Yesterday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Today, in 1942, Muhammad Ali was born. To commemorate his heroic life and in anticipation of Black History Month, the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center in Chicago will premiere the documentary Ali’s Comeback, The Untold Story.
As the film’s director, Art Jones, wrote in an email: “It is 1970. For his unwavering stance against the war in Vietnam, Muhammad Ali has been stripped of his title, convicted of draft evasion, given a $10,000 fine and five years imprisonment. His passport has been revoked and he is banned from fighting in all 50 states. But in Atlanta, GA, several intrepid souls came together to make the impossible possible. Ali’s Comeback is a stirring account detailing how this came to be.”
Jones’ deft filmmaking chronicles the historic bout with Gerry Quarry that broke boxing’s blacklist of the champ, who vehemently refused to succumb to racism and ultimately strapped the gloves back on—ironically and emotionally—in the Deep South.
The trailer speaks for itself. The feature is available here.
