Tributes poured in after Muhammad Ali died. Billy Crystal eulogized that Ali’s “intense light shined on America and we were able to see clearly: injustice inequality, poverty, pride, self-realization, courage, laughter, love, joy, and religious freedom for all.”
President Obama remarked that Ali had become a “powerful force for peace and reconciliation around the world….Muhammad Ali shook up the world. And the world is better for it.”
Ali was especially interested in the civil rights implications of the election between James Meredith and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. for a United States House of Representatives seat from the district of Harlem.