:27:15,630 --> 01:27:19,131
He has Parkinson's,
as the world knows.
1478
01:27:19,133 --> 01:27:20,566
But he's healthy otherwise.
1479
01:27:20,568 --> 01:27:24,804
He is happy being Muhammad Ali.
He enjoys who he is.
1480
01:27:24,806 --> 01:27:25,905
He's not in any pain.
1481
01:27:25,907 --> 01:27:28,741
He believes that everything
has a purpose and a time.
1482
01:27:28,743 --> 01:27:31,611
And, you know,
he's... he's happy.
1483
01:27:31,613 --> 01:27:34,981
When you do the right thing, man,
you will prevail at the end.
1484
01:27:34,983 --> 01:27:37,717
It's just a matter of you
being out there in the front...
1485
01:27:37,719 --> 01:27:41,621
of the people who haven't
caught up with you yet.
1486
01:27:46,827 --> 01:27:53,165
When he lit
the Olympic torch in '96,
1487
01:27:53,167 --> 01:27:55,568
I felt tears in my eyes.
1488
01:28:01,009 --> 01:28:05,244
The greatest of all time!
1489
01:28:05,246 --> 01:28:09,515
But to see him carry that,
1490
01:28:09,517 --> 01:28:13,953
uh, it was a big-time howdy.
1491
01:28:13,955 --> 01:28:17,223
It was a perfect poetic moment.
1492
01:28:19,726 --> 01:28:23,829
If anybody should've lit the
torch in any Olympic Games,
1493
01:28:23,831 --> 01:28:27,533
it should
have been Muhammad Ali.
1494
01:28:27,535 --> 01:28:29,568
In the '60s and '70s,
1495
01:28:29,570 --> 01:28:34,674
he was the most
recognizable face in the world.
1496
01:28:34,676 --> 01:28:37,810
We created a symbol.
1497
01:28:38,211 --> 01:28:44,550
Muhammad Ali has long since
been supplanted...
1498
01:28:44,552 --> 01:28:48,621
by what we believe he is.
1499
01:28:48,623 --> 01:28:51,157
One more time!
Who's the champ of the world?
1500
01:28:51,158 --> 01:28:52,092
Muhammad Ali!
1501
01:28:52,093 --> 01:28:55,161
There are so many
ways of looking at him...
1502
01:28:55,163 --> 01:28:58,297
that have only to do with us...
1503
01:28:58,299 --> 01:29:03,069
and have nothing
to do with him.
1504
01:29:03,870 --> 01:29:08,574
When Muhammad Ali
took that stand...
1505
01:29:09,976 --> 01:29:13,279
- That was a hell of a stand.
- It certainly was.
1506
01:29:13,281 --> 01:29:16,649
And my father was
always more than a boxer.
1507
01:29:16,651 --> 01:29:18,951
To me, he's the eighth
wonder of the world.
1508
01:29:18,953 --> 01:29:20,219
That's the one title
I'm waiting for.
1509
01:29:20,221 --> 01:29:24,190
Muhammad Ali...
the eighth wonder of the world.
1510
01:29:28,595 --> 01:29:31,197
I love you, champ.
1511
01:29:31,199 --> 01:29:32,832
You're my soul and my heart.
1512
01:29:32,834 --> 01:29:35,101
Only brother I got.
Love you.
1513
01:29:37,003 --> 01:29:39,038
I love you. Peace.
1514
01:32:24,039 --> 01:32:26,539
Published 01/22/2014
@ www.podnapisi.net
131438
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