An activist group focusing on black youth released its own tribute to legendary boxer and activist Muhammad Ali on Monday featuring young boys reciting one of Ali's most well-known statements.
As the Huffington Post reported, the short video from
Because of Them We Can shows the boys, wearing boxing gloves, repeating the Olympic champion's statement, "I am America. I am the part you won’t recognize. But get used to me -- black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own. Get used to me."
President Barack Obama included the remark in his own statement honoring Ali, who died late Friday night.
"That's the Ali I came to know as I came of age -- not just as skilled a poet on the mic as he was a fighter in the ring, but a man who fought for what was right," the president said. "A man who fought for us. He stood with King and Mandela; stood up when it was hard; spoke out when others wouldn't."
Likewise, Eunique Jones Gibson, who founded Because of Them We Can, cited Obama and his presidency as an inspiration.
"I thought about my two sons and how they were both born during President Barack Obama's election and re-election. How awesome is that?!" Gibson says on the group's website. "From there, I began to think about all of the individuals, past and current, who have and/or continue to blaze new trails and pave the way for the future."
The group's tribute, as posted online, can be seen below.
