Antiwar activist and a vocal critic of racism in america. He was sentenced to five years in jail for refusing to fight in vietnam and was stripped of his heavyweight title. Oppose what i want justice you who i oppose what i want equality. You will not even stand up for my religious beliefs and you will not even stand up for me. Today, we will look at a side of mohammed ali that the history books often overlook. We will see the author of the complete mohammed ali and the polity Elizabeth Alexander who will read her poem. In 2009, reciting the inaugural poem when president obama first took office. All of that and more coming up. Democracy to democracy now thousands are expected to gather at the funeral for mohammed ali, one of the most iconic figures of the 20th century. He was considered the greatest boxer of all time and will also be remembered for his activism, after he his role refused military induction in 1967. This title was taken away from him and he was sentenced to a fiveyear prison term. To thealed all the way supreme court. In 1971, his conviction was finally reversed. He did not go to prison but was forced to wait for years before regaining his boxing license. Died friday in arizona after suffering for decades from parkinsons disease. We will spend the rest of the hour remembering him after headlines. Hillary clinton has won the democratic primary in puerto rico, as california and five other states prepare to vote in key primaries on tuesday. As puerto rican residents voted sunday, here in new york, protesters rallied outside clintons brooklyn headquarters to protest her support for a bill to address puerto ricos bankruptcy. Economic crisis. The bill establishes an Oversight Board critics say will have totalitarian control over puerto ricos finances. Clintons rival Bernie Sanders has opposed the measure known as promesa, or puerto rico oversight management and economic stability act. David galarza, of united against promesa, denounced clintons support of the legislation. Collects specifically in front of the plaza, the National Headquarters for Hillary Clinton , a president ial candidate running in the primary importer rico for people to have a primary vote to not vote in general elections, to tell them loud and clear that those living here believe in freedom and justice and truth and are all it to promesa and represents. Bernie sanders has been very clear in his opposition. Hillary is not very clear or she is saying she supports this promesa bill with all of its warts and problems. Day on tuesday, new mexico, north dakota, and south dakota. Theprimary in california, number of registered voters has surged to a record high. Of the nearly 600 50,000 people who registered in the final six weeks, more than three quarters were registered democrat. California,in Bernie Sanders says he will win the state voter turnout is high. Mr. Sanders i will tell you exactly what will happen. What will happen is, if you hear that there is a large voter turnout, we will win. [applause] a veryhear that there is large voter turnout, we will win by a lot. [applause] if you hear that there is a low voter turnout, we will lose. It is just the facts. Hillary clinton touted her ties to california during a campaign stop. Ms. Clinton my first legal job was the defense fund but i also work for a law firm right here in oak and peer and i worked here in oakland in the summer of 1971. I had just started dating my husband. This might be too much information. It was the spring of 1971. Hillary clinton is close to the threshold with 2333 delegates and could declare delegates victory on tuesday. A large portion of her lead comes from unpledged superdelegates who could change their vote at any time. Primary,nto tuesdays clinton has 290 more pledged delegates than sanders that 546 40 stay inis planning to the race saying the Democratic Convention in july will be contested. Presumptive republican president ial nominee donald trump has doubled down on his claim that a federal judge should recuse himself from lawsuits over the defunct, forprofit Trump University, because he is of mexican heritage. Trump defended his remarks to cnns jake tapper. Mr. Trump the judges of mexican heritage and i am building a wall. I will do well with the hispanics. No mexican joe could ever be judge could be involved . Fine, but it is all am thinking he should recuse himself. Say, does he know the lawyer on the other side, does he know the lawyer, a lot of people i am not talking about that. You are invoking his race when talking about whether or not he could do his job here mr. Trump i am building a wall. Trump 23 times whether his commas were racist. Ultimately, mr. Trump said he believed they were not in an interview on cbss face the nation, host John Dickerson asked trump if his call to ban all muslims from entering the United States might disqualify muslim judges from presiding over cases involving him, too. If it were a muslim judge, would you also feel they could not feed you trailing because of the policy . Mr. Trump it is possible, yes. Absolutely. Republican leaders have moved to distance themselves from trumps comments. House Speaker Paul Ryan said he disagreed with trumps comments about the judge, calling him out of left field. Called trumps comments inexcusable and an interview with chuck. On meet the press, Mitch Mcconnell opposed mr. Trumps remarks but repeatedly refused to say whether they were racist. He said he cannot be impartial because he is hispanic. Is that not racist . Mitch mcconnell i cannot disagree more. Is it a racist statement . Mitch mcconnell i could not disagree more. Ok, but do you think it is a racist statement . I dont agreel with what he has to say. This is a man born in indiana. All of us came here from somewhere else. Meanwhile in texas, Republican Attorney general ken paxton has moved to silence a former official who said he was ordered to drop a Fraud Investigation into Trump University for political reasons. Former deputy chief of Consumer Protection john owens told the Associated Press he had built a solid case against trump for scamming millions from students, but was told to drop the probe in a highly unusual move. The Texas AttorneyGenerals Office issued a cease and desist letter to owens after he released a 14page summary of the case against trump. An npr photographer and afghan interpreter have been killed in afghanistan while traveling with an afghan army. Awardwinning photojournalist hisd died along with interpreter and an afghan soldier after the humvee was hit by a rocket propelled grenade. An Afghan Parliament member was killed by a bomb near his home. While gunmen stormed a Court Holding in the eastern province, killing seven. A woman journalist was shot dead in the capital a producer for the state run was killed by unidentified gunmen. It is one of the most dangerous countries. Train derailedmb friday in the city of mosier, causing a massive fire and forcing about 100 residents to evacuate. The crash damaged the Wastewater Treatment plant and sewer lines. Local fire chief jim appelton told Oregon Public Broadcasting that while he previously defended the safety of shipping oil by rail, he now thinks the shipments are quote insane. He said, i hope this becomes [the] death knell for this mode of shipping this cargo. vo new York Governor Andrew Cuomo on sunday signed an executive order that orders state agencies to divest themselves of companies and organizations that support the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against the state of israel. The order forces new york state officials to make a list of businesses and groups engaged in activities targeting israel. Legal groups have declared the order unconstitutional and a form of 21st century mccarthyism. Proposalve rejected a to give everyone a guaranteed basic income of 2500 per month, theshea wagner celebrated historic vote, the first time anyone has voted on basic income. This has been a successful day. Yet it was over 20 , which means the swiss one they do not want to do it right away. Statements to then have another step of seven or 10 years from now. In peru, World Bank Economist appears poised to win the race. Expected to win, but appears to have been defeated a missed corruption scandals and protests over the legacy of her father. Mexico ofrt accuses committing crimes against humanity as part of the drug war. The report is out tuesday. It marks the first time an International Organization publicly argued mexicos pattern of killing and torture constitutes crimes against humanity. The news comes as violence has marred gubernatorial elections. Is xican president appears to have lost power in a number of other states where it is ruled uninterrupted for your nearly 90 years. A former Stanford University swimmer convicted of sexually assault and an unconscious woman, has been sentenced to six months in jail after the judge expressed concern a large longer sentence would have a severe impact on him. Turner was caught by two witnesses fessing on top of it to him as she lay on conscious unconscious by the dumpster. The victim read aloud what the local prosecutor called the most eloquent, powerful, and compelling piece of Victim Advocate the i have seen in my 20 years as a prosecutor. The victim began by recounting how she woke up in a house will pine needles and her hair. Her underwear missing and no idea what had happened to her. You took away my worth, my energy, my time, my confidence, my own voice, until today, she said until today, she read in court from her victim impact statement, she included in the statement, on nights when yous you, i am with you. I fought everyday for you. So never stop fighting, i believe you. And those are some of the headlines. Im amy goodman. Are expected to gather in louisville on friday for the funeral of mohammed ali, one of the worldss most iconic figures of the 20th century, considered by many to be the greatest boxer of all time. He will also be remembered for his activism. After riday parkinsons syndrome. He first gained fame in 1960 when he won the gold medal at the Olympic Games in rome. The most popular usa winner clay, who recently defeated clay was by far the best of usa boxers. Amy after winning the gold matter gold medal, he returned to the south. In an interview, he described what happened next. Gold medal, olympic olympic champion, is poland considered a communist country . Going, s i am standing so proud. , i am going to what the world for america. [laughter] i took my gold medal and thought i invent something. I know i can eat downtown now. Black folks could not eat downtown and i went downtown and down down and i sat down for a cup of coffee and hot dog and the lady said, we dont serve negros. Said, i dont either, just give me one. [laughter] i said i am the olympic gold medal winner for three days. I won the gold medal and im going to eat. , i had to leave the restaurant in my hometown , could went to church not eat downtown. I said something is wrong. Mohammed ali describing his return after winning the olympic gold medal. Four years later, after the fight, he declared, i am the greatest. Then he shocked the sports world and announced he is joining the nation of islam and changing his name. Elijah mohammed renamed him. Ohammed ali using what he called his slave name. Close to malcolm x and became a vocal critic of u. S. Actions at home and abroad. The fbi and National Security agency sin began monitoring his communication. 1966, he filed for Conscientious Objector status and announced his refusal to fight in vietnam. Collects some darker people, shoot them for what . Me. Never lynched they never threw dawes on me. They never robbed me of my nationality or killed my mother and father. For what . How my going to shoot those people . Take me to jail. After his Conscientious Objector status was denied, he refused induction. His title was taken away from him. He was sentenced to a fiveyear prison term. Theppealed all the way to u. S. Supreme court. In 1971, his conviction was finally reversed. He did not go to prison but was forced to wait four years before regaining his boxing license. 1974, mohammed ali reclaimed the world heavyweight title defeating George Foreman in what was known as the rumble in the ngle, a historic boxing match. This is a clip from the documentary, when we were kings. I live in america, i was a slave 400 years ago. Amy mohammed Ali Muhammad Ali grewncreasingly involved in world affairs. My name and the name of all muslims in america, i declare support for the palestinian struggle to deliberate their homeland and oust zionist invaders. 1990, he traveled to baghdad and met with Saddam Hussein against the wishes of the u. S. Government. Of 50ured the release americans being held by the iraqi government. We will be joined by two guests. Ishmael is the educator, writer, thectivist who wrote complete mohammed ali, recipient of the macarthur genius award and we will be joined by Elizabeth Alexander, poet and former chair of african studies, africanamerican studies at yale university. She is the author of the poem narrative written from the perspective of mohammed ali. She is the poet who in 2009 poem one inaugural president obama first took office and we will do back with them in a minute. We will be back with them in a minute. Amy this is democracy now to talk more about the life and legacy and legacy of mom ali, were joined by two guess. His new book is the complete mohammed ali. He is currently a visiting scholar at the college of arts. A new york, were joined by poet and professor Elizabeth Alexander, director of creativity and Free Expression at the ford foundation. She is the former chair of African American studies at yale. She is the author of the persona poem narrative ali, written from the perspective of muhammad ali. Elizabeth alexander recited the amount real poem when president Obama Took Office in 2009. We welcome you both to democracy now . Can you start off by sharing your reaction to hearing of the death of mohammed ali and talk about why you spend years researching his life . His death is a great tragedy because this is a man who stayed in the ring too long was abandoned by his entourage, was broke, and suffering from brain damage when he fostered fought his last two fights. It is a great tragedy. Without the integration of the current wife, he might have died a long time ago. Im very skeptical about the becausen happening now none of the people praising him wanted to rescue him or try to intervene when he was suffering horrible, physical damage, taking punches from people like larry holmes. This is a rate tragedy great tragedy and not enough potential the nation of islam on mohammed ali, some of his features. Those were taken right out Elijah Muhammads a message to a black man. This is a great flaw in what im hearing from commentators on his death, that without islam, no one would have had heard of mohammed ali. Amy could you give a sketch of his life . Ishmael he grew up in a middleclass home. Provider. Was a great i talked to some of the people who knew him when he was growing up. He lived a comfortable life. Thing,ther said the same , andthey were provided for i am sort of offended by the fact that some of the cash as someismiss kind of alcoholic or a neerdowell. This man lived up to his responsibilities. Late andewed the hughes, who was mohammed alis oldest friend and he talked about how mohammed ali had the gift of gab and expressed himself, and how he is very generous, to give people he did 25,000. He gave a man he was generous with his money. And with giving to charities. Ashink he will be remembered someone with a big heart. On the other hand, he had hangers on and parasites and people who would con him and take his money. Got him involved in criminal this is a great tragedy. A kid who had a big heart and was just exploited all the way up to the last fight or the second to last fight, when he fought larry, for he was himtchanged, money owed to in that fight. The attorney, don king, he heard mohammed ali was swindled and he burst out into tears. It is a sad story. In 1964, malcolm x. Spoke out in support of mohammed ali. Classes record is clean and he is an all american boy, or in all african boy, as you will. Him, its attacks actually hurts america all over the world. I have gotten letters from Foreign Countries all over the world expressing pride in the clean image he represents. To attack him especially on be mosts grounds would destructive to the america image abroad. My vices that he never do anything that would in any way tarnish or take away from his image as the heavyweight champion of a world because i believe that he is in a better position than anyone else to restore a sense of racial pride to not only our people in this country, but all over the world. He is training trying his to live a clean life. The press is trying to paint him as something other than what he is. He does not smoke or drink. White, they would be referring to him as the allamerican boy like they did amy with jack armstrong. Amy amy that is malcolm x. Talking about mohammed ali. , over the weekend, the media was filled with images and discussions of mohammed ali and there were in were a number of photos going by but there was almost no reference to that relationship. Talk about his decision to join the nation of islam, his relationship with malcolm x. . I think it is a mistake to say malcolm x. Recruited mohammed ali for the nation of islam. Mohammed ali saw him selling told him florida and he had been reading mohammed speaks and it was him who invited him into the nation. Many people talk about that , no vietnameseon ever call me that was created by , thewere at his house muslim women were cooking for the gathering of the reporters were outside. Ali comes in and asks what he says, tell them and he tell them no one has ever call you that is one of the mythologies we hear about alis career. He was also following the precedent of elijah mohammed. Seven touch by racist, engaged in international trade, that was the other side i mentioned are the criminals involved in the nation of islam. Refused to fight in world war ii. He was a Conscientious Objector. Not was his idea of fighting the vietnamese. He went around the country speeches. Japanese they got him as a draft dodger and he than five years in prison. A lot of people do not understand that when the japanese nation that defeated what was considered a white 1905, George Schuyler and others praised this as a victory of a black nation over a white nation. This is the kind of background that led to Mohammed Ali Amy refusing to fight in the vietnam war. Clip from the documentary. He had a letter and put out a , he wrote it a letter and they sentt back what we call x. They told him he has got to get. Id of the muslim culture otherwise, there aint going to be no fight. He has been training all his fight for the. Eavyweight champion i said, dont believe that. Amy youre theamy ones they are making the money from. Clay changed his name, they refuse to use his name. A 66 interview with howard, mohammed ali accused challenger Ernie Jarrell of being an uncle tom for refusing to call him mohammed ali. You continue to be unafraid. Yes, cash is clay everybody is call him him him at ali, and why have you got to be the want of all people to keep saying cash is clay . He is not the one who will fight, i am. Really hard on yourself now. Name . Nt you call me my what is your name . You told me it was cash is clay a few years ago. I never told you that. My name is mohammed ali. You are acting like an old uncle tom. You. Oing to punish dont call me no uncle come uncle tom. Backoff. Another interview has been recorded for posterity as the two gentlemen continued to promote the fight. Amy that was howard. The miss of, in that fight, which mohammed ali one, when he was punching him, he was saying, whats my name, whats my name, is that right . Ishmael that is the showmanship of mohammed ali. Floyd patterson recalls an incident where he ran into mohammed ali and called him cash offended. D he was not i think some of the antics we hear from mohammed ali, he got these antics from gorgeous george. Many people do not remember george, gorgeous mohammed ali had seen gorgeous in louisville. Upgeous george used to get andis flamboyant costumes he was like the villain. And he boasted a lot. Is likedonald trump both. Play thatort of androgyny. But no one is going to pick a george. Th gorgeous the great french canadian writer, i interviewed him and he said when he heard that the heavyweight champion of the selfpity, heng a knew there was a change in the culture of boxing. One more thing, ernie terrel was considered him up fight or my book was published in canada. Have canadian emphasis. A showdown between organized crime, which introduced an organization, the showdown happened in toronto. Mohammed or warned that is all he did not take a dive and did not fall, he would wind up in the bottom of lake michigan. According to george, whom ali fought, man was paid a visit by the nation of islam. You know what happened after that, you can read my book. Amy i want to turn to john legend. Read the words of mohammed alis 19 six speech on the unum. Mohammed ali why should i put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in vietnam while socalled negro people are developed denied human rights. I am not going to murder and burn another poor nation simply to continue the domination of white slave masters, the darker people of the world over. This is a day when such evils must come to an end. I have been warned that taking a stand would cause me to lose millions of dollars, which accrues to me as a champion. The real enemy of my people is right here. I will not disgrace my religion, my people, or myself. By becoming a tool to enslave those fighting for their own justice, freedom, and equality. I would join tomorrow. But i either have to debate obey the laws of the land or the laws of allah. Ive nothing to lose by standing for my beliefs. Amy that was john legend inspired by the late historian that speech was mohammed alis speech. Talk about what happened to him, announcing he would not go to war, being stripped of his heavyweight title, the case going right to the u. S. Supreme court before it was overturned and reversed. The years taken out of his he did not provide an at its prime. Slow down, before you could hit the guy. He is free because people cannot touch it. After he lost his speed, you get hit him and touch him and continued through the end of his career. I interviewed a great trainer, a manual, he said he thought joe willis was the greatest heavyweight champion of all time. He said all he should have quit after he fought George Foreman. He took a lot of punishment to the body. I think three years deprived him of, you know, ousting him at his prime. Amy George Foreman was the in the jungle, the ,emocratic republic of congo this whole battle was set up. One that the dictator did not actually go to see, perhaps afraid he would be assassinated as he came out. Know, mohammed ali i interviewed the great journalist who used to work for. Pr harvard graduate. Fight brought the philippines into the 20th century. They were no longer dismissed as little brown peasants and became a firstclass nation because of the fight came as a result of that fight. He met with the rebels during ramadan. That shows you how complex ali was. Amy we will break and when we come back, well be joined by a writer activist. His latest book, complete mohammed ali. We are going to hear Elizabeth Alexander recite her palm. Stay with us. Her poem. Stay with us. My muhammad ali im amy goodman to talk more about the length it like it. We are turning to help professor Elizabeth Alexander. The personauthor of poem narrative poem narrative ali, written from the perspective of muhammad ali. Welcome. How did you get interested in mohammed ali . They started showing his fights and i had never seen them. I had never watched this man and his physical magnificence and originality. I knew who he was and what stood for, to be to put together the package of physical expression along with all of the things he stood for and the way he was able to be an iconic lack man. Project himself as a free blacks in the world in so many different contexts. The mysterious thing happened which is i started to imagine and hear his voice is right in his voice. Out of that came a long ethic home called narrative ali. In this poem, you use the nword. Can you talk about your choice . Writing inone thing persona is you want a fidelity to your subject and you do not want to be her out side of how it is notarched a word i throw around it is a word used in two different context, both how he understood himself as a black person in america at a particular person in time, and also how he talked to about himself in a close feel setting with another black how i researched and imagined he would have used the word, and to shy away from it felt disingenuous to the subject. Amy why dont you share your poem . Elizabeth epic poems have heroes. I appreciate all the context has given usreed and it is wonderful to be on the show with him. Im thinking about imagination and epic heroes in this poem. It home in 12 rounds. My head so big, they had to pry me out. Im sorry bird is what i call my mother . Cassius marcellus clay, muhammad ali; you can say my name in any language, any continent ali. 2. Two photographs of emmett till, born my year, on my birthday. One, hes smiling, happy, and the other one is after. His mother did the bold thing, kept the casket open, made the thousands look upon his bulging eyes, his twisted neck, her lynched black boy. I couldnt sleep for thinking, emmett till. One day i went down to the train tracks, found some iron shoeshine rests and planted them between the ties and waited for a train to come, and watched the train derail, and ran, and after that i slept at night. 3. I need to train around people, hear them talk, talk back. I need to hear the traffic, see people in the barbershop, people getting shoe shines, talking, hear them talk, talk back. 4. Bottom line olympic gold cant buy a black man a louisville hamburger in nineteensixty. Wasnt even real gold. I watched the river drag the ribbon down, red, white, and blue. 5. Laying on the bed, praying for a wife, in walk sonji roi. Pretty little shape. Do you like chop suey . Can i wash your hair underneath that wig . Lay on the bed, girl. Lie with me. Shake to the east, to the north, south, west but remember, remember, i need a muslim wife. So quit using lipstick. Quit your boogaloo. Cover up your knees like a muslim wife, religion, religion, a muslim wife. Eleven months with sonji, first woman i loved. 6. Theres not too many days that pass that i dont think of how it started, but i know no great white hope can beat a true black champ. Jerry quarry could have been a movie star, a millionaire, a senator, a president he only had to do one thing, is whip me, but he cant. 7. Dressingroom visitor he opened up his shirt kkk cut in his chest. He dropped his trousers latticed scars where testicles should be, his face bewildered, frozen in the alabama woods that night in 1966 when they left him for dead, his testicles in a dixie cup. You a warning, they told him, to smartmouth, sassyacting niggers, meaning niggers still alive, meaning any nigger, meaning niggers like me. 8. Training unsweetened grapefruit juice will melt my stomach down. Dont drive if you can walk, dont walk if you can run. I add a mile each day and run in eightpound boots. My knuckles sometimes burst the glove. I let dead skin build up, and then i peel it, let it scar, so i dont bleed as much. My bones absorb the shock. I train in threeminute spurts, like rounds three rounds big bag, three speed bag, three jump rope, one minute breaks, no more, no less. Am i too old . Eat only kosher meat. Eat cabbage, carrots, beets, and watch the weight come down twothirty, twotwenty, twoten, twoohnine. 9. Will i go like kid paret, a fractured skull, a tenday sleep, dreaming alligators, pork chops, saxophones, slow grinds, funk, fishbowls, lightbulbs, bats, typewriters, tuning forks, funk clocks, red rubber ball, what you see in that lifetime knockout minute on the cusp . You could be let go, you could be snatched back. 10. Rumble in the jungle ali boma ye, ali boma ye, means kill him, ali, which is different from a whupping which is what i give, but i lead them chanting anyway, ali boma ye, because here in africa black people fly planes and run countries. Im still making up for the foolishness i said when i was clay from louisville, where i learned africans live naked in straw huts eating tiger meat, grunting and grinning, swinging from vines, pounding their chests i pound my chest but of my own accord. 11. I said to joe frazier, first thing, get a good house in case you get crippled so you and your family can sleep somewhere. Always keep one good cadillac. And watch how you dress with that cowboy hat, pink suits, white shoes thats how pimps dress, or kids, and you a champ, or wish you were, cause i can whip you in the ring or whip you in the street. Now back to clothes, wear dark clothes, suits, black suits, like you the best at what you do, like you president of the world. Dress like that. Put them yellow pants away. We dinosaurs gotta look good, gotta sound good, gotta be good, the greatest, thats what i told joe frazier, and he said to me, we both bad niggers. We dont do no crawlin. 12. They called me the fistic pariah. They said i didnt love my country, called me a racehater, called me out of my name, waited for me to come out on a stretcher, shot at me, hexed me, cursed me, wished me all manner of ill will, told me i was finished. Here i am, like the song says, come and take me, the peoples champ, myself, muhammad. Amy that is Elizabeth Alexander reading her poem. In fact, mohammed ali was not just the greatest boxer. He was not just an activist, a war resistor. He was a poet. Poete claimed himself as a. On the one hand, he spoke in ways that are very familiar in the africanamerican rhetorical tradition with a sense of rhythm and rhyme indication. He brought that out for people to see in public. When asked for a poem one time, he replied simply, me, we. He understood poetic economy and understood in a short and concentrated place, you could do big things and he understood poetry was memorable and he understood poetry belongs to everyone. He recorded an album in 1963 of spoken word poetry he consorted with poets. There is a fantastic exchange visit he had with maryann when they decided to write a poem together a sonnet, me and i wish an attorney terrel. Account. Onderful i think a rapper. He was. H that is how we see hiphop and rap have deep roots in black expressive culture. To i wanted to go back mohammed ali and his own words. Interviewed on channel 13, pbs here in new york by but collins. Is that correct . You are appealing . Jail could come up and i if i lose the appeal, i will have to go to jail. About jail thought come people who have been in jail for five years . Been in people have jail for 400 years. About jail. Ry i believe in allah and i believe mohammed is the messenger of god. Many great men have to go to jail. Dont pay no attention to it. If the time comes, i will just have to go. Was in be in vietnam are banned from what they believe. They die free and fun people 10,000 miles away. I will just have to suffer so those socalled negros can be free. You think we can do more for your people by going . Yes. Amy interviewed by but collins. But also just died in march at the age of 86. ,our dad, Elizabeth Alexander was secretary of the army. Here is mohamed lycee no to the war in vietnam elizabeth . Tozabeth my dad said no wars as well p or we can have a whole conversation. Part of why ali resonated for me is that he was a free black man in a way my father is a free black man. That taught me what i wanted to see in this world and what we need to see in this world. Mohammed ali was imperfect, complicated. What did it mean as a feminist writer to think about, this is a man with a complicated history with women. It is a man working in a quintessentially male, physically expressive form. I am well aware of what and raise says about vulnerable bodies. What does it mean to make your body more vulnerable because that seems to be the way you can move in the world. All of those ironies are powerful ones. Day, there isthe someone who, as a young man, met and said no, and paid the price. And stood for years for that. And sacrificed that very thing that was his currency. That is what shines on. The power of self. Not many of us are able to. Roject that shoe again what we see in the work of other artists, playing this amazing music, so many people, other peoplemarianne moore, who have been inspired by what he gave and made something more out of it. , your final reed reflection on the man you spend years researching and he wrote a book about . Ishmael we should not forget about joe lewis and armstrong, who fought on white men. Beat up to cuts and was hounded by police from city to city, wherever he went. He had challenges, robinson in thery lewis fought fight only stopped when someone said that is joe lewis. We can honor mohammed ali. Amy your thoughts as we go out . . Lizabeth alexander rise to theeople level of icon. When we have that, the piece to remember along with the complexities and the contradictions is, what might their example lead other people to do and stand up for . Quote from with a mohammed ali, i am america. Black, confident, and cocky. My goals, my own. Get used to me. Mohammed ali died at the age of 74. His funeral is in kentucky on friday and thousands are expected to attend. Ishmael reed, thank you so much for being here with us. His book, the complete mohammed ali. Elizabeth alexander, author of the home, narrative ali. I am amy goodman. I am amy goodman. Today on americas test kitchen, julia makes japanesestyle stir fried noodles with beef, adam reviews knife sharpeners, and bridget cooks the best fried brown rice with pork and shrimp. Right here on americas test kitchen. Americas test kitchen is brought to you by dcs. Dcs manufacturers of professionally styled indoor and outdoor kitchen equipment. At dcs, our mission is design that delivers,