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DNA Evidence Links Muhammad Ali To Heroic Slave, Family Says

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When Cassius Clay joined Islam in 1964 and changed his name to Muhammad Ali he had a straightforward explanation. “Why should I keep my white slavemaster’s name visible and my black ancestors’ invisible, unknown, unhonoured?” Ali asked.

Then, it was more of an abstract concept, a statement against white oppression; Ali did not know much, if anything, about his ancestors or his own family tree.

Decades later, though, Ali’s family has made a discovery that appears to shed new light on the boxer’s lineage – where he came from, and also his place in American history.

Ali, according to his family’s research, is the great-great-great grandson of Archer Alexander, a slave who heroically fought both for his own freedom and against slavery.

Alexander escaped from bondage and surreptitiously fed information to the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was later the model for the slave depicted in the Emancipation Memorial, a statue in Lincoln Park, about east of the US Capitol.

“The beautiful thing about Ali is that he acted all along as if he were royalty, that he had a claim to greatness,” said Jonathan Eig, the author of Ali: A Life.

“Ali spent much of his life attacking racist ideas,” Eig said. “If he had known that his great-great-great grandfather was such a brave and intelligent man, it surely would have strengthened his argument.”

After being alerted to the family’s discovery in recent weeks, Eig investigated the claim and then included it in the paperback edition of the biography, which comes out this week.

“To the best of my ability to confirm this, it checks out,” he said.

Ali’s daughter, Maryum, said that her father would have been proud to call Alexander family. “He would have loved knowing he was connected to someone like that,” she said. “He was ahead of people in understanding that there was a connection that went back through slavery to the kings and queens in Africa.”

The discovery was made by Ali’s third cousin, Keith Winstead, who is retired from a career in computer manufacturing and is something of an amateur genealogist. Winstead discovered the connection between Ali and Alexander while conducting research on the website 23andMe. The finding is supported by DNA evidence, which, according to Maryum Ali, was collected when Ali and his wife, Lonnie, participated in a study with 23andMe to raise awareness for Parkinson’s disease, from which Ali suffered.

The lineage, according to Winstead, goes like this: Ali’s father, Cassius Clay snr, was the son of Edith Greathouse, who was Alexander’s great-granddaughter.

“I didn’t know who Archer Alexander was when I traced the family tree,” said Winstead, 67. “I Googled him, and I just said, ‘Wow.'”

Ali was born in segregated Louisville in 1942, and his role as a pioneer and activist would become as much a part of his legacy as his boxing career (he passed away in 2016). In the 1960s, he joined the Nation of Islam, an African American political and religious movement led by Elijah Muhammad, who advocated for racial separation, believing White America had stripped African Americans of their family histories. Indeed, descendants of slaves can have a difficult time tracing their ancestry because their forebears had their identities purposely and systematically stripped.

“The fact that Ali didn’t even know of his heroic ancestry lends proof to at least part of the Nation of Islam’s claim,” Eig said. “Had Ali been a white man with a courageous and a celebrated ancestor, his family might have enjoyed wealth, fame, and political power. Instead, his ancestors struggled to survive.”

Amidst the hardship, Alexander led a remarkable life.

He was born into slavery in Virginia in 1813 before he was sold and taken to Missouri. Though Missouri remained neutral during the Civil War, Alexander was owned by a Confederate sympathiser, and in 1863 he learnt that Confederate troops had sawed a train bridge that Union soldiers were planning to cross. He walked 8 kilometres to warn the Union Army, potentially saving hundreds of lives. He also passed along information about hidden arms.

Accused of feeding information to the enemy and with his safety in danger, Alexander ran away, evading slave catchers by climbing out of a tavern window before he reached St Louis. He later arranged for the escape of his wife and children.

“Go for your freedom ef [sic] you dies for it,” Alexander once said.

In St Louis, Alexander found work as a gardener for William Greenleaf Eliot, Washington University’s co-founder and the grandfather of the poet T.S. Eliot. Eliot obtained an order of protection for his employee, though slave catchers came for Alexander again, beating and capturing him before Eliot produced the protective order to secure his release.

Eliot published a biography of Alexander and had his photograph taken and sent to Italy, where it was used by the sculptor Thomas Ball when he constructed the Emancipation Memorial. The statue was dedicated in 1876.

The sculpture depicts a freed slave with Alexander’s likeness kneeling with broken chains at the feet of Abraham Lincoln. The statue was one of the first monuments to be funded by former slaves, but has been criticised more recently for its patriarchal message: a glorious depiction of Lincoln as a saviour and the freed slave crouched below him.

In 1980, The New York Times published a story that traced some of Ali’s heritage on his mother’s side. “I never knew much about my ancestors until now,” Ali said then. “When I’m gone I want my grandchildren and great-grandchildren to give me credit for what I did – and in the same way, I’m happy to know about my ancestors so I can give them credit. ”

Ali added: “Someday I’d like to dig up everything that can be found about all the people I’m descended from.”

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“You’ll only regain sanity when you decide to stop” – Rita Edochie warns women who chase after other women’s husbands

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Nollywood actress Rita Edochie has written a message to women who chase after other women’s husbands.

In a social media post, she noted how God was lenient enough to create every woman uniquely and beautifully.

She pointed out how some women use those features to secure a good man for themselves, while others go after another woman’s husband.

Expressing bewilderment at such behaviour, Rita said these women will only regain sanity when they decide to stop and surrender to God’s ways and teachings.

“Learn morals and forget hate.
God was lenient enough to create every woman uniquely and beautifully.
There’s no woman who doesn’t have an inner chamber both in front and behind.
Every woman has sufficient milk bank too.
The reason some women can’t use those features to secure a good man for themselves but would rather go after another woman’s husband is still unknown to me, I swear.
If you are reading this post of mine and you are currently in this category, ara ga agba gi!!
Serious madness o.
You can only regain your sanity when you decide to stop and surrender to the ways and teachings of God Almighty”.

Rita Edochie on women who take women’s husbands
Amid the suit, Rita addressed women with cheating husbands, saying they don’t have a choice if they accommodate such men. She laughed at the possibility of Judy trying to stop her from talking.

In a social media post, she admonished side chicks to check the quality of a man; people are snatching them from their wives. Taking shots at Judy Austin, she noted how May was travelling across the globe while Judy is holding dearly to her husband, Yul.

The veteran actress had shared a cryptic post about a married man who dumped his side chick. She claimed the married man only used his side chick to pepper his wife and now had dumped her.

Edochie had sent a message to men as she spoke about the importance of a good woman. She described women as the engine of the home, admonishing men not to cause someone’s daughter pain and frustration, because their lives as men can be jeopardised.

In a past post, the in-law to the Edochie’s had stated that 99 per cent of the success of every home is due to right-thinking women, as they are the stamina, providing the foundation upon which families are built. She made it known that women’s influence is profound, shaping the values, morals, and character of their loved ones.

The veteran had sent a message to second wives, calling them witches and greedy. She reminded them that the tears they cause will come back to haunt them, and the same pain they inflict will visit their doorstep.

Yul Edochie’s aunt cautioned married men against treating their wives badly because of a roaming side chick. She told them that when they are old, they will value the women they mistreated. She also admonished the opposite gënder not to trade the love, loyalty, and commitment of their wives for a fleeting affair with a side chick.

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Pope Francis Private Diary To Appear Next Month

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A private diary of personal notes kept by Pope Francis for more than 30 years will be released on November 24 in 94 countries, his publishers announced Monday.

Presented by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, a close collaborator of the Argentine pontiff, the book, entitled “The Spiritual Diary of Pope Francis,” compiles writings which the late Jorge Mario Bergoglio penned between December 20, 1992, and August 18, 2024.

The Vatican hailed a text “of exceptional value and importance” that it said would shine a light on the personality of the first Latin American pontiff, who led the Roman Catholic Church from March 13, 2013, until his death on April 21, 2025.

The 144-page book will be released in five languages and 94 countries from November 24.

It will be published in Italian by Libreria Editrice Vaticana, in Spanish, English and Portuguese by Penguin Random House, and in French from November 25 by Albin Michel.

Albin Michel president Gilles Haeri said the work was “very personal” in nature and followed in the same vein as his autobiography, “Hope,” the first published by a sitting pope, which came out weeks before his death.

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JAMB to hold UTME in Canada from 2027

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The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has announced plans to establish a Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination centre in Ottawa, Canada, where Nigerians in the country and other parts of North America will be able to sit for the examination from 2027.

The board disclosed this in a post on its official social media platforms, following a visit by its Registrar, Prof. Segun Aina, to the Nigerian High Commission in Ottawa.

JAMB said the proposed centre would provide eligible Nigerians in Canada and other parts of North America with easier access to the UTME, particularly those seeking admission into Nigerian tertiary institutions.

“The proposed centre will make it easier for Nigerians in the diaspora to sit for the UTME without travelling to Nigeria solely for the examination,” the board said.

JAMB said the initiative was part of its efforts towards “taking Nigerian tertiary education to the world.”

It said the centre would also “strengthen the connection between Nigerians abroad and the Nigerian education system.”

According to the board, the initiative would create “greater opportunities to showcase Nigerian tertiary education internationally.”

JAMB said the Ottawa centre would bring the UTME closer to Nigerians living in Canada.

“For Nigerians in Canada, the UTME is coming closer to home,” it said.

The board added that it was “working towards establishing a UTME examination centre in Ottawa, Canada, expected to commence operations in 2027.”

It said the centre would provide eligible Nigerians in Canada and across North America with easier access to the examination, particularly those seeking to pursue tertiary education in Nigeria.

JAMB described the proposed centre as “a bigger opportunity to strengthen the connection between Nigerians in the diaspora and Nigerian tertiary education.”

It added that the initiative would provide “more access” and reduce barriers for Nigerians abroad seeking admission into Nigerian tertiary institutions.

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