Just Take Me to Jail: Remembering Muhammad Ali's Refusal to Fight in Vietnam-Democracy Now

http://www.democracynow.org/2016/6/6/just_take_me_to_jail_remembering?utm_source=Democracy+Now%21&utm_campaign=3426fd2765-Daily_Digest&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fa2346a853-3426fd2765-190254837

 

"The Greatest": Ishmael Reed on the Untold History of Muhammad Ali

 

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Thousands are expected to gather in Louisville Friday for the funeral of Muhammad Ali, one of the world’s most iconic figures of the 20th century. He was considered by many to be the greatest boxer of all time, but he will also be remembered for his activism against racism and war. In 1966, Ali announced his refusal to fight in Vietnam. After his conscientious objector status request was denied in April 1967, he refused induction. Ali’s title was taken away from him, and he was sentenced to a five-year prison term. He appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, and in 1971 his conviction was finally reversed.