Elijah ingrained his teachings in the minds of his children, especially my grandfather Jabir, the chief business manager for the Nation of Islam and Elijah's adviser. Jabir, who was my father's father, disapproved of my parents marriage because my mother was a Christian and several years older than him. As a result, he disinherited my father. This was significant for the welfare of our family because Jabir was a very wealthy man. Beyond the high positions he held within the Nation of Islam, he enjoyed financial success from being the longtime personal manager of boxer Muhammad Ali, eventually earning him a position in the hall of fame.
Ali became the world-heavyweight champion in 1964 when he defeated Sonny Liston. Jabir managed his boxing career from 1966 until 1981 and continued to manage him for ten more years after Ali retired from fighting. Ali had been drawn into the Nation of Islam by activist Malcolm X, a member of the Nation and my great-grandfather chief disciple. Jabir told Thomas Hauser in his 1991 oral history, Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times, that he had undertaken the managerial role for the fighter at great-grandfather's request, to ensure that no one took advantage of Ali. For twenty-six years, I've been teaching Ali about the religion, my grandfather told Hauser. My father put that job on me and asked me to show him the way.
Ali was very good to my family. He even allowed my parents to live in his home in Chicago during a time when they were trying to scrape up enough money to rent a house. He was always so nice to me and my siblings. It was only for a short period of time before my great-grandfather decided to give my parents money so they could buy a home. Mom found a home not far from where Muhammad Ali was living, and they bought it. This was the beginning of the storms that would come and break my foundation into pieces.
