Muhammad Ali – Champion of Peace, Freedom, Racial Equality, and Social Justice
“I am an ordinary man who worked hard to develop the talent I was given...I believed in myself and I believe in the goodness of others.”
“For many years I have dreamed of creating a place to share, teach and inspire people to be their best and to pursue their dreams.”
–Muhammad Ali
Asked by one commentator what kind of champion he intended to be after he beat Liston in 1964, Ali replied: ‘I don't have to be what you want me to be. I can be what I want to be and I'm free to think what I want to think.’ That was a massively powerful statement for a young black man to make. He must have inspired so many people.
It was a statement that could find meaning in Mississippi but equally in the newly independent and soon-to-be independent states in Africa and the Caribbean. I can only guess the impact he has had on black kids in America. As a white kid in the UK, I found him nothing less than a fighter who could defy the odds. "Men make their own history," wrote Karl Marx. "But they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under given circumstances directly encountered and inherited from the past."
"Muhammad Ali, as Clay would later become known, certainly made his own history. As the upcoming Will Smith film Ali shows, his personality, morality, humanism, physical strength and boxing technique were all his own. But it was the political, racial and international circumstances in which he would employ those talents that played a crucial role in shaping his own inspiring narrative."
The fighter, by my favourite writer from The Guardian Gary Younge
‘It's hard to relay the emotion of that time,’ says the poet and activist Sonia Sanchez. ‘Imagine it for a moment! The heavyweight champion, a magical man, taking his fight out of the ring and into the arena of politics and standing firm. The message that sent.’
Years later, Ali said: “I liked being who I was because they would put me on television and when I say, 'I'm the greatest, I'm pretty', that means that little black children and people who felt like nothing say, ‘We got a champion. Look what he's doing. Look at him over there.’”
Well, he was my champion too. He was vilified, he was pressured, he was stripped of his titles, but he never gave in. In later life, Parkinson's disease stripped him of his vigour, his elan, his fluency, his sharp tongue, his wit - and he accepted it all with grace and dignity and showed himself in all his frailty to be a true champion. I was always inspired by him, always will be. He lifted my spirits and put a smile on my face.
A lot of us took a ride on Ali's shoulders. He made me feel like I could do anything, dream big, aim big, that anything was possible. He 'never knew his place'. Even aged 8-10, I just knew that Ali would not, could not, be silenced, he was going to have his say, and I loved him for that. A brilliant piece that emphasises how Ali burst through the confines others tried to place on him.
He didn’t just shake up the world. He lit it up.
‘A rooster crows only when it sees the light. Put him in the dark and he’ll never crow. I have seen the light and I’m crowing.’
He had me crowing too. As a little white kid in the UK, Ali was my hero. I can only imagine his impact on black kids in the US. Most of the time I didn't understand what he was talking about when I was young, I learned later about the struggles. But I remember being so inspired by the fact that he could talk and talk and talk and just not be told to shut up by the powers that be.
I'm not blind to the issues surrounding boxing. But I come from a part of the world with a strong boxing tradition, it has been part of my life. All comparisons are invidious. And are likely to provoke conflict rather than make for peace. ‘What do they know of cricket who only cricket know?’ asked Trinidadian-born intellectual C.L.R. James as he wove his understanding of race, class, caste, culture and politics into the history of West Indian cricket.
I understand the working class kids who are drawn to boxing. Liverpool and St Helens where I live has a strong boxing tradition, with both World and Olympic champions. So what? you might ask. Well, ask them. Listen to what they have to say. They have a voice. And respect their views. You don't have to agree with them. But I've seen how it brings a sense of purpose and order and discipline to the lives of people thrown on the scrapheap. The boxers will tell anyone this. But who listens to them? People think they are just stupid, just hired meat for the gratification of the rich, those who have the money and time to be able to live their fantasies through others. Such is the world we live in. I protest that all the time. I protest the social conditions that mean such a brutal ‘sport’ is the only way working class kids can see as a way out of a lifetime of hopeless poverty.
I’m not here to make a defence of boxing. Muhammad Ali brought a certain grace, a certain beauty, to a brutal sport. He was not a crude fighter or a heavy puncher. He was an exponent of the ‘sweet science’. And if that means nothing to you, it’s of no real importance. A defence of boxing is not my concern here. Muhammad Ali transcended his sport. He transcended sport as such.
The sceptical can, perhaps, gain an inkling of his importance from this:
Not everybody loved The Greatest: what Muhammad Ali meant to one racist Southern kid
‘He said he was the most popular man on the planet and – again – he was right.
Best of all, though, he was famous for all the right reasons. Best at what he did – check. A person governed by principle – check. A leader committed to being the voice for the world’s voiceless – check.
If I got to live a thousand more lifetimes I doubt I would ever be the positive force for social progress and justice that Muhammad Ali was. But because of the life he lived, myself and people like me try harder.’
That’s precisely what he did.
Muhammad Ali took that indomitable spirit he showed in the ring to move millions outside his with his stances against racism and war, he was vilified, marginalised, stripped of everything he had won by his talent, yet came back. And when Parkinson's disease took his speed and power, his incredible voice and fluency from him, he accepted it all with dignity. He retained his grace, and continued to face the world proud and unbowed. Muhammad Ali was more than a boxer, he was an inspiration.
‘In a moment when America both enjoys a black president and is enveloped by a heightened black consciousness through #BlackLivesMatter, it will bid farewell not just to a man but a symbol of unapologetic resistance and a radical template for what constitutes black achievement. At a time when black youth are being told that their bad behaviour, not racism, explains their disproportionate criminalization, here was a black man who never knew his place.’
‘The greatest reward is to know that you did your job when you were here on the planet.
As tributes have poured in this weekend from world leaders and sporting figures, boxing fans and political activists following Muhammad Ali’s death, it’s clear that, from beginning to end, he understood he had a job to do while he was on the planet – inspire people.
Muhammad Ali: ‘a personality that transcended his sport’
"Ali has always been an enormous inspiration to me, not only in my boxing career, but also in life. His journey began 74 years ago, and in that time, he not only transformed the world of sport, he used sport to transform the world."
"The love and the reverence and the inclusivity that we're going to experience over the coming days is really a reflection of his message to the people of planet earth."
Muslim scholar Sherman Jackson said: "The passing of Muhammad Ali has made us all feel a little more alone in the world. Something solid, something big, beautiful and life-affirming has left."
Considered as one of the greatest boxers in history, Ali's reputation as ‘the greatest’ transcended his sport, transcended sport in general. His moral stature continued to grow even as his physical condition diminished. Boxing fans will remember his remarkable physical prowess and athleticism, his speed, skill and ringcraft. The world will remember him as a man willing to speak up for what he thought was right, a man with the courage to challenge the status quo when he thought it needed to be challenged. Was he right, was he wrong? It depends. We can debate the issues he raised. The most important thing is that he had a voice, was prepared to use it, and encouraged others to find theirs.
And he called them out fearlessly.
Muhammad Ali Institute for Peace and Justice at the University of Louisville
‘The Muhammad Ali Institute for Peace and Justice at the University of Louisville mourns the loss of a transformative humanitarian who had the courage and conviction to make the world a better place. We remember him as he wished - as someone who helped people worldwide in their "fight for freedom, justice and equality." Our work will continue to be inspired by his lifelong commitment to these fundamental human values, including the pursuit of racial and social justice. We offer our heartfelt condolences to the Ali family and we grieve with our community for the loss of a transcendent civil rights and religious freedom icon and champion.’
Enid Trucios-Haynes, Interim Director of the Muhammad Ali Institute for Peace & Justice (June 4, 2016)
Drawing strength from the vision and work of Muhammad Ali, the Muhammad Ali Institute for Peace and Justice at the University of Louisville develops initiatives that support human dignity, foster responsible citizenship, further peace and justice and address the impact of violence in local, state, national and international arenas. The Ali Institute has a special concern for young people living with violence in urban areas; therefore, we seek to equip the young and those working with them to be agents of peace and justice in their communities.
Because the Ali Institute recognizes that peace cannot exist in the absence of justice, we strive, through our work and energy, to be essential contributors to the cause of justice locally and around the world.
Whether for school children in the inner city of Louisville, farmers in rural Central America, teachers in a European capital or human rights workers in Africa, the Muhammad Ali Institute offers pertinent training, research, and hands-on assistance in support of their interest in creating lasting and effective strategies for peace.
Ali ‘stung like a bee’ in his fight for freedom, racial equality, and social justice.
He was fearless. The right cause is nothing without the courage to fight for it.
“The negro in America, you’ve put fear in him ever since he’s been here. And the only thing you hope is that it’s instilled in me, but it ain’t!”
“Many fans wanted to build a museum to acknowledge my achievements. I wanted more than a building to house my memorabilia. I wanted a place that would inspire people to be the best that they could be at whatever they chose to do, and to encourage them to be respectful of one another.”
The late boxer’s biographer recalls getting to know a deeply spiritual and intelligent man with endless tales, no regrets and a passion for life that never diminished, even as his condition did
by Thomas Hauser
“Don’t feel bad. God has blessed me. I’ve had a good life, and it’s still good. I’m having fun now.”
The man who changed his sport and his country
'No sportsman has touched more lives'
Obituary: Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali in his own words
What made him so great?
Muhammad Ali was a worldwide symbol of hope and possibility. His importance can be measured not by the celebrities, the politicians, the 'big names' who now sing his praises, but by the millions of 'ordinary' men and women whom he inspired, and who today stand together in celebration of his extraordinary life. He caused them all to reach inside of themselves and find their own innate genius, and to strive to express the very best of themselves. I shall miss him.
Farewell, old friend. Your fights are over. You won them all. And now to the peace you always knew would come at the end of the day.
Time for one last medal, before the final goodbye.