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

In 1972, Lily Tomlin showed quiet grace when responding to an actor’s incredibly sexist remark

Education

A 1983 report said schools were failing. It was deeply flawed, but it changed U.S. education.

Pop Culture

On his last show in 2001, Mister Rogers shared his final lesson: What it really means to grow up

People Skills

Researchers put Batman on a crowded subway to test a fascinating theory about human kindness