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The legacy of Muhammad Ali taught us that to be a legend, you must first have the courage to declare it. Nobody knows you better than yourself. No one can decide your destiny but you. Could someone borrow your shoes and wear them better than you? Probably. My point is only you know your strengths and weaknesses. You know when you’re right and when you’re wrong. You know where you came from and where you want to go. People not courageous enough to take this first step often remain mundane.
In clarification, to be correct, you should know right from wrong. You have an emerging, transcendent brilliance that makes you aware of the truth. Some call it God | Yahweh, Jehovah, Allah, Buddha, or Jah |; others say it’s the Goddess. Some call it the universe, nature, divine consciousness, or the Almighty. I refer to it as an influence from the Grand Geometer of the universe, the overseer of us benevolent craftsmen and women. Ali was also a clever rhyme spitter. Ages ago, institutions put a system of morality into place.
I done handcuffed lightning. And throw thunder in jail.
You know I’m bad. Just last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick. I’m so mean, I make medicine sick.”
A system upon which we’ve built our society. One call on all humankind to put nothing above God. To never keep idols, never use God’s name in vain, remember the Sabbath, and honor our parents. We should never commit murder, avoid adultery, steal nothing, tell lies about other people, and never be envious or sweet-eyed of what other people have |be content with what you have|. It’s frequently difficult to follow these headings. Our feebleness may weaken us in one or two of these capacities. A human with a heart to honor most of these moral principles is often called a good person. Someone who lives their truth in humanity. Someone imperfect yet, extraordinary in their time. Basics of American culture.
Muhammad Ali was an exceptional man. First, he had the vision to see himself as the greatest. That was when there were so many greats in his time. He professed it. There are other heavyweight boxers with absolute records. Floyd Mayweather has never suffered a defeat—Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, George Foreman, Joe Frazier, etc. Muhammad Ali suffered five losses in his career. Yet, the world reveres him as the greatest boxer of all time. This is a testimony of excellence that goes beyond his boxing record. One is covered with grace when one is blessed and chosen by omnipotence.
As a young Cassius, a police officer invited Ali to the boxing gym. That was after he expressed a desire to whoop the person who stole his bike. What if that cop chose to be racist against him? Muhammad Ali spoke his truth even when it was not politically correct to utter it. He stood up against the United States government at the expense of his legacy, career, and reputation, risking imprisonment after tasting the spoils of fame. With a fortune in sight, the boxer refused to let any racist victimize him in a system that aimed to remove the unbeatable black fighter from the ring by drafting him into the army.
They tried to send Ali to war when his opponents could not beat him in the ring. But the champ refused to have anyone dictate his path. His respect for humanity led him to value the lives of the innocent being murdered at war, so he refused to put a dog in that race. How many athletes today have such courage to stand up for the God-given truth? For their religious belief, their cultural tradition, their civil right? *
