Ali Bomaye
Muhammad Ali
has passed. For my Brazilian friends who may not have the recognition I do as a boy who grew up just a bit late to completely appreciate his career, it is hard to understand his impact as an athlete/ambassador/human
Put it this way: Some recent athletes have attempted to be icons: Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Kobe, LeBron. Throw in Messi and the Ronaldos if you want.
If Ali is King, they would not even serve his court. Why?
Forget his exploits in the ring — all the athletes above were Sui Generis (except Kobe — MJ 2.0).
Forget their personal issues, I am not discussing that.
Ali was a Man’s Man, A Grown Ass Man, A Mensch.
Agree or not agree with him, he stood up for what he believed. He converted to Islam as the highest profile black athlete in THE 60s when he was dependent on WHITES to earn a living (ironically the only public caucasian to defend him was the Jewish broadcaster Howard Cosell).
He gave up 3 years of his career — 3 YEARS — from 26–29, to fight the system. Jordan would not speak out about kids killing each other over his shoes, and once stayed out of Racist North Carolina politics since ‘’Republicans buy shoes too.’’ I imagine if Ali were younger he would have punched Michael in the mouth, and Michael would have thanked him.
I don't think he put endorsements above everything. And he did not have tattoos promoting his greatness. He did not need to. I know these are different times, and perhaps he would be different today. But these are the facts.
Ali had his faults. But we all knew he wanted to do good, that he meant well, and so we forgave the 1% of him that was like the rest of us. The other 99% was charisma, ridiculous athletic ability, etc.
I am not belittling the many wonderful deeds that other athletic figures do; I am merely stating that during the tumultuous times of Vietnam, Racism, Class Warfare in the USA, this man had an impact across boundaries unlike any other athlete I have ever seen (US version). Perhaps Jesse Owens Berlin 36 was similar.
If you draw a parallel to Ali, it really is, on a relative scale — Mandela. No one puts themselves in the same breath as Nelson, and no one should with Ali either.
I anxiously await Barack’s statement.
(I should not write the following as it translates poorly, but the lyricism from The Rumble in the Jungle is so beautiful; and the link is the film as actual footage is impossible for me to find)