"Just Take Me to Jail": Remembering Muhammad Ali's Refusal to Fight in Vietnam
• Copy may not be in its final form.AMY GOODMAN: Thousands are expected to gather in Louisville on Friday for the funeral of Muhammad Ali, one of the world’s most iconic figures of the 20th century.
• AMY GOODMAN: That was Muhammad Ali describing his return to Louisville, Kentucky, after winning the 1960 Olympic gold medal.
• In 1974, Muhammad Ali reclaimed the world heavyweight champion title, defeating George Foreman in what was known as the Rumble in the Jungle, an historic boxing match in Kinshasa, Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• He wrote the book, The Complete Muhammad Ali, which was published last year, recipient of the MacArthur "genius" award, currently a visiting scholar at the California College of the Arts.
• And we’ll be joined by Elizabeth Alexander, poet and professor, director of Creativity and Free Expression at the Ford Foundation, former chair of African Studies—African American Studies at Yale University.
