VH1 Airs "Lords of the Revolution": Ali, Leary, Cheech & Chong, Black Panthers, Warhol

Nick Gillespie | August 10, 2009

This week, VH1 is airing the documentary series "Lords of the Revolution," starting with an episode devoted to Muhammad Ali's cultural impact. From the promo material:

In an era defined by protest and turbulence, perhaps nobody captured the attention of America in the late 1960s more so than Muhammad Ali. As heavyweight champion, Ali electrified the sports world with his sharp tongue and showmanship flare. (His spontaneous rhymes, in fact, are often considered to be the precursor of rap.) But out of the ring, his conversion to Islam and defiant refusal to fight in Vietnam thrust him into the center of a blistering political controversy. And Ali never backed down. He gave voice to black America and helped galvanize the civil rights movement. He fueled the anti-war movement, inspiring young adults to question the government and speak out. He spoke his mind freely, defended his religious beliefs with vigor, and willingly accepted the consequences of his actions, which cost him his title and license to box.

More info on the series, including air times and clips, here.

The series is the brainchild of Martin Torgoff, who spoke on a panel about free expression featuring MP3.com founder Michael Robertson, attorney Allan Gelbard, and Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie at Reason's 40th anniversary. Check that out below (go here for related links, downloadable versions, etc.).

Comments

Abdul|8.10.09 @ 9:47AM|#

so, VH-1 is airing a tribute to Baby-Boomers?

Anything on Animal Planet about animals this week?

creech|8.10.09 @ 9:54AM|#

I never really got what makes Ali so "great."
Yeah, everyone can sympathize with his disease, but the guy was a racist tool, poor sportsman, and seemed to root for the Viet Cong,not just for an end to U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

<strike>strike through</strike|8.10.09 @ 10:03AM|#

Abdul | August 10, 2009, 9:47am | #

so, VH-1 is airing a tribute to Baby-Boomers?

Muhammad Ali, born January 17, 1942
Andy Warhol, born August 6, 1928
Timothy Leary, born October 22, 1920

Hardly baby boomers, Abdul.

DanD|8.10.09 @ 10:17AM|#

Maybe "icons of the baby boomer generation" would be more appropriate.

I still LOL'd

|8.10.09 @ 11:20AM|#

Andy Warhol and Timothy Leary could hardly be called icons of the the baby boomer generation. At best, one might call them baby boomer pop/rock cultural backbenchers.

Warhol and Leary are not even in the same universe as the Louisville Lip.

|8.10.09 @ 11:22AM|#

He was a great boxer, creech. Regardless of his politics, he was phenomenal in the ring.

|8.10.09 @ 11:42AM|#

He was a great boxer, creech. Regardless of his politics, he was phenomenal in the ring.

True, but in this instance he's being celebrated as a cultural icon, not a great boxer. I'm guessing VH-1 will not be doing a special on Rocky Marciano any time soon.

MonkeeHeadinSouth|8.10.09 @ 11:53AM|#

for me the best radical shit was the kind of stuff semi-satirized by Robert Anton Wilson In the Illuminatus!

Anything by Karl Hess
Editor of a washington news paper by the age of 20
Speach writer and long time friend of Barry Goldwater
Alternative energy entrepreneur, tax resister, and mutalist anarch0-capitalist

classic article was the death of politics

http://fare.tunes.org/books/Hess/dop.html

Murray Rothbards late 60's stuff
A new History of the Leviathan

http://www.mises.org/books/newhistoryleviathan.pdf

The stuff that was in the journal left and right

http://mises.org/journals/left-right.asp

MonkeeHeadinSouth|8.10.09 @ 11:56AM|#

Warhol's comment on coca-cola was probably the best explanation of the original egalitarian intentions of capitalism I've read

|8.10.09 @ 12:09PM|#

Maybe they should call this series, "Hey Kids! Let's Worship People Your Parents Cared About!"

The Libertarian Guy|8.10.09 @ 12:11PM|#

Black Panthers? Aren't they the ones who got away with using strongarm thug tactics to intimidate voters last election?

Zeb|8.10.09 @ 12:11PM|#

Creech,
People often make the mistake of thinking that "great" in the context of someone like Ali, or a president or other culturally or politically important figure means that they were a really good person or that they did the right things. I think that this is a bad interpretation of what it means to be a "great" figure. In this context, "great" refers to the size, impact or importance of the person, not their moral character. Ali may have been racist, a bad sport and a jerk, but he is still great in this sense.

Meta4|8.10.09 @ 12:50PM|#

"Black Panthers? Aren't they the ones who got away with using strongarm thug tactics to intimidate voters last election?"

No, that's The New Black Panther Party.

Not to be confused with the folks who run Your Black Muslim Bakery in Oakland.

Meta4|8.10.09 @ 12:51PM|#

Ali said that he wasn't going to go half way around the world to shoot at a bunch yellow men who never called him N*gger. What's not to love?

Meta4|8.10.09 @ 12:52PM|#

" Ali may have been racist, a bad sport and a jerk, but he is still great in this sense."

WTF???

How old are you?

<strike>strike through</strike|8.10.09 @ 12:54PM|#

mitch | August 10, 2009, 12:09pm | #

Maybe they should call this series, "Hey Kids! Let's Worship People Your Parents Cared About!"

Right, because if it didn't happen during your own narcissistic lifetime, it doesn't matter.

|8.10.09 @ 1:00PM|#

I believe Ali's words were, "ain't no Viet Cong ever called me no nigger."

Meta4|8.10.09 @ 1:06PM|#

"I believe Ali's words were, "ain't no Viet Cong ever called me no nigger.""

That sounds right.

|8.10.09 @ 6:25PM|#

"Black Panthers? Aren't they the ones who got away with using strongarm thug tactics to intimidate voters last election?"

Don't you mean the republican party? Oh wait they do that every election.

The Libertarian Guy|8.10.09 @ 7:11PM|#

"Don't you mean the republican party? Oh wait they do that every election."

They suck, too. No question.

So do Democrats.

The Libertarian Guy|8.10.09 @ 7:16PM|#

"Not to be confused with the folks who run Your Black Muslim Bakery in Oakland."

I don't think they were the same Black Muslims that got away with intimidating voters last election.

Suck is suck, though, no matter which group/party sends in goons to act like gatekeepers of the vote.

What kinda goodies does this bakery produce? Would it be worth suffering through a trip to Oakland? (KC Chiefs fan, had to dig at 'em.)

RFWoodstock|8.11.09 @ 10:48AM|#

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|8.12.09 @ 8:17PM|#

These people were only "collaborators" with the power elite of Jewish descent that took over white, Christian America with intent to destroy.