Born Cassius Clay in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1942, no one would have known that he would not only become the Boxing Champion of the World thrice, but also a champion of racial and religious rights as well as a champion of the struggle against armed conflict.
More important is the fact that he did something 99 percent of us don’t dream about doing. He was sentenced to jail for standing up for what he believed in. Time as well as the historical record of human consciousness has proven him correct.
The story is simple. On April 28, 1967 Muhammad Ali made headlines for refusing to be drafted into the US Army on the grounds of being a conscientious objector. Arguably never in human history through a single act of civil disobedience had a public figure wagered so much. Ali was stripped of his boxing championship. He could not compete in the ring for three years, and his entire way of life was threatened.
Martin Luther King, who was also a fierce opponent of the Vietnam War said that, “In the end we will not remember the words of our enemies, but rather the silence of our friends.” Ali also heard this silence louder than any gavel that brought down his prison sentence.
Ali was as brave as any man who went to Vietnam. That is in no way intended to offend anyone who did. Many lives were lost in Vietnam and Ali had a moral compass that guided him to the simple truth that it was not right. He was not astute academically per say but he was as fiercely intelligent as he was competitive and dominant in the ring.
“Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 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?
“No, I’m not going 10,000 miles from home to help murder and burn another poor nation simply to continue the domination of white slave masters of the darker people the world over. This is the day when such evils must come to an end. I have been warned that to take such a stand would cost me millions of dollars. But I have said it once and I will say it again. The real enemy of my people is here.I will not disgrace my religion, my people or myself by becoming a tool to enslave those who are fighting for their own justice, freedom and equality. If I thought the war was going to bring freedom and equality to 22 million of my people they wouldn’t have to draft me, I’d join tomorrow. I have nothing to lose by standing up for my beliefs. So I’ll go to jail, so what? We’ve been in jail for 400 years.”
His grounds on religious beliefs not to serve in the US Army also proves to bare out how utterly misunderstood Islam was (and still is) by many.
In 1971the Supreme Court reversed his conviction. He went on to become champion again and again. Later in life, his demonstration of bravery once again shone brighter than his accomplishments in the ring by standing up to Parkinson’s disease with such determined optimism. People closest to Ali understood this every day. This courage and spirit was on display in 1996 when the former Gold Medalist lit the torch to start the Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. He was truly an ambassador to the world and was well liked by everyone everywhere.
—
Transcend Media Service
More important is the fact that he did something 99 percent of us don’t dream about doing. He was sentenced to jail for standing up for what he believed in. Time as well as the historical record of human consciousness has proven him correct.
The story is simple. On April 28, 1967 Muhammad Ali made headlines for refusing to be drafted into the US Army on the grounds of being a conscientious objector. Arguably never in human history through a single act of civil disobedience had a public figure wagered so much. Ali was stripped of his boxing championship. He could not compete in the ring for three years, and his entire way of life was threatened.
Martin Luther King, who was also a fierce opponent of the Vietnam War said that, “In the end we will not remember the words of our enemies, but rather the silence of our friends.” Ali also heard this silence louder than any gavel that brought down his prison sentence.
Ali was as brave as any man who went to Vietnam. That is in no way intended to offend anyone who did. Many lives were lost in Vietnam and Ali had a moral compass that guided him to the simple truth that it was not right. He was not astute academically per say but he was as fiercely intelligent as he was competitive and dominant in the ring.
“Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 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?
“No, I’m not going 10,000 miles from home to help murder and burn another poor nation simply to continue the domination of white slave masters of the darker people the world over. This is the day when such evils must come to an end. I have been warned that to take such a stand would cost me millions of dollars. But I have said it once and I will say it again. The real enemy of my people is here.I will not disgrace my religion, my people or myself by becoming a tool to enslave those who are fighting for their own justice, freedom and equality. If I thought the war was going to bring freedom and equality to 22 million of my people they wouldn’t have to draft me, I’d join tomorrow. I have nothing to lose by standing up for my beliefs. So I’ll go to jail, so what? We’ve been in jail for 400 years.”
His grounds on religious beliefs not to serve in the US Army also proves to bare out how utterly misunderstood Islam was (and still is) by many.
In 1971the Supreme Court reversed his conviction. He went on to become champion again and again. Later in life, his demonstration of bravery once again shone brighter than his accomplishments in the ring by standing up to Parkinson’s disease with such determined optimism. People closest to Ali understood this every day. This courage and spirit was on display in 1996 when the former Gold Medalist lit the torch to start the Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. He was truly an ambassador to the world and was well liked by everyone everywhere.
—
Transcend Media Service
