You may have seen Superman in action, flying in to join Iranian protesters on the streets of Tehran in the current 900th anniversary issue of Action Comics, its already being reprinted. Disappointingly, the superhero doesn’t achieve much in rescuing anyone, but his visit sparks him to renounce his American citizenship, saying, “The world’s too small, too connected.”

Now boxer Muhammad Ali enters the picture, earlier this week making a plea to the Iranian government to release the American hikers held in Iran since August 2009 on spying charges. His may actually be the most effective voice — a true champion in Iranian eyes and Muslim too. Great film stars and huge rock musicians have put their names to the Iranian people’s struggle since 2009, but Ali’s involvement brought to mind a clip of a roundtable with Harry Belafonte, James Baldwin, Marlon Brando, Charlton Heston and Sidney Poitier in 1963, during the American civil rights movement. Watch for the pure eloquence of their words.

Image: Action Comics

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