This Day in History

June 4, 1967: Muhammad Ali Summit

Time Periods: 1961

Themes: African American, Laws & Citizen Rights, Sports, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements

On June 4, 1967, Muhammad Ali and a group of leading African American athletes held a press conference in Cleveland after Ali announced he was refusing to serve in the U.S. military in Vietnam.

(front row) Russell, Ali, Brown and Lew Alcindor (now Abdul-Jabbar). Back row (left to right): Stokes, Walter Beach, Bobby Mitchell, Sid Williams, Curtis McClinton, Willie Davis, Jim Shorter, and John Wooten.

Ali saw the war in Vietnam as an exercise in genocide. He also used his platform as boxing champion to connect the war abroad with the war at home, saying, “Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on Brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs?”

Dubbed the Ali summit, the meeting happened roughly a month after Ali refused to step forward at an induction ceremony in Houston after being drafted into the U.S. military and a few weeks before he was convicted.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jim Brown, Bill Russell, and Carl Stokes were some of the athletes and political figures involved in the meeting. Watch a short documentary from Uninterrupted about the meeting below.

Below are resources for teaching about sports and here are resources for teaching about the Vietnam War and anti-war movement.

Related Resources

Teaching Guides

Colin in Black and White: The Kaepernick Curriculum

Teaching Guide. Presented by Ra Vision Media & Know Your Rights Camp. 2022. 85 pages.
In conjunction with the Netflix series of the same name, this teaching guide provides students with resources and activities to understand and address systemic and institutional racism.

Teaching Activities (Free)

Teaching the Vietnam War: Beyond the Headlines

Teaching Activity. By the Zinn Education Project. 100 pages.
Eight lessons about the Vietnam War, Daniel Ellsberg, the Pentagon Papers, and whistleblowing.

A People’s History of Muslims in the United States (Article) | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

Articles

A People’s History of Muslims in the United States: What Textbooks and the Media Miss

Article. By Alison Kysia. If We Knew Our History Series.
Although the dominant media — including our schools’ curriculum — perpetuate stereotypes, history shows Muslims in the Americas have fought for social justice since the 15th century.

Films

Not Just a Game: Power, Politics & American Sports

Film. By Dave Zirin and Jeremy Earp. 2010. 62 minutes.
A documentary based on the bestselling book A People’s History of Sports in the United States, Zirin demonstrates that American sports have long been at the center of some of the major political debates and struggles of our time. For 6th grade to adult.