AP Photo of Ali in 1967, The Nation.
By Situation Theatre 06/06/2016
A fitting tribute.
Well it’s been one of the more surprising responses to the passing of an icon.
Many expected the whitewashing of Muhammad Ali’s anti-establishment past and the mourning of an anodyne figure of boxing history.
Few thought the US would instead truly honour the legacy of Muhammad Ali by apologising for its entire history of genocide, slavery and bloody history, disbanding its entire army effective immediately, and withdrawing its support for Israel. The decision by Congress to convert the US to an Islamic state was a real turn up for the books.
Apparently the Pentagon and Congress were swayed upon revisiting Ali’s thoughts about the Vietnam War.
Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on Brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights? No I’m not going 10,000 miles from home to help murder and burn another poor nation simply to continue the domination of white slave masters of the darker people the world over. This is the day when such evils must come to an end.
I have been warned that to take such a stand would cost me millions of dollars. But I have said it once and I will say it again. The real enemy of my people is here. I will not disgrace my religion, my people or myself by becoming a tool to enslave those who are fighting for their own justice, freedom and equality.…
If I thought the war was going to bring freedom and equality to 22 million of my people they wouldn’t have to draft me, I’d join tomorrow. I have nothing to lose by standing up for my beliefs. So I’ll go to jail, so what? We’ve been in jail for 400 years.
The seismic shift to pacifism and Islam has been ignored by the media who are busy covering Donald Trump’s latest haircut.