Muhammad Ali Dies at 74: Titan of Boxing and the 20th Century
The Ali Frazier fights were in many ways symbolic of what was going on in the country at that time. If you were for Frazier you were most likely for segregation and the Vietnam war. You were against the Civil Rights Act, you didn’t believe in busing. If you were for Ali, you were against the Vietnam war. You saw blacks as being equal. You liked Howard Cosell.
I never knew him as Cassius Clay. I always knew him as Muhammad Ali. Or just Ali.
My parents couldn’t afford closed circuit tv and I was too young to get into bars where his fights were being shown. When Ali was fighting I’d stay up late listening to the radio, anxious for any updates. I’d jump out of bed the next morning and turn on tv or radio to find out what happened, always hoping Ali had won.
There’s so many great stories about him. Right now this one is sticking with me:
Ali visited a hospital of a boy who was dying from cancer. Ali told the boy that he was going to defeat Sonny Liston and that he, the kid, was going to defeat cancer. “No,” the boy said. “I’m going to God, and I’m going to tell God that I know you.”
FYI, our homie from House I Live In & Why We Fight has a fantastic idea: http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/10297752.html
blackwellspace is in the house!
I love it, all for it.
Renee and I were talking. Where is the next MLK? Where is the next Ali? All we have nowadays are cult-like figures who’re about building their own brands. Social media superstars with empty souls.
Oprah? Really? What has she done?
Who else? I went to Chicago when Obama was elected because I thought he was it. Boy was I wrong. I don’t regret going, I was there for history. But hope and change? Puhleese.
I’m reading Thomas Frank’s new book, Listen Liberal, What ever Happened To The Party Of The People? Obama is a technocrat.
Hillary? She’s the best Republican running.
I get it now, I shouldn’t look to politicians for leadership.
But where, please tell me where, is the next transformational figure? God, we need them to emerge. Where is the person we stay up late reading about? Where is the person we believe in, who motivates us? Where is the person who gets us to march, who changes how we think? Where is the person who’ll change the world?
Yes, we are the leaders we’ve been waiting for. But I wonder if that’s coffee cup wisdom. Yeah sure, we’re the leaders we’ve been waiting for — if we can get our heads out of our phones.