What’s My Name : Muhammad Ali

[Master]

Amazing that Emmett Till case has come up again. It had a profound affect on Ali when he was young.



A jury in Mississippi has declined to bring charges against the woman whose accusation led to the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till.

Carolyn Bryant Donham, now 87, had faced potential charges of kidnapping and manslaughter of the black boy.

But jurors said there was insufficient evidence to indict her. It now looks unlikely she will ever be prosecuted over the 14-year-old's murder.

The killing of Till galvanised the US civil rights movement.

Local District Attorney W Dewayne Richardson said in a statement that a grand jury in rural Leflore County last week heard seven hours of testimony from investigators and witnesses.

But the jurors had determined there was not enough proof to indict Ms Donham.

Till's cousin, Reverend Wheeler Parker Jr, condemned the jury's decision as "unfortunate but predictable" in a statement to CBS News, the BBC's US partner.

The Chicago boy was visiting family when he entered the store in Money, Mississippi, where Ms Donham, then 21, worked.

Ms Donham, who is white, accused him of making improper advances and harassing her while she was alone in the shop.

Her husband and brother-in-law kidnapped the boy at gunpoint, tortured him and tossed his battered body into a river.

At Till's funeral, his mother Mamie Till Mobley insisted on an open coffin so everyone could see what had been done to him. Published photos of his brutalised remains shocked the nation.

The two kidnappers - Roy Bryant and JW Milam - were arrested over the murder, but acquitted by an all-white jury.

They later admitted to the killing in a magazine interview, but were never re-tried. Both are now dead.

Till's great-uncle, Moses Wright, from whose home Till was abducted, testified at the trial that a voice "lighter" than a man's had identified the boy from inside a pickup truck.

According to evidence in FBI files, Ms Donham had told her husband earlier that same night that at least two other black men were not Till.

Ms Donham was not taken into custody over the events that led to the lynching.

But in June, a group searching the basement of the local county courthouse discovered an unserved arrest warrant charging her with Till's abduction.

Though the warrant was made public at the time, the then-sheriff told reporters he did not want to "bother" a mother with two young children at home.

In an unpublished memoir obtained last month by the Associated Press, Ms Donham wrote that she did not know what would happen to Till when she made her accusation.

She added that she had denied Till was the boy who had allegedly harassed her when the men brought him to her for identification, and said it was Till who identified himself to the men.

Last year, the US government closed its own inquiry into whether Ms Donham could face charges in the case.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-62486918

[Dark Lord Al]

Clay was a great fighter when he fought Liston, really light on his feet and mobile.

[TitoFan]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...clay/86956544/

"Why Muhammad Ali never legally changed name from Cassius Clay"



Interesting.

I never knew Ali had never legally changed his name from Cassius Clay.

Even more interesting is this quote from the article...

"Roxanne Williamson, a spokesperson for the Social Security Administration, said a legal name change was not required in the 1960s. A person who wanted to use another name could simply assume the new one.

“In 1964, the Social Security Administration (SSA) did not require an applicant to provide documented proof of his or her name or changes to his or her legal name,’’ Williamson said in an email. “An individual’s name was listed on his or her Social Security card based solely on his or her allegation. Many Social Security Numbers (SSNs), including SSN cards, were issued in the name provided by the applicant and could include an applicant’s nickname."

You live, you learn.

Oh well... I personally have no issues with Ali having changed his name to Muhammad Ali.

A comparable example is that of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the famous and Hall of Famer former NBA player from the '70s and '80s.

His birth name was Lew Alcindor. But in 1968, for religious reasons, he changed it to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Got no problem with that either.



I do however... raise an eyebrow at stupid name changes, such as former NBA thug... er I mean... basketball player Ron Artest having changed his name to (cough) Metta World Peace.

Someone should've laughed him out of whatever legal or government office he went to do that.

Chad Ochocinco (formerly Chad Johnson of the NFL) is another stupidity example.