In the early and mid-20th century, little Black boys were systematically excluded from white-dominated sports institutions, barred from participation in boxing clubs, baseball leagues, and other organized athletics due to Jim Crow segregation and racist gatekeeping. Despite this exclusion, they found alternative spaces of training and self-definition, often in neighborhood gyms, community centers, or informal street matches. It was within these margins that revolutionary figures like Muhammad Ali became cultural beacons. Ali’s unapologetic Black pride, his refusal to fight in Vietnam, and his mastery of boxing embodied both athletic greatness and political defiance. For young Black boys who had been told they did not belong, Ali represented proof that sport could be a stage for resistance as well as excellence—a place where the body itself became a weapon against invisibility and oppression. His influence extended far beyond the ring, inspiring generations of Black youth to see themselves not only as athletes but also as agents of social change.