6 Chapter 5 Taking a Stand

Chapter 5 Taking a Stand In May 1964, when he was just twenty-two years old, Ali traveled to Africa for the first time and visited Nigeria, Ghana, and Egypt. He met with the leaders of those countries. In Egypt, he rode a camel and visited the pyramids. In Nigeria, he was cheered by enormous crowds. It was an eye-opening trip for the young man.

In Africa, Ali was embraced. He was welcomed as a hero, both for his boxing and his beliefs. Many people in Africa were Muslim, too. When he got back from Africa, Ali began to look more closely at life in America. He saw the differences between America and Africa. In the African nations he visited, he saw that black people were in charge of countries and not treated like second-class citizens. "Me being the heavyweight champion feels very small and cheap," he said, "when [I see] how millions of my poor black brothers and sisters are

having to struggle just to get human rights in America." Not long after he came back, he met Sonji Roi, a young woman from Chicago. Though Sonji was not part of the Nation of Islam, he married her in August 1964. But their marriage was not steady. Sonji did not agree with the NOI people who were influencing Ali. Ali kept boxing, winning again and again. He won fights in Canada, England, and Germany, along with several in the United States. With every win, his fame grew. He continued making up poems, talking loud, and attracting attention. This was one of his most famous poems:

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee His hands can't hit what his eyes can't see Muhammad Ali carefully planned his poetic way of speaking and his showy style of giving interviews. Journalists and reporters loved to write stories about him. "Them newspaper people couldn't have been working no better for me if I had been paying them," he said. Very soon, however, their stories would be working against him. In the 1960s, young American men were drafted to serve in the military. If a person was drafted, service in the army was not voluntary. It was mandatory. In 1964, Ali had taken a written test for the army, but he had not passed.

In 1966, the army changed its standards. This time, Ali passed. He asked that the army not call him to go to war. He said that he did not support the war the United States was fighting in Vietnam, a small country in Southeast Asia. Ali based his reasons on his religious beliefs. And he didn't believe that he should have to fight a war against people he did not know. His decision was also a reaction to the ongoing civil rights struggle in America.

During this time, his short marriage to Sonji ended in divorce. A year later, he was drafted into the army and told to report for duty. On April 28, 1967, he reported to the United States Armed Forces Examining and Entrance Station in Houston. When his name was called he refused to step forward and acknowledge it. Refusing to join the army was against the law. Muhammad Ali was arrested.