As the world watched in sadness this past week the burial of Muhammad Ali, I was reminded in one word something I always loved about the man: Opportunity. The man we know as “The Greatest” was about many things, and one of those was his ability to seize opportunity. From his early days, as he gained confidence growing from an aspiring boxer to a champion, to having the prime of that boxing career stolen from him due to his refusal of being drafted into war, to his post ring life where he became a champion for the people, Ali never let an opportunity pass without making something of it.
This wasn’t implicit self-involvement or narcissism, this was brilliance. Ali decided long ago that he could become the best fighter, the most skilled, the most beloved. He realized in the ring he could always be the last man standing. The hero. So he took the opportunity and became all those things and more. What he couldn’t have possibly realized is that he would become a hero for all man and womankind, not just avid boxing fans.
Was Ali the last true hero? Seems that way to me. And now that he has gone, where do people like myself look to when we long for a hero? That noble figure–the warrior who will stand up to injustice and wrongdoing, consequences be damned, and be the voice for those who have none. I imagine Ali’s voice in my head in that familiar southern, confident drawl, “The answer is all around you dummy.” And as with most occasions, the champ is spot-on in his assessment. My answer, that opportunity that Ali yearned for, is everywhere and anywhere.
As the dirt settles upon the champ’s casket, simultaneously, the sky is falling. Humanity is dying. But even in defeat, Ali would have never shied away from seizing opportunity. And now with the recent events in Orlando, a new defeat currently mars humanity’s scorecard. Just as Ali would, we need to see these tragic events as opportunity. Not just as an opportunity to overcome defeat, but as an opportunity to change how we think and act.
Ali reminded us not to embrace fear but to invoke progress and a national discussion regarding the well-being of not just blacks and Muslims, but of all humanity. When he stood defiant in front of that panel of judges, looking to throw him in jail while the country labeled him as a draft dodger in the case of Clay v. United States in 1971, he took that opportunity to stand up for not just himself, but his religion and his opposition to war on another living being. His resistance to war created the opportunity for discussion on the topic and the practice and process of the military draft.
This is what separated Ali from others, his unabashed willingness to speak out on all matters of injustice. This coupled with his strength and courage to see the fight--any fight--until its fruition, was one of the many earmarks of his greatness. That was also one of his many gifts as his stance and actions in court garnered the support of the people, all people. When Ali passed, it wasn’t just tears shed from proud black folk, but an entire world.
Growing up as a young black male in the '80s, it would be an understatement to say there was a shortage of hero figures to look up to. Other than our own fathers--those of us lucky enough to have their father around--there was a noticeable absence of this signature type of individual. Now that I am older, the dearth has only become more apparent. Similar to Ali after one of his epic ring clashes, the fight against hate, bigotry, and oppression has left me exhausted and weary.
Recent violent events resemble and remind me of Ali when he was in the ring, but by no means as graceful and elegant as he--North Korea, Syria, Israel, Russia--left, right, jab. Baltimore, feet shuffle, pivot. San Bernardino, right hook, left hook. Charlie Hebdo, the Paris attacks, uppercut. Pain, blood, misery, death, etc., etc., etc. Gut shot. Before we get KO’d like so many Ali opponents why not do something no one, including ourselves, think we are capable of doing? We can triumph over what seeks to defeat us. The hurt, the hate, the senseless loss of life. We can, like Ali, shake up the world.
Ali’s death, though tragic, can also be seen as an opportunity to a world that celebrated his life and so desperately needs it. As young people whom may not have been familiar with Ali watch the mourning and adulation of millions and wonder just what all the fuss is about, in their quest for answers they will find that they may have discovered a new hero. Imagining that scenario is as beautiful as a pre-fight soundbite from the Louisville Lip. Another example of how his legacy and reach remains infinite.
Ali was not just a boxing champion. He was the people's champion. That position knows not the limits of a round count. The fight for the people is as perpetual as Ali’s stature and importance. Ali was undoubtedly the greatest boxer to ever step foot inside a ring but the man was an even better fighter. A fighter who rarely lost. Ali was a champion of civil rights, a champion of religious freedom, a champion of unity. As he was on most every occasion inside the ring, Ali became a champion for humanity outside it which, in my opinion, is his most significant victory. To follow Ali was not to idolize him--though there was indeed plenty of that--it was opportunity for a belief in, and a stance for, something greater than ourselves. Ali knew that no matter how many fights he won or lost that in the end nobody hits harder than life. Life will test you, it will beat you, it will punish you, it will break you. But only if you allow it.
We can no longer expect Ali to be the hero–to be that beacon or flame that literally is the light we are always urged to see. Sadly, that illumination has now been darkened. Ali held us down long enough and what else could you ask of a hero? So maybe now it is time for someone else to step up. Maybe, it's time for us all to. If we all took the initiative to be the hero, even if it is unknowingly so as was the case with Ali, who and what could ever stop humanity from being just as he was? The Greatest.
For me the opportunity to follow the lead and example of Muhammed Ali is an easy choice to undertake. Along with being the best me I can be, I can give whatever is within me for humanity’s sake. Humanity needs a new champion–a hero. Is that you?
