Thesiss

While the intersection of sport and the Civil Rights era has been well documented from a number of angles and approaches, perhaps no athlete has been so thoroughly connected to this period in history as Muhammad Ali. His stances on Vietnam, race relations and religion during thi…

A twenty-first century re-emergence of athletic activism and performances of dissent can be seen in the national anthem protests by professional football, soccer, and baseball players like Colin Kaepernick, Megan Rapinoe, and Bruce Maxwell. In 2016, a month prior to Kaepernick’s…

This monograph argues that Muhammad Ali's emergence as a race leader began during 1966 and 1967, when he refused to compromise his religious beliefs and fostered unprecedented professional autonomy for a black heavyweight champion. Ali's stalwart stance against the Vietnam War a…