Muhammad Ali was such a rare man because as accomplished as he was in boxing Ali made the best of his status to effect change beyond the boxing ring. Being a celebrity due to your status as an athlete was not something lost Ali and he never used it selfishly.

Muhammad was aware of the things going on in the world at large and he wanted to engage it. Ali was also aware of the political nature of sports and he spoke out on it….regularly. “Boxing is a lot of white men watching two black men beating each other up.” 

Ali was also LARGER than life….

“I met Muhammad Ali in Accra, Ghana. I invited him to my house for dinner. He accepted and reminded me that he was a Muslim and ate no pork. I told him I was a southern Black woman who knew how to fry chicken. I told a person who works for me that I would like him to help me that evening because Muhammad Ali was coming for dinner. I warned him not to mention it to anyone. As the hour approached, I opened my door and heard shouts, The Greatest, The Greatest, The Greatest’—my block was filled with thousands—and he was.” Maya Angelou

“One of the reasons Muhammad Ali was so remarkable was that the boxing fraternity did not immediately recognize what he was doing….That night he fought Joe Frazier on March 8, 1971—it wasn’t a fight. It was an event! You couldn’t get into New York that day, there was so much traffic. The limousines went from Madison Square Garden on 33rd street all the way up to 120th street, lined up to let people off. This is a man that means so much to us, and I’ve been privileged to know him through the years.” Bert Sugar

Happy birthday CHAMP!
Much love! Much Respect!
HFL

Tags: Happy B-Lated birthday CHAMP! Muhammad Ali turns 70!

Posted under: Celebrity, Hotel Fashionland, Muhammad Ali

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 19th, 2012 at 2:45 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.