Muhammad+Ali

__ Name of individual (1 pt) __ Muhammad Ali __ When/where they lived (2 pts) __ Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr (Muhammad Ali) was born on January 17, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky. Muhammad Ali grew up in the segregated South. __ Early life (3-4 sentences) (4 pts) __ Muhammad Ali grew up fighting segregation in the south, he experienced prejudice and discrimination first hand. At age 12 he discovered his talent for boxing when his bike was stolen.Ali started working with Joe Martin to learn how to box and soon began his boxing career.In 1960 he won a spot on the U.S. Olympic Boxing team. Ali defeated Zbigniew Pietrtzkowski from Poland to win the gold medal. Muhammad Ali changed his name from Cassius Marcellus Clay to Muhammad Ali after he joined the Nation of Islam.

__ What they did to impact the Civil Rights Movement (4-5 sentences) (9 pts) __ He decided to join a Black Muslim group, the Nation of Islam. In April 196 he was drafted into the Vietnam war, he and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. disagreed with this because if he wasn’t getting his rights then he shouldn’t fight for America. The World Boxing Association charged him 10,000 and stripped his World Title. He was branded a “Draft Dodger” by the Federal government and got arrested. He was sentenced to 5 years of labor. After he got arrested people turned their backs on the war and started supporting Muhammad Ali.

__ On a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high), how important do you think this person was to the movement? (Explain your reasoning in 4-5 sentences) (9 pts) __ I don’t think he was really important (5) to the Civil Rights Movement because he mostly just focused on his boxing career. He didn’t really participate in marches or anything that really has to do with the Civil Rights Movement. He was one of the few African Americans to fight through segregation and become a famous boxer.

__ Three Images (3 pts) __



__ Sources (2 pts) __ [] http://www.helium.com/items/810842-muhammad-ali-and-the-civil-rights-movement [] []