Muhammad Ali: Courage & Character

Muhammad Ali died yesterday at age 74 of respiratory illness. He had been afflicted with severe Parkinson’s disease for the final three decades of his life.

Muhammed Ali_Parkinson's

Ali one proclaimed himself to be “the Greatest.”  To many he still is.  Facing Ali (2009) is a 5-star documentary of his career, in the words of those who most notably squared off in the ring with “The Greatest.”

Facing Ali (2009)

It must also be noted that in many ways Muhammad Ali will be the greatest example of why boxing must be banned, if we are to be a civilized society.

Ali-charity-event-fight-Parkinsons

If this is how it ends for ‘the Greatest,’ then how horrible must it be for all the others?

Ali-Liston

His autobiography My Own Story published in 1975 tells his it as no one else can, up through the George Foreman ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ in 1974.

Autobiography 1975

As loved as Ali is at the time of his death, it is hard for some to believe that he was once vilified; exiled from boxing for 3 years during his prime, for refusing draft entry into the U.S. military during the Vietnam War.

Muhammad Ali in exile_Chicago

White mainstream media had refused to recognize his name change from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali, reflecting his conversion from Christianity to Islam.

Muhammad Ali is still called Cassius Clay

Muhammad Ali’s religion & politics became the line between brash & charismatic versus uppity & dangerous in the late 1960’s.

When Ali spoke his mind on the unfairness of being drafted into a war he didn’t believe in, he became a global icon for the oppressed fighting against U.S. imperialism.

Ali in Exile

Ali embraced his role (and sacrificed more than any superstar athlete ever sacrificed), for a cause nobler than himself.

Ali

This is why he was so loved, and today is so mourned.

Muhammad Ali

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