NFL
By: Zachary Draves
On June 4, 1967, four of the most consequential figures in sports history converged in Cleveland, Ohio, and broke new ground. They united in a common purpose. Each committed toward that noble pursuit of justice.
On that bright sunny day, Bill Russell, Jim Brown, and Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul Jabbar) came together to support Muhammad Ali. That year, he lost the heavyweight title due to his refusal to join the US Armed Forces during the Vietnam War. At the time, Ali was a pariah whose life was hanging in the balance because he was facing up to five years in federal prison. Due to his courageous stand, he had fallen on hard times financially. His boxing license and passport had been taken, thus hurting his ability to make a living.
Ali was three years into his reign as the heavyweight champion and an anomaly for his revolutionary presence. He had converted to Islam and changed his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali, stoking profound confusion in some parts of America. He expressed an unapologetic blackness that made some uncomfortable. His allegiance to Malcolm X and later the Honorable Elijah Muhammad helped raise his consciousness when it was the right time to do so given the viciousness of American racism.
Three years later, he finds himself in Cleveland. Only to find out his cause has the backing of not only three of the most prominent black athletes, but from those who had modeled the template he had established.
Bill Russell led the Boston Celtics dynasty as they won nine NBA titles from 1957-to 1967. He had also become a venerable presence in the civil rights movement. Russell participated in the 1963 March on Washington and listened to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak of his dream. That same year, he conducted basketball camps in Mississippi after the murder of Medger Evers in hopes of improving race relations. He purchased a piece of land in the African nation of Liberia, which had been founded by freed slaves. Russell advocated for the first black referee and refused to play in a game after being denied service at a restaurant.
Jim Brown had become the best running back in NFL history before calling it quits at age 30 to pursue an acting career. During his time with the Cleveland Browns, he used his platform to speak on the issue of black economic empowerment. As a result, he created the Black Economic Union with the goal of black communities controlling their economic destiny.
Lew Alcindor was the best college basketball player in the country. He led UCLA to their third NCAA title in four years in what would eventually become a run of dominance in college sports. During that time, he had undergone a transformation much like Ali. He’d become acquainted with the religion of Islam after reading the Autobiography of Malcolm X. He also committed himself to boycotting the following year’s Mexico City Olympics as part of the Olympic Project for Human Rights.
These men were chartering a new course of athlete activism that was a far cry from Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, and Joe Louis. Those barrier breakers were struggling for access to sport. Ali, Russell, Brown, and Alcindor advocated for dignity and respect.
At the headquarters of Brown’s Negro Economic Union, these men stood tall and stood firm in their support of Ali. They also had the backing of some prominent civil rights activists in Cleveland such as Carl Stokes, who would become the city’s first black mayor.
“Cleveland, in my opinion, was the birthmark of where sports and social justice were born,” said Kevin Clayton, VP of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“The summit was the first time that not only athletes but black athletes took control of their own destiny.”
It was a significant turning point for the role of the athlete in society.
Today, athletes rally around each other for the greater good on issues ranging from police reform to gun violence. The difference is that social media has become the loudest megaphone to reach the masses and mobilize action in unprecedented ways.
Clayton highlighted that all the major pro teams in Cleveland had allied in the pursuit of social justice after the murder of George Floyd. They have been engaged in regular conversations and developing platforms tackling everything from voting rights to educational inequality. He foresees that as a basis for recreating the summit in the years to come.
“Our plan moving forward is we want to plan in Cleveland an annual discussion on racial justice, social justice, and economic justice every June,” he said. “It will be a coming together of what is the issue right now in sports and society and how we leverage our collective brands to make a difference.”
Just as it was with Ali, Brown, Sam Cooke, and Malcolm X on One Night in Miami in 1964, One Day in Cleveland in ‘67 would change the course of American history. This time it was for all the world to see.
And what they saw was game recognize game.
