After the untimely passing of former heavyweight boxing legend Muhammad Ali this past Friday, rare footage has surfaced of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X praising Ali.
In the video posted by Facebook user Black Knowledge, King tells his parishioners that Ali found the war objectionable and an abomination. “It doesn’t matter what you think of Mr. Muhammad Ali’s religion, you certainly have to admire his courage.”
The video uses clips of King and Malcolm X to compliment their admiration for the legend.
Malcolm X builds off King’s admiration of Ali stating that:
“The power structure has successfully created the image of the American Negro as someone with no confidence … Here comes Cassius the exact contrast of everything that was representative of the Negro image… He said he [Ali] was the greatest … He became victorious … They knew that if people started to identify with Cassius, they were going to have trouble with these Negros.”
