Muhammad Ali

This research examines the historical and legendary life of the boxer known as Muhammad Ali. Muhammad Ali's life example has served as a pivotal point in history for breaking racist stereotypes. Ali eventually used his boxing fame to create an ethnic identity for Afro-Americans in American history. His life is one of a great boxer, a symbol of black pride, a creator of a new civil rights movement, and a living prophet of religion as tolerance.

Not that his boxing feats can be minimized. Perhaps the greatest fighter of all time, he held center stage for 20 years, winning the heavyweight title at an early age, defending it 19 times, challenging for it five times, and regaining it at an age only one other champ exceeded. But he was also a transcendental sports figure as important in his era as Jackie Robinson was in his. Beyond boxing, Ali's roles have ranged from leader and lightning rod in an emerging era of black pride -- a "blast furnace of racial pride," as one writer described him -- to early objector to an unwanted war in Vietnam to a kind of ambassador who awakened America to an awakening Third World (Rather 1).

At eight years old, as the oft-told story goes, Ali's bike was stolen. The incident put him i

. . .
). Here, the public record of the lives of Muhammad Ali's greatgrandparents Tom Morehead and Lizzie Bibb ends and it leaves many questions unanswered. There is no indication of Tom Morehead's parentage nor of his military service. Nor is there any record to show when he died, where he was buried or who his survivors were. For American blacks, in particular, documentary evidence is sparse, if it exists at all. It may be assumed that the black forebears of Tom Morehead and Lizzie Bibb were the property of white Moreheads and Bibbs, whose family roots can be traced far back into colonial Virginia (in the case of the Moreheads, all the way back to 1630), but no records exist to support that assumption (Edgerton 55). Nevertheless, what little records did exist of Ali's lineage fascinated the boxer. These long-forgotten ancestors penetrated his consciousness. Their lives were a revelation to him. He was fascinated by them, drawn to them. Was the family originally brought to America in slavery? Probably yes. Who were the descendants and what happened to their lives? They, too, had fought on against heavy odds, and probably some of them had prevailed, if only in modest ways. He sensed a kinship, a connection that bridged the unknown gen
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Muhammad Ali, God's Allah's, Hauser Ali's, Virginia Moreheads, Muhammad Ali's, Convention Center, Afro-Americans American, Gorgeous George, Cassius Clay, Robinson Beyond, muhammad ali, black pride, muhammad ali's, cassius clay, clay muhammad ali, edgerton 54, records exist, clay muhammad, third world, morehead lizzie bibb, edgerton 55, tom morehead lizzie, nation islam, cassius clay muhammad, future generations afro-americans,
Approximate Word count = 2347
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)