Dear Common Dreams Readers:
$50k
For many people, history class was a lesson in keeping one's eyes open. Or as writer Anthony Arnove puts it: "It was rote recitation of facts, military battles, great people elevated in society... It had nothing to do with me and my experience."
Muhammad Ali
Further
A nod to the great Muhammad Ali, a black man who "just wanted to be free," who never knew his place and refused to be afraid when others tried to put him in it, who repudiated a racist unjust war by proclaiming, "The real enemy of my people is here." The final irony on Ali's political heroism: He was truly embraced as an icon in this country only after he lost his powerful, defiant, fearless voice.
