Friday in Houston was the champion's moment of truth. He showed up at the induction

center but refused to step forward, bringing on the thread of prison and his shadow.

I'm not going to help nobody, get something my niggas don't have, I'm going to die, then

I'll write you fight you. If I'm going to die, you my enemy, my name is a white people,

not be a clown, not a channel, it's a Japanese, you my pose and when I'm going to freedom,

you my pose and when I won't justice, you my pose and when I'm going to equality, you

won't stand up for me and I'm her, I go for my religious please and you want me to

go somewhere and fight, but you won't stand up for me here at home.

I'm Nick Capodiche. I'm Hannah McCarthy. And this is Civics 101, the podcast fresh course

on the basics of our democracy works. Today we are concluding our series on famous federal

court trials with a trial that involves one of the most famous individuals in modern history,

some say one of the greatest. I told you all that I was the greatest of all time.

Athletes in the world. The case is USV Caches Clay aka Muhammad Ali.

Okay, we're talking about the trial with heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali refusing

to serve in Vietnam, correct? Right. And this case is not just about one individual's

protest. It's about conscientious objection of the draft, religion, celebrity and most

importantly, the complicated relationship between athletes and politics.

And to take us through it all Hannah, I got two titans of jurisprudence as well as lovers

of the sweet science of bruising. Can I use the salad bowl for this? Yeah. All right,

here we go. And the right corner, Winston Bowman. My name is Winston Bowman. I'm an associate

I'm sorry. I thought that over. My name is Winston Bowman. I'm an associate historian

with the federal judicial center. And in the left, Jeffrey sevens. Yes, Jeffrey T.

...