Cassius Marcellus Clay was born on January 17, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky. A healthy child weighing over six pounds, he was named after one of his forefathers, Cassius Marcellus Clay, a plantation owner of Kentucky and also a politician, who had once held the position of American Ambassador at the Court of St. James.

Cassius’ mother was Odessa Lee Grady.

Clay’s great grandfather was an Irishman who had married a black woman.

Cassius’ forefathers were of slave stock, a fact that would play a big role in the future.