Muhammad Ali Taught Me To Fight Back Against Oppression

By Saigon Flowr

Muhammad Ali was one of the most prolific and charismatic athletes of our time — and also one of the most political. He was a man of principle who showed the world — and most importantly, people of color — that it was okay to push back against a government that hates us, to ensure they understood that we know we are the greatest, no matter how much they try to oppress us. He told the world how much he loved and believed in himself — even when he didn’t. He was my parents’ generation’s Kanye, before there was a Kanye.

I’m in absolute shock and filled with utter sadness to hear of his passing. We all knew it was coming — but that doesn’t make it hurt any less to continue to lose our elders.

I remember during the 1996 Olympics, when Ali was lighting the torch, seeing the tears well up in the eyes of my mom and uncle. When I asked them why, they started telling me stories about when they were teens, and how he was an important symbol to our people so many thousands of miles away from where he was. The Tamil minority community on our small little island of Ceylon had been under occupation and suffered severe oppression under the ruling Sinhala state that took over our country once the British left.