children like me found it hard to adapt to the white British culture. many of you may ask what has your childhood got to do with the boxer named Muhammad Ali
my answer would be : everything.
Growing up the internet was in its infancy, social media non existent the VCR was being phased out by the DVD and smartphones unimaginable.
Every weekend we would go to the library to read books and rent out dvd's. it was then when i picked up the DVD 'when we were kings' and on the front i saw
for the first time muhammad ali.
Boxing was the sport of the 90's the golden era where Mike Tyson, lennox Lewis and the British muslim boxing legend prince naseem hamad to mention a few would entertain crowds and families at home. but as we would watch boxing we would on a few occasions here the mention of Muhammad ail by the commentators when they would compare an aspect of the fight or fighter
to ali.
Watching this DVD 'when we were kings' would change my life just trying to understand what astronomical achievements this one man undertook would be another challenge.
firstly his boxing achievements and secondly his achievements outside the ring but i wont be writing a list on all of his achievements that would need to have a whole series of articles on there own.
what i want to talk about is how this man who at one time was an extremely hated man of the american administration became one of the most loved men throughout the world.
The first aspect which made people hate him was obviously he was black and america was going through an extermly volatile period of human and civil rights.
as Ali (Cassius clay at that time) returned from the Olympics as a gold medallist the famous indecent of how he went in to a diner and they refused to serve "coloured people" made Ali realise that no matter what he will do for his country he will never be able to be part of it, never be accepted within the society. frustrated Ali threw his gold medal in to the Ohio river.
like thousends of other black people at that time ali he was just another negro.
Due to this seemingly impossible task of being accepted into society a period of deep personal questioning overcame Ali of who he really was. at this time he decided to join the nation of Islam. seen at that time as a civil rights movement loosely based upon the teachings of Islam,
trying to uplift the black communitys and rid them of bad practices of drugs and crime.
developing and educating the youth. one must remenmer thses were the decendents of slaves, uneducated and were not given a choice of migrating to america.
Changing his name from Cassius clay as clay was a slave name as Ali said. being named Muhammad Ali by the leader of the nation of Islam ilaja Muhammad.
Ali claimed he was now free, free from the past of persecution, oppression and slavery. he thought Christianity was a religion of the white people who worshipped
jesus and protryaed him of having blonde hair and blue eyes although he was arab/middle eastern.
As mehdi Hassan said we cant whitewash history and Ali did develop some extreme beliefs at that time due to him being a part of the nation of Islam and being mentored
by Malcolm x but as Malcolm preformed the pilgrimage to mecca he saw a sea of people, black, brown, white all adorned in two white pieces of cloth and learned they were
being misguided by the nation as they emphasised no coloured person other than black would go in heaven. on his return Malcolm x revealed to Ali the truth and they converted to the mainstream Islam. upon this Malcolm x was murdered
Ali would be called to draft for the army for the war in Vietnam as Ali famously stated: "War is against the teachings of the quran I'm not trying to dodge the draft. We are not supposed to take part in no wars unless declared by Allah or The Messenger. We don't take part in Christian wars or wars of any unbelievers." He stated: "Man, I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong." Ali elaborated: "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?"
Ali was convicted of draft evasion. his licence and titles stripped of him but this was not just an action of civil disobedience it was also a gesture for other like minded people in there 20's journalists sport persons and civil rights activists both black and white that they could also stand up against the administration.
With martin Luther king gone Malcolm x gone Ali was the symbol of civil rights fighting against oppression and supporting oppressed people around the world going to university's and touring america giving talks and interviews lashing out against the administration and trying to get black youth organised, educated and clean of drugs. Ali became a target of the government as well as some media outlets being called a hypocrite for not supporting the war whilst being called
an icon of civil rights by others.
With the case of draft evasion being overturned by the supreme court after three years and him fighting in Africa and doing the impossible by regaining the
world heavyweight title he became even more loved and recognised by the world. one could say he was at one time the most recognisable person in the world where even in small villages with no access to electricity in Africa, east and south Asia small children would be able to recognise the face of Ali.
He became the highest earning athlete to have ever lived as well as the biggest philanthropist giving away much of his earnings to the the poor and needy earning himself the much deserved BBC's personality of the century award.
He was so much more than boxing meeting the rich and famous as well as talking to the beggar and showing love to poor children he forced his critics to admire him.
the same administration and government officials who once hated him sung praises of him he became a source of motivation and inspiration for millions of people who had experienced racism and discrimination including me.
We could say no athlete or modern day figure has even come close to what Muhammad Ali the greatest of all time has achieved in a lifetime.
You will be missed greatly. Rest in peace champ.
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