Before Muhammed Ali existed he was Cassius Clay Jr. A regular kid from around the block who live in the West End Louisville Kentucky. He had childhood friends, went to church, and went to the local colored school in the neighborhood.
1.Segregation
He was born in 1942 under Jim Crowe laws and segregation. He lived on Grand Street. My father and Uncle, who were very close friends with Cassius lived on Fordson Way. They all attended Virginia Avenue school for coloreds located at 3628 Virginia Avenue. The school was half a mile from Cassius house and the half way point between my father’s house and his. The red dot is my grandparents house. Cassius house is marked in green. The arrow is where the school is located.
2. Family friend ties.
My great grandfather Joseph Yancey was born in Louisville in 1873. He grew up with Herman Clay who was born in 1877. This was still fresh after slavery and black people bonded together and went to the same church and often worked the same jobs.
My grandfather Robert Yancey was born in 1919. Cassius Clay (Sr) was born in 1912. In those days the women watched the children while the man went to work. My grandfather and Cassius Clay (Sr) grew up together and were close friends until their deaths. My grandfather died in 1987. Mr. Clay died in 1990.
3. What Cassius was like as a child.
I asked my father and uncle if he went around beating folks up. My father said no. My uncle said yes. My uncle Orlando Yancey was born in 1939. My father Ronald Yancey was born in 1944. Cassius was born in 1942. The other ride or die kids that played with him was his brother Rudolf and our cousin Rudy.
My Uncle has since passed away but told me stories of how he and Cassius got along.
My Uncle’s Version
Cassius was fun to be around. He always jokes. He liked to play and laugh. He also liked to challenge my uncle. Cassius would stand on the steps of Virginia Avenue colored school and wait for my uncle and father to walk up. He would put up his fists and look at my uncle. My uncle would walk up to him and dare him to hit him. Cassius hit him. My uncle hit him back and they would wrestle and roll around on the ground in front of the school until the teacher broke them up.
It didn’t stop there. During class Cassius and my uncle would start it up between subjects. The teacher had enough of the horse play and called my grandmother and Cassius mother Mrs. Clay. She said they “was fight picking” and “horsing around”. My grandmother was furious. Not because my uncle was cutting up, but because this interrupted her soap operas. She went to the school with Mrs. Clay. They pulled the boys out of class and smacked them in the head. My grandmother told them they were “never going to amount to anything”.
Later my grandmother admitted that Cassius Clay amounted to something after all. Then she looked at my uncle. He continued whatever he was doing and ignored her.
This horseplay and fighting around continued until high school. My uncle said at one point Cassius resorted to bothering my father just to get my uncle started with the wrestling in the hall way. Cassius would slap books out of my father’s hands or snatch my father’s glasses off. Then my uncle would punch Cassius. Then they would start the wrestling.
After Cassius Clay became Muhammed Ali he would call my uncle every now and then. He told my uncle he was on his way back to Louisville to knock him out. My uncle said he had a solution, “How about I just don’t answer the door. I wave to you through the window.” My uncle used to live down by Shawnee Park. The playful taunting continued for years until somewhere along the way Cassius Clay no longer called. They would still see him from time to time and wave. Cassius was always glad to see my father and uncle. There were those surrounding him that changed the dynamic between Cassius and his childhood friends. My uncle watched Cassius funeral on TV in 2016. Then my uncle passed away in April of 2017. He missed his childhood friend.
My Father’s Version of Cassius as a child.
This is what he scanned in for me. He text me other information.
This is the other information he text:
“Muhammed Ali went to Virginia Ave school and also went to Virginia Ave Baptist Church. I been to his house on grand ave. went to central high school together. we were good friends always. he trained very hard as a boxer. all the teachers liked him. his father painted the outside of my bar on 24th street. he bought his father a house and car and he got mad”
The car he is referring to was supposedly a pink Cadillac. The problem with the car was 4 flat tires.
The house he is referring to had no LG&E (Louisville Gas and Electric) and had to running water (Louisville Water Company).
Next Text
“When I was about 10 years old me and my friend were coming home from Virginia Ave school and Muhammed Ali for some reason pushed me down on the ground and my brother came up and pushed him down. it was funny. We were all friends after that. Our fathers and mother visited each other’s homes all the time. By the way Ali’s father painted the front of my bar. Yancey’s Lounge.”
One thing my father wants the world to know is that Cassius Clay Sr not only painted the front of his bar but was a regular faithful customer and friend until the day he died.
Central High School
Central High School was the segregated colored high school. Cassius and his ride or die partners, Ronnie, Landa, Rudy and himself all went to Central High. My father was on the basketball team. They all supported each other in whatever they did. The crew would sit silent until my father got up to play. Then Cassius, his brother Rudy and my uncle would get up and make all the noise they could for my father until he got off the court. Then they sat back down totally silent.
Cassius used to invite my uncle and father to all of his initial fights. Then one day new security stepped in and stopped Cassius from inviting them. His brother Rudy had to bring them in to see Cassius. He was happy to see his childhood friends.
As Muhammed Ali began to travel and become famous my uncle and father didn’t see him as much. Communication between Cassius and my uncle and father came through the brother. Every now and again Rudy would call Cassius and they could talk directly to him. But that was far and few between.
My mother says that the last time they saw Cassius Clay was at his family’s funeral in the late 70’s or early 80’s. She can’t remember who. My grandparents and my parents went to the funeral. He was known as Muhammed Ali at that time. But at the funeral my grandfather spoke to him as Cassius Clay. The little boy who used to come to the house for dinner and play with his sons.
Before Cassius Clay Left This Earth
Cassius Clay had moved back to Louisville before he died. He was no longer able to talk. His brother Rudy called my father and uncle and let Cassius hear their voices. His brother says he smiled.
Cassius Clay Funeral
There was a price to get into the funeral and limited seats. None of Cassius Clay’s childhood friends made the cut. Some came dressed to get in and others really wanted to be there but were turned away. It was angering that those who knew him before he was famous, and those who went to school and church with him as kids were not able to go in and see their childhood friend one last time.
Other people were in there who knew Muhammed Ali the boxer. The concern was that they didn’t know Cassius Clay as the person he was.
While there are plenty of books, movies, plays, and pictures on his Muhammad Ali’s boxing career, people forget that he was once a child too. He had parents, a family, childhood friends and went to school like everybody else.
There are dozens of child hood friends of Cassius Clay who still live in Louisville. They are all 70 years old and older. If you ask them about his childhood and who he was they will tell you. They all say he was fun to be around and very charming.
QuannaJace 