Muhammad Ali is by the far the most charismatic, outspoken, and “controversial” athlete the world has ever seen. It will be generations before another man or woman remotely challenges Ali on the pantheon of the greats. History has seen distinguished athletes for sure, those who dominated in an era, in their domain — Pele, Babe Ruth, Jordan. But none transcended sports like Ali; he possessed the magnetism, the wit, the poetry, the audaciousness, and sheer showmanship — he was a rockstar, with the physique of Adonis, and the agility of a ballerina. He was an original.
But more than anything, Ali will be remembered as the greatest, not only for his ability in the boxing ring, but for his courage when he was outside of it. He stood up and fought for his beliefs when doing so meant being hated, he took unpopular social and political positions even when it meant losing his livelihood, and he spoke out and gave voice to those who were marginalized and oppressed, when remaining silent was less costly. Until Ali, not too many athletes were willing to challenge the status quo.
Ali molded the era he lived inasmuch as the era molded him. As the Vietnam War was raging on in the late 60’s, Ali was drafted to the U.S. Army. He filed for a conscientious objector classification, based on his Muslim faith, but was denied. Ali could have easily joined the Vietnam War and never seen the battlefield; as a celebrity he would have likely performed exhibition fights to keep the army entertained, and the country’s morale up. But Ali disagreed with the Vietnam War on religious principle, and refused to fight with those who never harmed him, “I ain’t got nothing against no Viet Cong; no Viet Cong never called me nigger” as he famously said.
He was called a “traitor,” “draft dodger” and worse epithets, not only by whites, but blacks too. For a period of time, he may have been the most hated man in America. He stood firm on his belief that his fight was not in Vietnam, but in America, “Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?”
In 1967, the opposition to the Vietnam War had not grown to the level it eventually would reach by early 1970’s. Ali’s refused to fight in an unjust war before it became popular to do so. By staying firm in his position and refusing to fight, Ali knew very well that he risked his fame and fortune — “No, I am not going ten thousand miles from home to help murder and burn another poor nation simply to continue the domination of white slave masters of the darker people the world over. This is the day when such evils must come to an end. I have been warned that to take such a stand would put my prestige in jeopardy and could cause me to lose millions of dollars which should accrue to me as the champion.”
Although Ali was fighting the American laws that institutionally discriminated blacks, he had great faith that eventually the tide of reason and justice would ultimately prevail. He understood very well that it was not a binary option between going to war and going to jail, the third option was justice. As Ali put it,“I strongly object to the fact that so many newspapers have given the American public and the world the impression that I have only two alternatives in this stand — either I go to jail or go to the Army. There is another alternative, and that alternative is justice. If justice prevails, if my constitutional rights are upheld, I will be forced to go neither to the Army nor jail. In the end, I am confident that justice will come my way, for the truth must eventually prevail.”
In the end, justice prevailed when the New York State Supreme Court in 1970 reinstated Ali’s boxing license, and the following year the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Ali’s conviction. By this time the Vietnam War was becoming more unpopular, and the public who once did not support Ali began to support him. Years later, Ali commented, “Some people thought I was a hero. Some people said that what I did was wrong. But everything I did was according to my conscience. I wasn’t trying to be a leader. I just wanted to be free.”
In 1967 when Ali was 25-years old, his boxing record was 25 wins and zero losses. When he returned from his suspension, after 3 ½ years, his first fight was with Jerry Quarry in October 1970, when Ali was nearly 29 years old. The prime years of Ali’s fighting career was behind him. The man who was once lean and agile, was noticeably slower and heavier, he could still dance and dodge punches, but not the same way.
It was the lead up to the 1971 “Fight of the Century” with Joe Frazier that highlighted Ali was not without his flaws. Although Ali took on racial and religious inequities, his lowest moment may have been his taunts of Joe Frazier — calling him “Uncle Tom” and “Gorilla” — taunts that could have been expected from racist whites. The irony of Ali’s attacks on Frazier was that Frazier was the one who grew up in a family of sharecroppers, and did not have much money, while Ali came from a better financial background.
Ali to his credit, later tried to reconcile with Frazier and seemed remorseful for the comments he made when he was younger. Ali later remarked, “A man who views the world the same at 50 as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.” Ali had evolved, and became a better man.
It was also during the tumultuous 1960’s Ali made comments that he later disavowed — “The Nation Of Islam taught that white people are devils. I don’t believe that now; in fact, I never really believed that.”
Nelson Mandela once said in an interview, “When I met Ali for the first time in 1990, I was extremely apprehensive. I wanted to say so many things to him. He was an inspiration to me, even in prison, because I thought of his courage and his commitment to his sport. I was overwhelmed by his gentleness and his expressive eyes.”
I too had the opportunity to spend an evening with Ali nearly 25-years ago. What I remember clearly was the joy he had entertaining little kids with magic tricks; he would make a handkerchief disappear, and the kids would look in awe (the parents were equally in awe). After the trick, Ali would reveal how he was hiding the handkerchief in a fake thumb. He made it a point to mention it was against his faith to deceive. He didn’t speak much that day, often he slurred sentences; Parkinson’s had taken it’s toll. Nonetheless, he shook everyone’s hand and autographed paraphernalia people brought for several hours.
Throughout Ali’s life, he was involved with humanitarian efforts around the world; from delivering food and medical supplies to several nations, to committing his time to orphanages, to helping bring awareness and funding to Parkinson’s disease. In 1998 he was named U.N. Messenger of Peace. Ali even met with Saddam Hussein and helped secure the release of 15 hostages during the Gulf War. As Ali put it, “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.”
Ali’s impact on society, sports, and the people around him was immeasurable. Who Ali was, is not captured better than the story of a little boy named Jimmy. Jimmy was dying of leukemia, and his last wish was to meet his hero Muhammad Ali. Ali who at the time was training for the “Rumble in the Jungle” in Pennsylvania, took a two-hour car ride to meet the boy. When Ali visited the hospital, he told the boy that he would defeat George Foreman, and the boy would defeat cancer. “No, Champ” the boy said. “I’m going to God, and I’m going to tell God that I know you.” Ali was so impacted, that on his ride back to the training camp, for two-hours, he wasn’t able to say one word.
The greatest, Muhammad Ali, inspired many of us not only because of his eloquence but for his humanity and courage. He will surely be missed.
Published in Dhaka Tribune: http://www.dhakatribune.com/op-ed/2016/jun/10/courage-and-humanity-muhammad-ali
http://www.dhakatribune.com/epaper/2016/jun/10
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Strategy & Execution 