he was known simply as the greatetest. in additition to being a legendy foster -- boxer, he was an antiwar activist and a vocal critic of racism in america. he was sentenced to five years in j jai for r refusing t to fin vietnam m and was stripped of fs heavyweight tititle. >> oppose what i i want justice you who i oppose what i wawant eqequality. you willll not even stananup 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, aft heng his role refused military induction in 1967. this title was taken away from him and he was sentenced to a five-year prison term. to ththeed all the wayay supreme court. in971, hisonviction n was finanally reveversed. he did not go to prison but was forced to wait for years b befoe regaining his boxing license. died friday in arizona after suffering for decades from parkinson's 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 clinton's brooklyn headquarters to protest her support for a bill to address puerto rico's bankruptcy. -- economic crisis. the bill establishes an oversight board critics say will have totalitarian control over puerto rico's finances. clinton's 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 clinton's support of the legislation. collects specifically in front of the plaza, the national headquarters for hillary clinton , a presidential 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 v very clear or e 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 workrk 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 tuesday's clinton has 290 more pledged delegates than sanders that 546 -- 40- stay ins is planning g to the race saying the democratic convention in july will be contested. presumptive republican presidential nominee donald trump has doubled down on his claim that a federal judge should recuse himself from lawsuits over the defunct, for-profit trump university, because he is of mexican heritage. trump defefended his rememarks o cncnn's jake tapper. mr. trurump: the judges of mexin heritage and i am building a wall. i will do well with the hispanics. > no mexican n joe could evee -- judge could be involved? fine, b but iis all amam thinking he shoululd recuse hielf. say, , does he know the lawyer on thehe other side, does he know ththe lawyer, a lot ofof people -- > i am not tatalking about t. you arere 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 cbs's 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 werere a a muslim ju, would you also feel they could nott feed you trailing because f the policy? mr. trump: it is possible, yes. absolutely. >> republican leaders have moved to distance themselves from trump's comments. house speaker paul ryan said he disagreed with trump's comments about the judge, calling him out of left field. called trump's comments inexcusable and an interview with chuck. on meet the press, mitch mcconnell opposed mr. trump's 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 don't agreel: with what he has t to say.y. this i is a man born in indiana. all of us came here from somewhere else. >> meanwhile in texas, rerepublican attororney generaln paxtonon 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 attorney general's office issued a cease and desist letter to owens after he released a 14-page summary of the case against trump. an npr photographer and afghan interpreter have been killed in afghanistan while traveling with an afghan army. award-winning photojournalist hisd died along with interpreter and an afghan sosoldier after the humvee was t by a rocket propopelled 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 evevacuate. the crasash damaged the wastster 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 quouote "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 businenesses and groroups engagn 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 v voted on basic income. >> this has been a successful daday. 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 banknk economt appppears poised to win ththe race. expected to win, but appears to have been defeated missed corrrruption scandals and d pros over the legacy of her father. mexico ofport accuses committing crimes against humanity as part of the drug war. the report is out t tuesday. it marks the first time an international organization publicly argued mexico's 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 you feel alone, i am with you. when people doubt you or dismiss you, i am with you. i fofought everyday for you. so never stop fighting, i believe you. " and those are some of the headlines. i'm amy goodman. are expected to gather in louisville on friday for the funeral of mohammed ali, one of the world's's most iconic figures of the 20th century, considered by many to be the greatest boxer of all time. he will alalso be remembered for his actctivism. after --riday parkinson's 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 soututh. in an interview, he e described what happened next. gold medal, olympic olympic champioion, is polaland considereded a communist c cour? g gng, ♪s i am standing so p proud. ♪ , i am goioing to what the world for america. [laughter] i took my gold m medal and thout i invent something. i know i can eat downtown now. blacack folks could not eatat downtown a and i wendownwntown d down down and i sat down for a cup of coffee and hot d dg and the lady said, we don't serve negros. said, i don't either, , just give me one. [laughter] i said i am the olympipic gold medal l winner for thrhree days. i won the gold medal and i'm 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 thehe sports s d and announced d hes jojoining te nation of islam and changing his name. elijah mohammed renamed him .ohammed ali using what he calllled 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 vietntnam. cocollects some darker peoeople, shoot them for what? me. nevever lynched they never threw dawes on me. they nevever robbed me of mymy nationality or k killed mymy mor and father. for what? how my going to shoot thohose peopople? 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 five-year prison term. t theealed all the way to u.s. supreme court. in 1971, his conviction n 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 jungle, a historic boxing match. this is a clip from the documentary, "whwhen we were kingngs." >> i live in america, i was a slave 400 years ago. amy: mohammed ali --muhammad ali grew increasingly involved in world affairs. my name and the name of all muslims in america, i declare support for the palestinian struggle to deliberate their h homeland and oust zionist invaders. 1990, he traveled to baghdad and met with saddam hussein against the wishes of the u.s. governmement. 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, african-american 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, we're 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, we're 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 poemem "narrative: alili", writn from the perspective of muhammad ali. elizabeth alexander recited the amount real poem when president obama took office in 2009. we w welcome you both to democry now!w!. 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. i'm 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 muhammad's a message to a black man. this is a great flaw in what i'm hearing from commentators on his deathth, tht wiwithout islam, no one would he had -- heard of mohammed ali. amy: could you give a sketch of his life? ishmael: he grew up in a middle-class 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 ne'er-do-well. this man lived up to his responsibilities. late andewed the hughes, who was mohammed ali's 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, mamalcolm x. spoke out in support of mohammed ali. classes recocord is clean and he is an all american boy, or i in all afcacan boy, as s youill. him, its attacks actuallyly hurts americaca all r the world. i have gotten letters s from foforeign countrieses a all ovee woworld expressing pride in the cclean image h he reprents. to attack him espepecially onn be momostgroundss would dedestructive to the amerrica ie abroroad. my viceses that hehe never do anything that would d any w way tarnish or take e away from hihs image as t the heavyweight championon of a worlrld beuse i bebelieve that he is in a better position than anyone else toto restore a sensnse of racl pride to not only our people in this country, but allll over e e wor. he i trainining -- tryrying his to liveve a clean life. the press is trying too paiaintm as something other than what t e is. he does nonot smoke or drink. white, they would be referring to him as the all-american 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 ali's 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 prisonon. 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 sentnt back what we call x. they t told him he has got to gt ..d o of the muslimim culture otherwise, there ain't goining o be no fight. he has been training all his fight for the .eavavyweight champioion i said, don't believe that. amy: you're 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 accusused challener erninie jarrell of being g an ue tom r r refusing to call him mohammmmed ali. >> you continue to be unafafrai. y y, cash iss clay -- >> everybody is call him him him at ali, and why have youot t to be the want ofof all peoplple to keep s saying cash is clayay? >> he is not the one who will fight, i am.m. >> r really hardrd on yoursesel. name?n't youu call me m my >> what is your naname? you told m me it was cash is cly a few w years ago. >> i nevever told you that. my name isis mohammed d ali. you are acactingikike an old une tom. y you.ng to p punish >> donon'tt calall me no uncle e -- ununcle 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, what's my name, what's 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 self-pity, heng a knew there was a change in the culture of boxing. one more thing, ernie terrel was considereded him up f fight or y book wasas publisheded in canad. have canadian ememphasis. a showdown betweenen organizized crime, which i introduced an organinization, the shohowdown happeneded in toronto. mohammed or warned that is all he did not take a divee and didd not fall, he would w wd up i in the bottttom of lalake michigan. according to george, whom alali fought, , man was paid a visitiy the e nation of islam. you know what happened after that, you can read d my book. amy: i wanant to turn to john legend. read the words of mohammed ali's 19 six spepeech on the unumum. mohammed ali: why should i put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brownwn people in vietnam while so-called negro people are develeloped -- dedend human n rights. i am not going t to murder a and burn a another poooor nation siy to continue the domination of white slave masters, the darker people of the world over. this is a d day when such evils must come toto an end. i have beeeen warned t that tana standd would cause m me to lose millnsns of f dollars, which accrues to me as a chchampion. ththe real enenemy of my peoples right herere. i i will notot disgrace my reli, my peoeople, or m myself. by becoming aa tool to ensnslave those e 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. i've nothing to lose by standing for my beliefs. amy: that wawas john legend -- inspired by the late historian that speech was mohammed ali's 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. knonow, 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 first-class nation because of the fight came as a result of that fight. he met with the rebels duduring ramadan. that shows you how complex ali was. amy: we will break and when we come back, we'll be joined by a writer activist. his latest book, complete mohammed ali. we are going to hear elizabeth alexexander recite her palm. stay with us. ♪ -- her poem. stay with us. ♪ ♪ ♪ .my: muhammad ali i'm 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 anand originalitity. i knew who he was and d what std 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 n-word. 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 don't 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. i'm thinking about imagination and epic heroes in this poem. it home in 12 rounds. my head so big, they had to pry me out. i'm 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 o photographs of emmett til, born my year, on my birthday. one, he's smiling, happy, and the other one is after. his mother did the bold thing,g, kept the casket open, made the thousands look upon his bulging eyes, his s twisted neck, her lynched black boy. i couldn't sleep for thinking, emmett till. one day i went down to the train tracks, found some iron shoe-shine rests and planted them between the ties and waited fofor a train to come, and watcd 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 can't buy a black man a louisville hamburger in nineteen-sixty. wasn't 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 beded, 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. there's not too many days thatat pass that i don't think of howow it started, but i i know n no gt whwhite hope can beat a a true k champ. jerry quarry could have been a momoe star, a a millionaire,e, a senator, a president he only had to do one thing, is whip me, but he can't. 7. dressing-room visitor he opened up his shirt: "kkk" cut in his chest. he dropped h his trousers: latticiced scars wherere testics should be,e, his face bewildere, 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 smart-t-mouth, sassy-a-acting niggers, meaning n niggers still alive, meaning any nigger, meaning niggers like me. 8. trainining unsweetened grapefrut juicice will melt my stomach d . don't drive if you can walk, don't walk if you can run. i add a mile each day and run in eighght-pound boots. my knuckles sometimes bursrst te glove. i let dead skin build up, and then i peel it, let it scar, so i don't bleed as much. my bones absorthe shock.k. i train n in three-minute spurt, like rounds:s: 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: two-thirty, two-twenty, two-ten, two-oh-nine. 9. will i go like kid paret, a fractured skull, a ten-day 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,o, you could be snatctched 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. i'm 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 that's 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 p 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, that's what i told joe frazier, and he said to me, we both bad niggers. we don't do no crawlin'. 12. they called me "the fistic pariah." they said i didn't love my country, called me a race-hater, 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 people's 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 african-american 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 hip-hop and rap have deep roots in black expressive culture. to: i wanted to go back mohammed ali and his own words. ininterviewed on channnnel 13, s here in new york by but collins. is thatorrect? you u eppealing? >>aiail cod cocomep andd i -- if i l losthe appeal, i wi haveo go to jail. bout jail ought come people o have bn n in jail f f five yes? een inin people ha jail for 400 yea. bout j jl. i believe a allnd i believe mohammed is the ssssengeof god. ny g gre men h he to go ja. d'pay nonottentiono it. if the time e mes, i will just haveo gogo. >> w wasn be -- in vietn are banned fm what ty y belie. they e free and fun people ,000 mil away. i willust ha toouffer s so those so-call negegs can b 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 complexitieses and the contradictions is, what might their example lead other people to do and stand up for? quote frommwith 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." ú ♪ [chanting] >> first word is

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