"My conscience won't let me go shoot my brother, or some darker people, or some poor hungry people in the mud for big powerful America. And shoot them for what? They never called me nigger, they never lynched me, they didn't put no dogs on me, they didn't rob me of my nationality, rape and kill my mother and father... Shoot them for what? ...How can I shoot them poor people, Just take me to jail."
"I am America. I am the part you won’t recognise. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky, my name not yours. My religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me.”
“If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it—then I can achieve it.” #MuhammadAli
Like many a star athlete, Ali was known for making outrageous and self-aggrandizing statements. But as a child of the
Civil Rights era, the "
Louisville Lip" also developed a reputation for speaking
truth to power. His eloquence on these matters has become just as memorable as his
actions in the ring. Or on the comic book page.
Farewell, champ.
