SCENE ONE
(The conversation continues on the couch).
JUNIOR: I think that brings us into the 60s decade.
DAD: Oh yes—And so, Cassius Clay, who had a phobia for flying, traveled to Rome in 1960, wearing a parachute on the plane in case the plane crashed, to represent the United States of America at the Olympics in the Light Heavyweight division. He was only eighteen, dancing and talking while taunting his opponents with his prettiness. He quickly won all his four fights, and he beat Zbigniew Pietrzykowski of Poland to get the gold medal for the USA. (Enactment: Cassius is shown defeating his final opponent. He receives the gold medal).
DAD: That was the easy part. Then came the hard part, one he could not understand, and it was to have a profound effect on him and affect his view of the Black man in the White man’s world. The aftermath of his victory would transform Ali fundamentally into a political figure. He was no longer going to remain just a boxer. He knew he had the world as his stage, and he was a genius at milking it.
JUNIOR: What happened?
MOM: This is the part you need to understand, son. Listen to your father very well. You are a Black man. Understand that.
DAD: Cassius Clay returned to his hometown in Louisville, Kentucky as a hero. He had made America proud. There was a big parade in his hometown, in his honor. He was an Olympic champion, but one thing had not changed and would never change. He was a Black man. He went to a local restaurant that had a sign that read–Whites only. He just wanted to eat. Everyone knew he was the champ.
(Enactment).
(White waitress looks him over with scorn).
WHITE WAITRESS: We do not serve people of color here.
CASSIUS CLAY: (In his natural humor replied)—We do not eat them either.
DAD: The restaurant denied him service. He walked out unbowed but angry and marched over to the Second Street Bridge; he threw his gold medal into the Ohio River. This event happened in 1960. The Gold medal was found by a White couple many years later. They contacted the Muhammad Ali Foundation, which paid them $200,000 in appreciation. However, this incident left Cassius Clay distraught, and it was pivotal in his eventual big decision. On March 6, 1964, he shocked the boxing world by announcing that he had embraced Islam. He changed his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali. This change marked the beginning of his involvement in the struggle for Civil Rights. Ali would pay dearly for it.
MOM: Hey guys, food is ready. Let us get to it. (Dad steps out after the meal).
CURTAIN
SCENE TWO
(The conversation continues on the couch).
DAD: The decade of the sixties was going to experience so much turmoil and much progress amidst the turmoil. The French colonial power was squarely defeated by the Vietnamese in 1954. Their troops faced an imminent massacre when Geneva quickly convened to facilitate an orderly withdrawal. The country became divided into Communist North Vietnam and non-Communist South Vietnam at the 17th parallel. America was alarmed by the spread of Communism.
Here was a neutral country in the First and Second World Wars until they were obligated to intervene. Head-on, the United States took it as a matter of manifest destiny to step into the void vacated by France. Effectively, the Vietnam War began in 1955 and ended in 1975. It lasted for 20 years. Meanwhile, the Civil Rights Movement had taken on a life of its own. In Africa, Nigeria, an up-and-coming country, had just gained Independence from their British colonizers after over one hundred years of exploitation. Several African countries got their Independence, in some cases, through war, as in Algeria. The French are the worst kind of colonizers. They never let their colonies go except through conflict. There is a battle they are yet to fight on the African continent, in impoverished yet resource-rich French West Africa. There shall be a reckoning. It is inevitable for one reason and one reason only. Men everywhere want freedom. While all these countries were becoming independent, the screws of Apartheid as State policy had begun to tighten around the necks of Black people in South Africa. Mandela was jailed for life because he asked for a place at the table for his people. Miriam Makeba (Mama Africa) entered the struggle against Apartheid with her beautiful voice.
Enactment.
(As Mandela makes his famous speech at the Rivonia trial, Makeba sings Malaika softly at first and then, as Mandela says the line—“an ideal for which I am prepared to die,” the song takes over).
JUNIOR: Dad, how do you know all these things?
DAD: Well, long before Google came, I was Google. All my friends, brothers, and sisters used to call me to ask questions. Now, no one calls me anymore. I used to feel especially important and valuable. It is a good thing, but I believe knowledge is easily accessible to lazy people, yet you still find empty people and wonder—how? Now, where were we?
CURTAIN
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