[Magdalen] RIP Ali, 74.

[Grace Cangialosi]

According to him, he was given his Muslim name by his"leader"(his term), Elijah Mohammed, at the time of his conversion to Islam. That was in part of the old interview they played on NPR this morning. Clay would undoubtedly have been given to his ancestor by his owner, or taken by his ancestor when he was freed. Freed slaves very often used the last names of their owners, since as slaves they were only given first names. 
I wondered at one time why every single Washington I met was black, and I recently read an article that explained it. (There are also a few white Washington families, but not many.) 

> On Jun 4, 2016, at 12:28 PM, Cantor03--- via Magdalen <magdalen at herberthouse.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> In a message dated 6/4/2016 12:19:54 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
> gracecan at gmail.com writes:
> 
> Well, he  may or may not have been baptized, but he made a point of saying 
> that Cassius  Clay was a slave name, and he wasn't a  slave.>>>>>>>
> 
> He would more logically pick an African name then.
> 
> From reading I've done through the years, I get the impression that
> the slave trade was primarily an operation of Moslem Arab slave  traders.
> 
> Therefore, as far as Black Africans are concerned, Moslem names are
> the slave names.
> 
> See Wikipedia on Moslem Slave Trade.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> David Strang.