I'm a Bad Man: African American Vernacular Culture and the Making of Muhammad Ali, examines Muhammad Ali as an Afrocentric culture hero in the tradition of African American folklore. By exploring Ali's connection with the archetypes of African and African American orature, such as the trickster, the bad man, and the culture hero, this study offers an examination of the heroic persona of Ali. The book also delineates Ali's utilization of African American verbal practices to consciously create himself as an Afrocentric folk hero. In addition, the book offers a comparison of Ali with his real life folk hero predecessors, Jack Johnson and Joe Louis.