Redemption Song: Muhammad Ali and the Spirit of the Sixties [Hardcover]

Mike Marqusee (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1999

This narrative explores the origins and impact of Muhammed Ali's dramatic public stands on race and the draft. It traces his interaction with the evolving black liberation and anti-war movements and encounters with leading figures. This book offers a historical essay that re-examines Muhammed Ali's role as a symbol of dessent and uses the man as a portal to an understanding of an era. The author explains how Ali's penchant for turning events upside down often made him a symbol of heroism abroad and of disrespect for the status quo at home.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Ali has been a player on the world stage for so long, it's hard to remember that before his metamorphosis into a cultural icon holding the Olympic flame aloft he was a cultural lightening rod. Hero to some, traitor to others, he managed to land powerful punches both in and out of the ring. What changed him from athlete to personality to a heavyweight of global reach? "At the core of the Ali story," Mike Marqusee reminds us, "is a young man who made daunting choices and stuck to them in the face of ghastly threats and glittering inducements." Redemption Song explores those choices in the context of the turbulent times in which they were made.

Ali and the '60s were a naturally synergistic fit. It was a time of great change, and Ali, the seeker, had remarkable access to the fomenters of that change. They, in turn, had a prime influence on his symbolic rebirth and reemergence. As Redemption Song recounts, the night the young Cassius Clay upset Sonny Liston for the title in 1964, he skipped the traditional post-fight party and headed straight for Miami's black ghetto where he met with Black Muslim leader Malcolm X, singer Sam Cooke, and the running back Jim Brown, an early advocate of black rights in sports. The next morning, announcing to the white world that "I'm free to be what I want" and "I don't have to be what you want me to be," he confirmed rumors about his conversion to Islam. Clay was dead; long live Ali.

The conversion to Islam was only one of Ali's "daunting choices." As Marqusee moves through the decade, he carefully traces Ali's choices to confront the establishment and stand as a symbol of civil rights and the anti-war effort; his relationships with Malcolm X, Joe Louis, Jackie Robinson, and Martin Luther King; and the importance of his travels to Africa. There's plenty of boxing too--Liston, Floyd Patterson, Joe Frazier, George Foreman; the ring, after all, was his arena. Marqusee, though, is more interested in how Ali expanded that arena to take in the kinds of fights that go beyond the ropes. It's a tall order, but Redemption Song fulfills it with solid reporting and worthy analysis. --Jeff Silverman

From Publishers Weekly

While David Remnick's King of the World focused on the character of Muhammad Ali, using historical context to buttress his portrait of the man, Marqusee has written a vibrant historical essay that reexamines Ali's role as a symbol of dissent and uses the man as a portal to an understanding of his era. In February 1964, the day after he shocked boxing experts by dethroning the much-feared Sonny Liston as heavyweight champion of the world, Cassius Clay had breakfast with Malcolm X and announced that he had joined the Nation of Islam. "I know where I'm going and I know the truth," he said, "and I don't have to be what you want me to be." From that moment, the young man who would soon become Muhammad Ali, who had a natural aversion to politics and a supremely independent spirit, was thrust into the center of events in an era of dramatic social change. Marqusee, who emigrated from America to Britain in 1971, argues that the true political context of Ali's actions and their international implications have been diluted in recent years as the defiant ethos of the 1960s has faded and as Ali has been appropriated as a corporate and even patriotic icon. Drawing upon the music of the dayADylan, Hendrix, Sam CookeAand ranging from Paul Robeson to Patrice Lumumba, Marqusee engagingly explains how Ali's penchant for turning events upside down often made him a symbol of heroism abroad and of disrespect for the status quo at home. As Marqusee charts how Ali helped create a global consciousness, he succeeds in knocking Ali off the respectable pedestal on which American culture has placed him, resurrecting him as the radical figure he truly was. (Aug.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Verso Books; illustrated edition edition (June 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 185984717X
• ISBN-13: 978-1859847176
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #856,228 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #41 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( A ) > Ali, Muhammad

More About the Author

Mike Marqusee was born in New York City in 1953, emigrated to Britain in 1971 and has now lived in London for more than 35 years.

Among his eight published books are the prize-winning 'Anyone But England: an outsider looks at English cricket' (first published in 1994, revised and expanded 2005), 'War Minus the Shooting: a Journey through South Asia during cricket's World Cup'(1996), 'Redemption Song: Muhammad Ali and the Spirit of the Sixties' (1999), 'Wicked Messenger: Bob Dylan and the 1960s' (first published 2003, revised and expanded 2005), 'If I Am Not for Myself: Journey of an Anti-Zionist Jew' (2008) and 'Saved by a Wandering Mind: Poems' (2009).

In addition to his writing, Mike has been active for several decades in numerous campaigns for social justice. In the early 80s he was a youth worker and trade union activist. For twenty years he was an active member of the Labour Party, and a long-time editor of and contributor to Labour Briefing. In 1995, he helped set up Hit Racism for Six, the campaign against racism in cricket. After leaving the Labour party in 2000, he helped establish both the Stop the War Coalition and Iraq Occupation Focus. On February 15, 2003, he was a speaker at the the half million strong anti-war demonstration in New York City. He is currently a member of the NUJ, and lives in Hackney with his partner Liz Davies.

As well as his books, Mike has published articles on a wide variety of topics in (among others): The Guardian, The Independent, the Daily Telegraph, The Observer, London Review of Books, Index on Censorship, BBC History Magazine, New Left Review, Red Pepper (in UK), The Nation, Colorlines (in USA), The Hindu, India Today, Hindustan Times, Indian Express, Frontline, Outlook (in India).

Mike has also published longer articles and essays in a number of book-length collections and anthologies, including: 'Nothing Sacred: the New Cricket Culture' (Two Heads, 1996), 'Race, Sport and British Society'(Routledge, 2001), 'The New Ball' (Mainstream, 2000-2002), 'Beyond September 11th: An Anthology of Dissent' (Pluto, 2002), 'Following On: Post-Colonial Cricket' (Routledge, 2005), 'Selling US Wars' (Olive Branch Press, 2007) and 'A Time To Speak Out' (Verso, 2008). A chapter of his work is anthologised in 'The Picador Book of Cricket' (2005), and there is a lengthy interview with Mike in 'Muhammad Ali: Through the Eyes of the World' (2003). An essay on US sport in a global context has been reproduced in a widely used Prentice Hall textbook / reader entitled 'Common Culture' (6th Edition) edited by Michael Petracca.

Mike currently writes Level Playing Field, a column on politics and culture for The Hindu Sunday magazine, one of India's largest circulation English language publications, and Contending for the Living for Red Pepper.

In 2004, he wrote and presented an hour-long BBC Radio documentary on the history of Pacifica, America's alternative radio network.

In 2005, Mike Marqusee was named an Honorary Faculty Fellow by the University of Brighton in recognition of his "contribution to the development of a critically-based form of journalistic scholarship in the social, cultural and political nature of contemporary global sport."

Mike's articles on a wide variety of topics can be found at www.mikemarqusee.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Viewing racial politics through Ali's journey, February 12, 2001

By 

Christopher Conway (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Redemption Song: Muhammad Ali and the Spirit of the Sixties (Paperback)

This book isn't so much about Ali as about Black radical politics of the 60's and 70's and the way Ali's public life reflected them. An excellent, thoughtful book that reads more like a monograph than a work of popular non-fiction (cf. David Remnick's "King of the World", a more accessible book with a different focus and scope). If you are interested in the Nation of Islam, the Black Panthers, the Black Power movement and the ways boxing historically has reflected the racial realities of its time, you will find this book engrossing and informative. If you are looking for a conventional "boxing book" (whatever that is), you will be disappointed.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ALI THE MAN VS ALI THE MYTH, November 23, 1999

By 

Lujira J. Cooper (new york, ny) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Redemption Song: Muhammad Ali and the Spirit of the Sixties (Hardcover)

It is an enthralling historical look at Muhammad Ali. It's not the usual biographical fare but a hearty feast of Ali in relationship to This book reveals much about racism in boxing and in general society. Ali's refusal to fight was not what scared the establishment but his being his own man and his choice of spiritual beliefs. Even if you're not a boxing fan this is a book you must read. If you read nothing else make sure it's Redemption Song. It is a true commentary on race relations in the US. Before Ali, no boxer since Jack Johnson had so terrified society. Johnson had been considered a brute and it was his perceived animalistic nature that scared people. Ali, on the other hand was more refined and this created and even greater fear. His smoothness, so-called glibness and the ability to promote himself so well was terrifying. Here was a man who rather than being the humble servant of the boxing world declared, "I am the greatest." This declaration of independence scared the hell out of white america. Here was a man who was not going to conform to the mold layed out for Black athletes. Redemption Song shows not only boxing's hypocrisy but all of America's. Ali defined himself rather than allow others to do so. He was his own person and because he didn't fit into society's idea of a Black American athlete -being grateful for crumbs- he scared many. Not since Joe Louis had one "negro" fighter had been on the minds of white america. Whereas, Louis permitted society to give him the burden to carry his race upon his shoulders, Ali had it thrust upon him. Louis wouldn't even eat watermelon, something he really loved, in public because of stereotyping. Joe Louis emergence in the thirties had his handlers so concerned that he "...was given lessons in table manners and elocution...told to go for the knockout rather than risk the whims of racist judges;...never to smile when he beat a white man and, above all, never to be caught alone with a white woman." Ali like Johnson before him decided to define himself. His brashness made the establishment feel he was uncontrollable. For him it was just a "way of breaking out of the racist stranglehold." Now the venerated symbol of dignity and personal determination, Ali was not viewed that way in the past. When he announced he'd joined the Nation of Islam America turned on him black and white. He became, in that instant, the most hated man in the United States. It seems because he espoused the idea of racial separation (which white america wanted) he became more dangerous. Although this is a book about Ali and boxing, it is much more. It is a story of representation (sports as a metaphor for war). It is a history of racism in the United States. Why must one man (if non-white) be responsible for the fate of his people. Examples of this type of representation abound in this book (Joe Lous, Jackie Robinson and Muhammad Ali). Redemption Song paints a picture of how thirty years can make such a difference in one man's life and the life of the country. Over the years athletes in general and black athletes in particular have been used as representations. Either they must represent their race or the nation. Never are they allowed to be human beings with all the feelings, emotions, faults and good they have. It is a look at how not only does white america like to stereotype people but how black america at times buys into this notion. Ali defied society and paid dearly for it. Years of income were lost because he wouldn't renounce Islam. Whether one agrees or disagrees with someone's beliefs is not the issue but should one be deprived of a means to make a living because of what they believe. The opening paragraph explains it all. "A strange fate befell Muhammad Ali.... The man who had defied the establishment was taken into its bosom." Suddenly a man who not too many years before had been reviled now found himself as an icon. Redemption Song is a truly stirring and thought provoking look at man's constant attempt to rewrite history. Reading it makes one stop and think of the distrastrous results of racial prejudice. Marqusee looks at many historical acts and shows the pattern of hatred the United States has heaped on people of color. He makes you realize the My Lai massacre is very much like Wounded Knee. Although this book emphasizes the racist nature of Americn society, it also looks at how individuals in specific groups are used against each other. Were black sports figures and leaders against Ali because they really disagreed with his choice to join the Nation of Islam or because they thought it would get them in good with white america? I don't know and of course one may never know but it is something to think about. A notable quote regarding Ali comes from basketball great Bill Russell. "Philosophically, Ali was a free man. "...he was free at a time when historically it was very difficult to be free..." Redemption Song will make you think. That's the highest tribute one can give any author. To Mike Marqusee I say thank you. To all who want a great historical read I say pick up Redemption Song and give your mind a workout.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than the Movie, January 1, 2002

By 

Bakari Chavanu - See all my reviews

This review is from: Redemption Song: Muhammad Ali and the Spirit of the Sixties (Paperback)

I'm not a boxing fan, but after seeing the recent "Ali" movie, I was inspired to take Mike Marqusee's "Redemption Song" off my bookshelf and read it. I got the book because I heard Marqusee last year in a radio interview about Ali and the Black Power movement of the sixties and I was very interested in the culture and politics that both shaped Ali and was influenced by him.

I found "Redemption Song" a powerful and well written book that gives so much more depth than the new movie. The depth of Marqusee's research and analysis made me realize that the Ali movie would have needed to be a trilogy in order to do justice the champ's life. Ali's defiance of racist draft policies could have been an entire movie in and of itself. While "Ali" movie focuses on Ali's defiance, Marqusee's book provides the context for Ali's anti-war stance. His description and analysis makes the movie's focus a mere footnote to this part of Ali's history. When Ali argued, "Man, I ain't got not quarrel with them Vietcong," he was taking a religious and political stance on a personal, cultural/racial, and class level. He was not only echoing the developing anti-war movement, but giving voice to it, even though he never sought to be a leader within the movement. He was in sync with civil rights activists like John Lewis who complained, "I don't see how President Johnson can send troops to Vietnam...to the Congo...to Africa and can't send troops to Selma, Alabama," [where the civil rights of Black people were systemically and violently denied civil rights on a daily basis.] He was in line with Martin L. King who boldly declared and preached that the war "morally and politically unjust." His refusal to participate in the bombing of thousands of innocent children and women in Vietnam and Cambodia was a part of many anti-war demonstrations in which Stokely Carmicheal described Selective Services as "white people sending black people to make war on yellow people in order to defend land they stole from red people."

Marqusee reminds us most in his book that boxing in this country was linked to issues of race and power representation. Thus, Black boxers and other sports figures like Jackie Robinson were measured, promoted, and criticized by how patriotic they were to the White power structure in this country. They were expected to be like Joe Louis who stood "as a role model--for white America, for the black middle class and for much of the left--by enlisting for military service in World War II," or an anti-communist like Robinson. But Ali becomes a bug in the system. Guided by Black nationalist ideology of the Nation of Islam and Malcolm X specifically, Ali rewrote the script for how Black sports figures were to behave. He proclaimed, "I'm free to be what I want." But as Marqusee points and shows, "he did not invent himself out nothing. In his search for personal freedom he was propelled and guided by a wide array of interacting social forces." This search and influence is the heart of Marqussee's book.

I would imagine there's much that Marqusee leaves out his book. And at times he seems too apologetic about Ali's break with Malcolm X, his relationship with the conservative tide of the Nation of Islam, and the inherent contradictions between his religious convictions and his views about marriage. Marqusee could have also provided specific references for his research. His bibliography is simply not enough.

Despite these criticism, "Redemption Song" is a much needed work to offset efforts to depoliticize Ali's past. Read it before or after you see the movie.