What’s My Name : Muhammad Ali

[Master]

There is a BBC documentary on now which is really good and provides in-depth coverage that I had not seen before.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod...4/muhammad-ali

[Mark TKO]

yep watched all 8 parts in a few days.

I gave the first one a try thinking I wouldn't bother with any more as would be nothing new but there was - a good perspective.

Well worth a watch

[nuggetdotcom]

How many of us youngsters in the 60's and 70's went to the Hammersmith Odeon at silly o clock in the morning to watch Cassius/Ali on the CCTV? Best ever was Ali Foreman in Kinshasa, just had to wake her indoors when I got in to tell her the 'unexpected' result. Worst ever was Larry Holmes when Ali was clearly taking on too much, there was absolute silence as we left the theatre, end of an era.

[Kirkland Laing]

https://rarbg.to/torrents.php?search=whats+my+name+ali

[Kirkland Laing]

If you can't get access to that website use a proxy server or a vpn. You can download the HBO documentary there. The eight part one I got from there too when it came out, it's there if you search for it. They do torrents in the 265 HEVC codec so you can get 1080 versions of films and shows in high definition and small file sizes. Very convenient. I downloaded The Wire to watch again at some point and the entire thing is only about fifty gb.

[Dark Lord Al]

To clear up the question in the thread - its Cassius Clay.

[Master]

To clear up the question in the thread - its Cassius Clay.

No it is not.

Try again, I will give you a clue. The answer is in the title of the thread.

[Mark TKO]

His mamma named him Clay, I'm going to call him Clay.

[Master]

His mamma named him Clay, I'm going to call him Clay.

Ali's mum had another pet name for him stated in the documentary, "Tinky Baby", does not mean you can call him that either.

[Saddo]

been watching this new one also and never realized Malcolm X was killed by members of the Nation of Islam

[Master]

Things I did not know or had forgotten about Muhammad Ali that I learnt in the documentary.

The disfiguring, brutalising, torture, lynching and murder of 14-year-old boy Emmett Till had a profound impact on Ali. The mother of Emmett wanted an open casket to show the world what they did to her son.

Ali was so scared of flying he nearly did not go to the Rome Olympics.

The Christian Kentucky based syndicate that signed up Ali when he became professional gave him a salary, 50% purse, training cost and other tax deductions that was unprecedented at the time. They were supporting a clean-living local star in the making. It also stopped the Mob from taking control of his career.

Ali ran in heavy army boots when going on his 4 mile runs.

Sparred 2 rounds with Ingemar Johansson who was preparing to face Patterson but could not lay a glove on Ali and was told to leave.

Made up the story about training under water to get into Sports Illustrated magazine when he was 19.

Ali younger brother fought his first professional fight the same day he fought Liston.

Ali had grown ½ inch for the 2nd Liston fight.

Frazier first met Ali 1966 when he was 14-0 and promised he would be ready to face him in 2 years time.

WBA took the title away from Ali twice.

The only reason Ali was not imprisoned 5 years for not joining the army was because he would have been allowed to have access to the FBI wire taps they had on Martin Luther King and Malcolm X.

[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.