Now showing
Conversation with Muhammad Ali
About this film
Muhammad Ali, the former Cassius Clay, finds his new role as a Black Muslim minister more satisfying than his former one as a boxer because he is now working for others and not just for himself. He has no desire to return to the ring and beat up his brother or someone else's brother since it is against his Black Muslim faith for him to participate in any "vicious" sport or any other sport. His only reason to return to the ring would be to rid himself of some $250,000 in debts for alimony and costs involved in the legal case coming from his refusing induction into the armed forces. Boasting that he is still the "greatest," he cites as evidence the crowds of people who wait for him wherever he appears as a speaker. He says that although he has been stripped of his world heavyweight boxing title because of his religious convictions, people still know that he is the "greatest."Contrary to popular opinion, he claims that the Black Muslims do not hate whites - that the hate image is just propaganda to discourage Negroes from becoming Black Muslims. Since it is the law of nature, he says, that blacks and whites will never be able to get along, he believes that Negroes should form their ow…
Directors & creators
WGBH Educational Foundation
Subjects
public broadcasting, AAPB, Muhammad Ali, Cassius Clay, Elijah Muhammad, George Wallace, Robert Frost, Nation of Islam, Black Muslims, Vietnam War, Conscientious objector, Civil rights movement, Black nationalism, Boxing, Heavyweight boxing championship, United States Army
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