Where is one to begin when writing an article about the person they called “The Greatest”? As a millennial I do not even know if I am qualified to answer that question. Our Muhammad Ali moments were narrowed down to the 1996 Olympics and an Oscar nominated acting performance by Will Smith.
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Maybe that alone speaks to his greatness, a whole generation of people who never saw the man do what he did best, still recognize the legacy he has left behind. Over 50% of Twitter users are between the ages of 18-49 yet, #MuhammadAli was the trending topic all weekend. Go to any male college dormitory across the U.S. and you will find posters of Muhammad Ali on walls and doors. His legacy has obviously been passed down through the years but what is it that makes Ali so great?
In a generation that is all about not being boxed in, Muhammad may have exemplified this better than anyone in recent history, or possibly ever. Just looking at his boxing career alone, he warrants the title of being the greatest. Hoisting a 56-5 record and holding the World Heavyweight title three times. Yet he was so much more than a boxer. Google image Muhammad Ali and if you would think you were looking through a public school history book.
Growing up as young black male in Louisville, Kentucky Muhammad Ali, then known as Casius Clay, saw the evils of ole Jim Crow. He would later learn that his boxing fame would not exclude him from racist America so he decided to use his platform to challenge the status quo. Muhammad would join the Nation of Islam and begin to publically speak about the ills of America. Muhammad would become allies with Civil Rights activist such as Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., Jim Brown, and Kareem Abdul-Jabar.
Muhammad Ali with other African-American Athletes discussing Civil Rights.
Muhammad and Dr. King
Muhammad Ali and his close friend Malcolm X
His political activism would reach a new level when he just not only spoke out against the Vietnam War, but he in turn decided to not enlist.
"My conscience won't let me go shoot my brother, or some darker people, or some poor hungry people in the mud for big powerful America. And shoot them for what? They never called me nigger, they never lynched me, they didn't put no dogs on me, they didn't rob me of my nationality, rape and kill my mother and father. ... Shoot them for what? How can I shoot them poor people? Just take me to jail."
- Ali on Vietnam War
This went all the way to the Supreme Court where Ali would be given his freedom in 8-o overturning of his conviction, all of this caused a three year hiatus from boxing during the prime of his career. On paper and in legacy these things sound heroic and are legendary but in actuality, someone like Ali is usually not celebrated.
Ali was a loud-mouth pro-black Muslim, three things that are generally are looked down or upset a majority of our society. When Richard Sherman declared himself the best cornerback in the game in 2014, the nation and media were calling for his head.
He was labeled a thug, disrespectful, and un-sportsman like. In that same year when the hashtag and phrase Black Lives Matter entered the vernacular many were quick to diminish this pro-black (really pro-life statement) with statements such as “All Lives Matter” or “not only Black Lives Matter” as if the people stating Black Lives Matter didn’t understand that. And ever since 9/11 and the rise of ISIS there has been a fear of those within the Islamic faith. The very thing Muhammad prided himself on, trash talking, his blackness and the betterment of black lives, and the dedication to Allah may not have been as celebrated in today’s society. I imagine a current day Muhammad Ali being a mix of LeBron James, Deray McKesson, and Louis Farrakhan.
Knowing all these things about Ali he is still the consensus GOAT (Greatest of All Time). The question as to why he is so great is still unanswered, possibly it is because he can embody everything we love and hate in society. A great athlete who a generation of kids looked up to, but holds firm to an ideology that makes many uncomfortable and worrisome. In his lifetime he was not only the hero but simultaneously the villain to some, and maybe it is that humanity that makes us all revel in his legacy. Or possibly maybe there is no way to define why Muhammad Ali’s legacy will live on, maybe he is just that damn great. And to be honest, I can live with that. Rest easy Champ.
