What Muhammad Ali Said In 1971 Was Both Funny And Shocking Then. But Listen To It Today.

This was 1971, so it was just on the edge of some of these things changing. But a lot of what he talks about is still accurate today.

Muhammad Ali had a great sense of humor that actually surprised me in the clip below when he talks about asking his mother questions about being raised in an era when everybody in popular culture and even in Christianity was white.


Then he describes what happened after he won the gold medal in the Rome Olympics for boxing and tried to get a meal in an all-white restaurant back home.

Cassius Clay was his given name, and he changed it to Muhammad Ali when he experienced some of these things. Find out why:

Pop Culture

May the Anne Hathaway ‘burkini’ debates finally lay swimsuit judgment to rest

Family

What ‘familect’ do you speak? Linguists explain the weird words and phrases used within families

Animals

‘Incredibly smart’ crow creates makeshift perch to drink from a cup of water on a hot day

Culture

14-year-old Arizona boy saves woman with dementia found wandering in 103º heat