Muhammad Ali The Greatest Of All Time

On This Edition of From The Vault we celebrate the Life of Muhammad Ali through our Pacifica Radio Archive s recordings.

Maya Angelou wrote – While one may encounter many defeats, one must not be defeated.

I didn t seem that Muhammad Ali would have to learn that lesson as his life unfolded like a dream come true. Let s hear from former Pacifica producer Roy Hurst who narrates this 1997 tribute to Muhammad Ali.

VOP PZ0300.13 Julius Lester & Muhammad Ali

That was Roy Hurst narrating our 1997 tribute to Muhammad Ali.

Now that we have the big picture, let s go back to September 1968 when the audio from this tribute was recorded by Pacifica Radio Producer Julius Lester. Julius Lester reflects on that day following the death of Muhammad Ali on June 3, 2016.

Julius Lester reads his Muhammad Ali reflection
That was Julius Lester from his home in rural Massachusettes. Mr. Lester is a retired professor from the University of Massachusetts at Amhurst and the author of 44 books since 1968.

Here is Julius Lester s September 1968 Interview in it s entirety.
BB3788 Interview with Muhammad Ali and Julius Lester

Also in 1968, Pacifica radio KPFK recorded Muhammad Ali as part of the Associated Students of UCLA 10 days of programming on War Racism and the Draft.

BB4667 Muhammad Ali at UCLA

You are listening to a Pacifica Radio Archives tribute to Muhammad Ali using recordings in our collection.

And now back to Muhammad Ali at UCLA 1968
We end now with a poem that Muhammad Ali gave on his return visit to UCLA in May 1971

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