File #: 16-3698    Version: 1 Name:
Type: Consent Calendar Resolution Status: Approved
File created: 6/6/2016 In control: Board of Commissioners
On agenda: 6/8/2016 Final action: 6/8/2016
Title: PROPOSED RESOLUTION HONORING THE LIFE OF MUHAMMAD ALI WHEREAS, on June 3, 2016, the world lost one of its greatest athletes and champions, Muhammad Ali; and WHEREAS, born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. in Louisville, Kentucky, on January 17, 1942, Muhammad Ali began training at twelve (12) years old. At age eighteen (18) he won a light-heavyweight Olympic gold medal, and at age twenty-two (22) he defeated Sonny Liston to claim the first of three world heavyweight championships; and WHEREAS, shortly after winning his first title Cassius Clay converted to Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali; and WHEREAS, after being drafted into the military in April 1967, Ali refused to serve on the grounds that his religious beliefs prevented him from fighting. He was found guilty of draft evasion and sentenced to serve five years in prison. His conviction was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971; and WHEREAS, during his legal troubles Ali was exiled from boxing, Ali resi...
Sponsors: TONI PRECKWINKLE (President), LUIS ARROYO JR, RICHARD R. BOYKIN, JERRY BUTLER, JOHN P. DALEY, JOHN A. FRITCHEY, BRIDGET GAINER, JESÚS G. GARCÍA, GREGG GOSLIN, STANLEY MOORE, SEAN M. MORRISON, JOAN PATRICIA MURPHY, TIMOTHY O. SCHNEIDER, PETER N. SILVESTRI, DEBORAH SIMS, ROBERT STEELE, LARRY SUFFREDIN, JEFFREY R. TOBOLSKI
title
PROPOSED RESOLUTION

HONORING THE LIFE OF MUHAMMAD ALI


WHEREAS, on June 3, 2016, the world lost one of its greatest athletes and champions, Muhammad Ali; and

WHEREAS, born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. in Louisville, Kentucky, on January 17, 1942, Muhammad Ali began training at twelve (12) years old. At age eighteen (18) he won a light-heavyweight Olympic gold medal, and at age twenty-two (22) he defeated Sonny Liston to claim the first of three world heavyweight championships; and

WHEREAS, shortly after winning his first title Cassius Clay converted to Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali; and

WHEREAS, after being drafted into the military in April 1967, Ali refused to serve on the grounds that his religious beliefs prevented him from fighting. He was found guilty of draft evasion and sentenced to serve five years in prison. His conviction was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971; and

WHEREAS, during his legal troubles Ali was exiled from boxing, Ali resided on the South Side of Chicago on and off for nearly a decade. First, in the South Shore neighborhood and later in the Kenwood neighborhood; and

WHEREAS, after not fighting for nearly four years due to his legal situation, Ali returned to regain the heavyweight champion two more times: First, by defeating George Foreman in the 1974 "Rumble in the Jungle" and again in 1978 by defeating Leon Spinks; and

WHEREAS, after his 1981 retirement, Ali announced that he had Parkinson's disease in 1984. Ali raised funds for the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center, the Special Olympics, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and many others; and

WHEREAS, Muhammad Ali was married four times and was the father of nine children, some of whom continue to reside in Cook County; and

WHEREAS, Muhammad Ali is known and revered throughout the world as a champion of human and civil rights;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the President and the Cook County Board of Commissioners, on behalf of the...

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