Cassius Clay, widely known as Muhammad Ali, was one of the founding fathers of the Black community’s ability to have conviction. It was through the elite boxer’s on and off-stage presence and faithful practice that we were given permission to believe in defying the odds — no matter what those odds were.
Muhammad Ali, a multidimensional man, was the greatest boxer not solely for his athletic ability but rather his poetic, humanitarian and activist energy. Recently, while in Louisville, Kentucky (the city where Ali grew up), I had the privilege of visiting the Muhammad Ali Center. The four-floor museum serves as a time machine, devoting its efforts to providing guests with a true reincarnation of Ali’s lifetime. The truly remarkable experience of the Ali Center stays with you long after you leave and forces you to reflect. One man shook up the whole world by simply being himself.
As we celebrate the anniversary of his passing, I’m reminded that his legacy and spirit live on now more than ever.
At the Ali Center, I learned that the boxer’s core principles were confidence, conviction, dedication, giving, respect and spirituality.
“I am the Greatest. I said that even before I knew I was.” — Muhammad Ali
From a young age, the late boxer knew he would be the greatest to ever do it and that confidence manifested just that. He wasn’t threatened by his boxing counterparts. He approached every match with faith and belief in himself, no matter the name or size of his opposition.
“It is in light of my consciousness as a Muslim minister and my own personal convictions that I take my stand in rejecting the call to be inducted in the armed services… I have searched my conscience and I find I cannot be true to my belief in my religion by accepting such a call.” — Muhammad Ali, April 28, 1967
It was at this moment that Ali displayed the magnitude of his conviction in his faith for the world, especially naysayers, to bear witness.
“From the age of 12 he trained every day. He never took part in anything else since he stepped into the gym… When he was 12, he said he’d bring back the Olympic Gold Medal and that he’d be champion of the whole world. I believed him. It’s really been a sacrifice for him, it wasn’t easy, he trained so hard.” — Odessa Grady Clay, 1975
Ali’s dedication to the art of boxing was unmatched, beginning in childhood and persevering into adulthood. As a result, it was natural that he reaped the benefits — 56 wins, five losses and three world heavyweight championships.
“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” — Muhammad Ali
A humanitarian of the entire world wouldn’t be an understatement. Ali made it his business to give in his preferred fashion to London, Nigeria, Cuba and Iraq, to name a few. He even spoke at colleges and universities around the country during a time when the Vietnam War was at its peak and he wasn’t allowed to fight (1967-1971).
“I don’t have to be what you want me to be. I’m free to be what I want.” — Cassius Clay, February 26, 1964
More times than not, Ali took several verbal stands regarding segregation, white superiority and even women’s inequality issues, most prominently during his early years in Louisville, Kentucky. By being himself and never muting his voice, he unknowingly fought for other Black people to do the same. He empowered people to simply “be.”
“Muhammad means worthy of all praises and Ali means most high.” — Muhammad Ali
His name was only a snippet of the threads woven in his spirituality. His conversion from Christianity to the Islamic Muslim was the beginning, middle and end of the man that we all knew and loved.
Although Muhammad Ali is no longer with us physically and although the world is experiencing chaos most days, let us not forget how he unconsciously and consciously passed the torch to us to take heed and forge forward, embodying these phenomenal principles. Let’s hold tight to the goodness we’ve inherited from Ali.
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