The Indianapolis Recorder thoroughly covered the life events and career of Muhammad Ali, from stories about his personal life — including marriages and divorces — to pre- and post-coverage of his bouts, to weekly updates on his legal battles and various advocacy efforts.
It’s apparent from the volume and consistency of coverage that the editors of the Recorder highly regarded Ali’s relevance to and impact on the African-American community.
Here’s a look into a couple stories from the Recorder archives:
DATE: April 29, 1967
Ali tells students ‘black man still catching hell’
By JULIUS SMITH
Special to The Recorder
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali spoke before an estimated crowd of 700 Howard University students Saturday afternoon, just five days before his scheduled induction into the army.
Ali was invited to speak by Dr. Nathan Hare, assistant professor of sociology at Howard and a leading “black power” theorist.
Ali spent about 15 minutes in a crowd of student supporters, exchanging greetings and signing autographs on copies of “Muhammad Speaks,” the Muslim newspaper, before pushing toward the microphones which were set up on the steps of a classroom building.
He first threw a jab at the integration movement, stating that we’ve had sit-ins, wade-ins, and lie-ins “and we’re still catching hell.”
Holding up a copy of Muslim leader Elijah Muhammad’s book, “A Message to the Black Man,” Ali said, “We have never heard the truth, and only the truth makes you free.”
He said that although “we are called Negroes, we don’t know who we are. Once you know who you are, you can start saying ‘I am the greatest!’”
Ali then explained how American society has made the black man feel his color is inferior. “The white man wants you to think that everything that is good and pure is white,” he said, “and that everything which is bad is black.”
“That’s why Angel food cake is white and devil’s food cake is black.” That drew loud applause.
Referring to Ali’s unlikely stint with the armed forces, one student shouted that he’d take the champ’s place for $1,000.
“Your life is worth more than $1,000, brother,” Ali returned.
Ali ended by chanting a poem about the black man’s hardships in America. Some of the crowd picked up the lines and joined in, but the tune soon changed to “Hell no, we ain’t gonna go.”
Curiously, Ali was not chaperoned by members of the university’s special police force, a gratuity usually accorded guest speakers such as Selective Service Director Lt. Gen. Lewis B. Hershey who spoke there recently. One spokesman for the special police force said “there just weren’t any assigned.”
One student said that lack of police protection was just one of the administration’s ways of showing that Ali and other militant and black power advocates aren’t wanted.
“That’s why they wouldn’t let him speak inside,” the student stated. “But things are going to change.”
Ali was scheduled to speak at the local Muslim mosque Sunday and visit area jails before leaving Washington.
DATE: Feb. 4, 1967
Ali (Clay that is) gives $10,000 to Negro College Fund
NEW YORK — Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay), the world’s heavyweight boxing champion, this week contributed $10,000 to the United Negro College Fund.
The 25-year-old fighter’s gift will be used to help support 33 predominantly Negro colleges and universities affiliated with the fund.
In presenting the contribution, Muhammad Ali expressed the view that education is a cornerstone in the struggle for freedom, justice and equality.
“Although I myself never had the opportunity to go to college,” he said, “I give to the United Negro College Fund this $10,000 out of my love, admiration and respect for their 34,000 dedicated students to help in some small way so that the seeds of immortality hidden within each one of them may be nourished and developed to their fullest capacity. To me, they are all the ‘greatest.’”
Ali, who graduated from high school in 1960, said he would continue to do everything possible to aid the fund and its member institutions as long as he is champion.
