Current:Home > MySculpture commemorating historic 1967 Cleveland summit with Ali, Jim Brown, other athletes unveiled -RiskWatch
Sculpture commemorating historic 1967 Cleveland summit with Ali, Jim Brown, other athletes unveiled
View
Date:2025-04-17 04:10:10
CLEVELAND (AP) — Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell looked reverently at the elderly man sitting in the front row clutching his cane and was star struck.
To Mitchell and others, John Wooten is a giant.
“That’s a man who didn’t know if he would be able to see his dream come true,” Mitchell said. “To be a part of the vision he dreamed for. This is truly special.”
On Wednesday, Mitchell helped unveil a public sculpture honoring the Ali Summit, the famous 1967 gathering in Cleveland of some of the nation’s top Black athletes, including Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, Bill Russell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — a meeting viewed as a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement.
The carbon steel art piece depicts the press conference table that Ali, Brown and others sat at following their meeting 56 years ago, a moment captured in an iconic photograph.
Wooten, now 86, took part in the initial summit and Wednesday was the first time the former NFL player and social activist had been back to the site, a revelation that drew gasps from some in the audience attending a news conference.
“Cleveland is a special place,” Wooten said. “It was a special place then and it is now.”
The sculpture, which sits on the same coordinates where the original summit took place, includes 12 microphones representing the participants at the summit — 11 athletes and Carl Stokes, then a state representative who could become Cleveland’s mayor, the first Black to lead a major U.S. city.
In addition to the unveiling, Cleveland’s three professional teams — the Cavaliers, Guardians and Browns, who formed an alliance a few years ago to promote lasting social change in Northeast Ohio — announced they will host an annual summit.
Kevin Clayton, the Cavs’ vice president of social impact and equity, noted the city’s rich and varied history in breaking barriers. From Cleveland’s own Jesse Owens winning four Olympic golds in 1936 at Berlin to Larry Doby following Jackie Robinson’s lead and becoming the American League’s first Black player and more.
“We don’t have to make up history in Cleveland,” Clayton said. “We are history.”
Following the ceremony, Wooten and Jim Brown’s wife, Monique, posed for photos behind the large sculpture. Brown, considered one of the greatest running backs in NFL history, died in May at the age of 87.
“Jim would be so proud,” she said.
Mitchell said he was aware of the Ali Summit and its history. However, seeing and hearing Wooten helped crystallize its meaning.
Wooten explained that in 1967, Brown, his close friend and Browns teammate, summoned other leading Black athletes to Cleveland to meet with Ali, who was protesting military enlistment as a conscientious objector due to his Islamic faith.
“I knew the importance of it,” Mitchell said. “I knew about Muhammad Ali because I went to Louisville, and obviously I knew of Jim Brown. I learned more about Mr. Wooten, and I was just shocked that he was here.
“This is special, especially for a person of color like myself to be around Black excellence. A big reason why we’re even here playing sports is because of what happened here in Cleveland. It’s an honor for me to be a part of it.”
Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff felt the same pride in being able to share the moment with Wooten.
“If there was no you,” he said. “There would be no us.”
___
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
veryGood! (1539)
Related
- Juan Soto praise of Mets' future a tough sight for Yankees, but World Series goal remains
- No. 1 Georgia deserves the glory after the Bulldogs smash No. 10 Mississippi
- Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas arrested, expected to play vs. Vikings
- 'The Marvels' is No. 1 but tanks at the box office with $47M, marking a new MCU low
- At site of suspected mass killings, Syrians recall horrors, hope for answers
- Chrissy Teigen Laughs Off Wardrobe Malfunction at Star-Studded Baby2Baby Gala 2023
- Taylor Swift Gives Travis Kelce a Shoutout By Changing the Lyrics of Karma During Argentina Show
- Longtime Democrat from New York, Brian Higgins, to leave Congress next year
- Louvre will undergo expansion and restoration project, Macron says
- The Pentagon identifies the 5 US troops killed in a military helicopter crash over the Mediterranean
Ranking
- The Super Bowl could end in a 'three
- Heinz says ketchup can be a good energy source for runners. What do experts say?
- Pope Francis removes critic and firebrand Texas Bishop Joseph Strickland from diocese
- Vowing to “do it for the city,” Lewiston soccer team wins state title weeks after mass shooting
- Romantasy reigns on spicy BookTok: Recommendations from the internet’s favorite genre
- Pakistan opens 3 new border crossings to deport Afghans in ongoing crackdown on migrants
- Texas police officer killed in a shooting that left another officer wounded
- Donald Trump Jr. returning to stand as defense looks to undercut New York civil fraud claims
Recommendation
Retirement planning: 3 crucial moves everyone should make before 2025
Fantasy football waiver wire Week 11 adds: 5 players you need to consider picking up now
Caitlin Clark becomes Iowa's all-time leader scorer as Hawkeyes defeat Northern Iowa, 94-53
The 2024 Tesla Model 3 isn't perfect, but fixes nearly everything we used to hate
Arkansas State Police probe death of woman found after officer
Pope forcibly removes a leading US conservative, Texas bishop Strickland
Father of Liverpool star Luis Díaz released 12 days after being kidnapped in Colombia
Constitutional challenge to Georgia voting machines set for trial early next year