Cassius Clay Jr.: Father Of Islam

In Baltimore, Maryland, Thurgood Marshall was born into a family of slaves. He came into the world on the second of June, 1908 during a hot summer day. From the time he was a toddler, his father, William Marshall, rooted in him a deep appreciation for America’s Constitution and government. Although he attended racially segregated schools, he was extremely dedicated and was a high achieving student.

Above all, Muhammad Ali stood up for what he believed in. As a matter of fact, Muhammad stood up against the Vietnam War. The New York Daily News insinuates that, “why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negros

Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. later known as Muhammad Ali, was a black boxer, and was proud of it. Many African Americans were ashamed of their color, but Ali was different. He was the first boxer to win the Heavyweight Championship 3 different times. He had a great personality and was liked by the people. During his life, he made big decisions that changed the course of his life completely. Muhammad Ali's journey through life was a great inspiration for African American people, but Ali himself deserves the admiration of everyone.

In his autobiography Malcolm X writes,“In the past, yes, I have made sweeping indictments of all white people. I never will be guilty of that again – as I know now that some white people are truly sincere, that some truly are capable of being brotherly toward a black man. The true Islam has shown me that a blanket indictment of all white people is as wrong as when whites made blanket indictments against blacks”(Haley 369). Malcolm, the spokesman for the Nation of Islam (NOI), writes this after he has converted from the NOI to Orthodox Sunni Islam. The Nation of Islam strayed very far from traditional Islam, and rather than promoting peace, it promoted hatred against the white man. Malcolm’s conversion

To begin, Muhammad Ali was born in a life where his parents knew he would accomplish great things. Ali was born on January 17th, 1942, in Louisville Kentucky. According to, the book, The Importance Of Muhammad Ali, his father said that Ali, ”Came into this world with a good body and a big head, that was the image of Joe Louis. That made me real proud, I loved Joe Louis.” Ali was known as a leader, even

While boarding a bus Jackie Robinson had refused to sit in the back, because of this he was ruled court marshaled. He was token into custody but was found innocent by President Truman. While Martin Luther King Jr did not support the war, Jackie Robinson did, he wrote to President Johnson to let him know that he has the support of Jackie Robinson and many other African-Americans. Jackie Robinson was in full support of the war, but Muhammad Ali was not, in fact Muhammad Ali refused to go to war in 1966, he had failed his qualifying test but was later revised and was changed into class 1A, which meant he was now eligible for the draft. When he was notified of the change he declared that he would refuse to serve in the United States Army and publicly considered himself a conscientious objector, which meant he could not go to war because of his religious stance. Ali stated that "War is against the teachings of the Holy Qur'an. I'm not trying to dodge the draft. We are not supposed to take part in no wars unless declared by Allah or The Messenger. We don't take part in Christian wars or wars of any unbelievers." Ali also famously said in 1966: "I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong ... They never called me nigger.” His refusal of going to war was made into a huge dilemma, it went on to be a supreme court case, “Clay vs United States”. The day of his induction into the U.S armed forces on

Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. to Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr. and Odessa Grady Clay on January 17, 1942 Louisville, Kentucky. His father painted billboards and signs. His mother was a domestic helper. Ali grew up in a black lower middle class house in a segregated black sub-division. He experienced racial injustice and discrimination which made him very defensive. When he was about twelve-years old his bike was stolen.He reported it to a local police officer named Joe Martin. Ali told the officer that he wanted to beat up the thief. Martin told him that he needs to learn how to fight before he started to challenge

Civil disobedience as identified by Martin Luther King is a form of direct action, and an outright refusal to conform to laws as a form of protest. Martin Luther King addresses this method of resistance in his text, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. Martin Luther King Jr personally drafted the text as a response to criticisms made in a statement by clergymen whom apposed King’s nonviolent methods of resistance to continuous issues of racism occurring in Birmingham, Alabama. As expressed by King and described in his text, civil disobedience should meet certain criteria to be considered so. One of these criteria is that the law being disobeyed should be unjust. Also, according to King, this direct action should be non-violent, as this was the basis of his teachings. Furthermore, the individual should be aware of consequences, and willingly accept them as he/she performs this act of civil disobedience. Finally, there must be no alternative to this act, meaning that some form of protest must have been attempted in the past, to no avail. Consequently, the only alternative would be to break the unjust law at hand. Martin Luther King executed this form of action in his efforts to challenge racism in Birmingham Alabama. Similarly, famous fighter Muhammad Ali used the same tactic in order to achieve justice decades later. Muhammad Ali bravely refused to be drafted during the Vietnam war because of his religious beliefs and was therefore convicted of violating the selective service laws.

Cassius Clay, now known as Muhammad Ali, stated, “If I thought going to war would bring freedom, justice, and equality to the 22 million African Americans they wouldn't have to draft me, I would join tomorrow (Dellinger)” It is clear in this quote that Ali wanted nothing more than to avoid war unless it meant something important to him. At that time in history there was a lot going on in the world, and one of those things was Muhammad Ali refusing to go to the draft. Cassius Clay (now known as Muhammad Ali), an African American boxing champion who lived most of his young life during the Civil Rights movement, refused to join the

Born January 17, 1942 as Cassius Clay Jr. in Louisville, Kentucky to Odessa Grady Clay and Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr., Clay wasn’t always interested in boxing, he got into boxing at the age of 12 after somebody stole his bike, so he promised to, “ whup whoever stole it.” The policeman who Clay reported the crime to then takes young Clay under his wing and lets him meet boxing trainer Fred Stoner. After Clay met Fred Stoner, he was then on the fast track to becoming big, he would go on to win six Kentucky Golden Gloves championships, and two Amateur Athletic Union crowns.

Cassius Marcellus Clay, now known as Muhammad Ali, was born in Louisville, Kentucky on January 17,1942. “He has shown throughout his life that he is not afraid of any fight—inside or outside the ring. Growing up in the segregated South, Ali experienced firsthand the prejudice and discrimination that

Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Mercellus Clay Jr. on January 17, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky. Cassius

Muhammad was from Louisville, Kentucky. When he was a kid he left his bike outside of a place unlocked when he came back it was gone. When he saw that it was gone he wanted to beat up the person who took his bike so he went to a cop in the boxing ring and told him what happened and the officer said if you want to beat up the person who took your book you would need to learn how to fight first. After that in Three years later, he won the National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions, as well also he won the Amateur Athletic Union's national title for the light heavyweight division. Also muhammad ali won a gold medal in the olympics in 1960 when he came back to louisville to show people his metal to brag about it but that all stopped when he went into a whites only restaurant and he was denied service and mad ali throw his medal in the

In 1960, Cassius Clay won the heavyweight Championship at the Olympics, then he became more famous and people knew him as “The Greatest Boxer” during the Civil rights movement. Later, in 1961, Cassius started attending the NOI. The NOI is known as “Nation of Islam” by African Americans in the U.S.

Muhammad Ali did a lot of important things in American History. He was a famous boxer also a arch believer of religious freedom and racial justice. Ali’s original name was Cassius Clay. He was born January 17,1942 in Louisville, KY. Muhammad Ali devoted his life to humanitarian in work, putting his name to many initiatives for peace and humanitarian aid. Ali was also a part of Black History.