3rd Quarter Book Report

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3rd Quarter Book Report Erica Carter A) Describe this person’s childhood or history: My name is Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. I was born January 17, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky. I lived during segregation when blacks and whites were separate. As a kid I didn’t understand segregation. I would sometimes cry in my room because I hated being treated as un-equal. I was very shy as a child. I wasn’t a bully like most fighters; very combative and aggressive. I was a good kid with sensitivity to the injustice of segregation. My father Cassius Clay Sr, worked as a sign painter. He was proud of his work. He painted murals in many of the black churches. My mother Odessa nicknamed “Bird”, did domestic work since she was a teenager. My parents lived pretty well on Grand Avenue. But, of course how well they did was limited by segregation because blacks couldn’t work everywhere. B) Explain a major challenge or problem this person faced: One major challenge that I had was segregation and racism. Growing up back then black people had to know their place and stay in it. Even though slavery was abolished, we still weren’t completely free. Blacks weren’t treated as equals. This was very difficult because I never felt safe. And I disliked being hated. I was very shy and anti-social so I didn’t have a lot of friends. I was also very skinny and frail so when I started boxing, I lost a lot of fights. To boost my confidence I bragged a lot. I wasn’t a particularly hard puncher or very skilled yet but my opponents didn’t have to know that! Whenever I had a fight, I would talk smack and tell my opponent that I was going to knock them out! This was a great way to intimidate the other boxer. C) What motivated or inspired this person and why? In 1954 when I was 12 years old, someone stole my Schwin bike. I was so angry because I loved that bike and my
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