Hard Work & Persistence

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  • Topic: Muhammad Ali, Sonny Liston, Boxing
  • Pages : 4 (1369 words )
  • Download(s) : 58
  • Published : December 28, 2012
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Hard work and persistence are the magical words that lead to success and fame. A very good example is “Mohamed Ali Clay.” His name was “Cassius” before being a Muslim. Muhammad Ali built himself by himself until he became the most famous and richest boxer in the entire world.

In 1940s, in Louisville, African Americans were separated from Whites. Black people were only permitted to sit in back rows of movie theatres and buses. Moreover, black children were separated from white children and they could not go to school together. Moreover, some of the restaurants would not allow blacks in. This system was called “segregation.” Louisville had two African American neighborhoods, east end (the California area), and west end (where the Clays lived). The clays were very poor. Their car was ten years old, their house always needed painting, the porch sagged, and whenever it rained, water entered the house from the roof. Cassius Marcellus, who was born on the 17th of January 1942, and Rudy his brother, were sharing the same pants and the same shirts. After a while, the Clays gave them a new shirt and new pants. Odessa Clay their mother, used to work at houses when her sons were young, and earned four dollars a day. She was very religious. Every Sunday she attended with her two sons Mount Zion Baptist church, where Cassius used to sing in the choir. Odessa taught Cassius to treat people kindly (Muhammed Ali, by Arlene Schhulmain, published 2005).

In 1954, when Cassius was twelve, his father bought him a new bicycle for Christmas. A new bicycle was an enormous thing for them, because they were a poor family. One day, Cassius went to a show with his friend on his new bicycle. After the show was over, Cassius could not find his bike and he went to a police officer, who tried to help him but could not. Later on, Cassius found the thief and he hit him and then went to the officer and told him that he found the thief and he had beaten him up. That day was the birth of the...
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