Ali
When he got in
trouble in the ring, (Ali) imagined a door swung open and inside he could see
neon, orange and green lights blinking, and bats blowing trumpets and
alligators playing trombones, and he could hear snakes screaming. Weird masks and actors’ clothes hung on the
wall, and if he stepped across the sill and reached for them, he knew he was
committing himself to destruction.
-
George Plimpton, Shadow Box – The Near Room
I am
America. I am the part you won’t
recognize. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky, my name, not yours;
my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get use to me.
-
Ali
That all you got,
George?
-
Ali, in the Ring in w/ George Foreman, Zaire Africa, Circa
1974
By J.M. Hamilton (6-11-16)
If one entered my humble abode, you’d
walk down a hallway and past a Bombay chest, before entering my living
room. Under the windows at the end of
the room are stacks upon stacks of books, and in the middle of the floor is a
Persian rug w/ more colors than Ken Kesey’s bus, Further. To my right are two leather chairs, which
face a sizable flat screen TV, located on my left. The walls are minimalist to say the least. Very little hangs on the walls of my
apartment, a few pictures of my cherished and beloved son, except…. Right above the TV, at eye level if one is
standing, is a famous framed poster of two fighters. On the canvas lays Liston…. Above Liston,
arms at his sides, stands Muhammad Ali (ne Cassius Clay). This is prime Ali: cut to the bone, little or
no body fat, sinew and muscle electrified, and the look on Muhammad’s face is
one of defiance personified.
It’s interesting…. As we age, what is
important to us at one segment of our lives becomes less important later on;
and what was once perceived as great about an individual perhaps fades and
dims, and we recognize, later on, something entirely different about a person
that may make them greater still. For
me, there will always be two Muhammad Alis:
The three-time world champion boxer, who I idolized in my youth; and the
black revolutionary figure --- who defied the U.S. Federal government and the
government’s ownership class, The White establishment --- that I came to know,
read about, and appreciate even more as an adult. If the two Alis were two separate men, they
both would be great, but as they were one man, Muhammad Ali was The 20th
Century’s Greatest man.
As a child, I first became aware of Ali
in the early 70s, watching his fights with my father. Muhammad was hugely entertaining. Not just because of his boxing prowess, but
also because his mouth had a preternatural ability to speak as quickly as his
brain thought. Now, this ability – to speak
rapidly – gets many of us in trouble.
With Ali, as a boxer – whether it be pre-fight confrontations with
opponents, or verbal gymnastics with sportscaster, Howard Cosell - the Louisville Lip was pure unadulterated show, and it was wonderful to watch.
By the mid- seventies Ali was beginning to
age. What any tenured professional
knows, or comes to learn if they are to last, is that as speed, reflex, agility
and strength begin to fade, they have to be replaced by discipline, knowledge,
preparation and strategy. And Ali
lasted, and he re-wrote the game and the science behind warfare between two
men. Ali, more than any other athlete or
coach, reminds me most of General Sun Tzu and his book, The Art War. The thesis behind Mr. Tzu’s book, and behind
Ali’s boxing style, is that: Every battle is won or lost before it’s ever
fought.
Ali crawled around inside his opponents' heads, he got under their skin, he f’ed w/ their minds…. Ali invaded their dreams and turned them into nightmares. All this before the fight even began.
Once in the ring, Muhammad might lean
against the ropes for several rounds – completely and maddeningly unorthodox,
as a younger, stronger, and more aggressive boxer blasted The Champ, seemingly,
with a horrific pounding. Ali often shifting
almost imperceptibly, avoiding, and dodging the most damaging of blows, all the
while verbally provoking and taunting his opponents. Most heavy weight opponents, as the fight
wore on, became frustrated, angered, and fearful that the destruction they
thought they were wreaking upon Ali was coming to naught… and some simply began
to break down with fatigue and wear out.
And that’s when Ali, the wolf, materialized. With a blitzkrieg of blows and counter punches,
Ali would lash out at an opponent, who only seconds earlier believed they were
in command. Muhammad’s victims were
trapped, the tables turned, and suddenly found themselves on the canvas in a
state of delirium – caused by Ali’s strategy and an acute beat down. Lights out.
Game over.
Next.
Like any great tale, Ali’s story can’t be
told w/out the events surrounding his life. The back drop of Ali’s rise as a professional
fighter was American culture and society in the 60s and 70s. A culture rife with racism, inequality, and
extreme poverty, particularly among persons of color, and notably, one very
nasty American war half a world away in Vietnam. It was also a time of exceptional blowback
against the establishment and their minions, the political class - a
considerable amount of which was motivated by the draft or forced conscription.
If Ali’s words became weaponized w/in the
ring, they became weapons of mass destruction within the black community and were
ultimately, aimed at the American power establishment’s heart. Ali was undoubtedly radicalized in his youth
by his environment in Louisville, Kentucky, and via a racist and segregationist
South. Boxing and the fame it brought him became, as Muhammad acknowledged, a spring board for an exceptionally powerful voice in American culture. With
boxing and his championships as his platform, Ali called a great deal of
attention to the gross inequality in our society, America’s racism, America’s
segregation, Jim Crow, and U.S. colonialism and imperialism abroad.
At great personal risk to himself, his family,
and his livelihood, in relatively short order, Ali:
·
Rejected his slave name, becoming Cassius X and then
Muhammad Ali;
·
He revolted against Christianity, which had been perverted
for millennium by Americans and Europeans to justify every evil under the sun –
including slavery, crusades, and so, Ali became a Muslim;
·
Ali began to speak out on the injustice in American
society, and fought for civil rights;
·
Muhammad was quoted by Dr. King, and was friends with Malcom X, who proscribed that the black man should obtain equality in America, by any means necessary;
·
And most defiantly, he rejected the war in Vietnam, all
that it stood for (namely, America’s commercial empire), and refused to be
drafted into the military.
Ironically, the U.S. military more than likely would have used Ali - not as a warrior – but a propaganda tool, a role
model, and a morale builder for the U.S. troops, many of whom were black.
Ali was having none of it, and he was
banned from his livelihood – during the prime of his career – for three to four
long years, and threatened with prison.
For standing up for himself, the black community, and arguably all
Americans against a horrific war, Ali received derision and scorn from many
quarters. Muhammad once said, the toughest battles in his life were – not fought in the ring - but with his first wife and the U.S. military. The pressure
to conform must have been enormous: To
go on making millions, to look the other way, and remain quiet about America’s
perverted underbelly and long deeply exploitive history.
Instead, Ali became a champion of words
and of many black and brown communities throughout America, who had no voice.
The iconoclast would ultimately become an
icon. And over time – over the span
of decades – the radical would become co-opted and adopted by the
establishment, itself. President George W. Bush would recognize Ali and award
him the Medal of Freedom in 2005. Of
course, the establishment always attempts to sanitize and control the narrative
surrounding the radicals it incorporates into the American story, for purposes
of mass consumption. MLK, late in life,
began to recognize that there could be no civil rights in society w/out
economic civil rights, particularly when he said: “This country has socialism
for the rich, rugged individualism for the poor.” Today, the message and veneration surrounding
MLK is often neatly confined to his march for civil rights, and little is said about MLK’s advocacy for economic civil rights and his support for a guaranteed income provided by the state.
In the same manner and over the span of
time, the establishment will assuredly attempt to tone down the radicalism
surrounding Muhammad Ali, and play up his abilities w/in the boxing arena. The U.S. military also learned a valuable lesson, eventually did away with the draft, and went with an all voluntary
military force. The unfortunate results of the all voluntary force are seen today, in:
1) American warfare w/out end; 2) minorities and the poor serving in highly disproportionate numbers on the front lines of America’s wars; and 3) as
they have no skin in the game, the general public pays little heed to U.S.
foreign policy, the outrageous resources our military industrial complex consumes,
and the atrocities America – directly and indirectly – participates in around the globe.
It was this brave and revolutionary Ali
that I came to know and appreciate later in my own life, and it’s why
his picture adorns my living room today.
Ali the prizefighter - phenomenal; Ali the revolutionary – the patriot,
who stood up for his community – The Greatest!
What some white Americans fail to realize is that Ali’s message should
resonate with them, as much as with the black community. White Americans are presently dying off
before their time, in large part due to wage and wealth inequality in this
country, and economic oppression caused by free trade agreements. For years, lower and middle class whites were
made to feel good about themselves, because no matter how bad things got, at
least they often had a job and could feel superior to their black and brown
brothers. But with A.I., globalization,
outsourcing, automation, and the advent of the Monopoly Economy (brought to you
– and financed - in large part by global central banks’ and the Federal Reserve’s
policies), white Americans are no freer from economic and political tyranny than
their black and brown brothers and sisters.
The vast majority of Americans, regardless of color, live one paycheck
away from humility.
If you think I jest…. Take a look at the
present rebellion w/in the Republican Party in the form of one Mr. Donald
Trump, and how a socialist senator from Vermont, Mr. Bernie Sanders, damn near
picked off Queen Hillary. The key take
away from this political primary season is that while Mr. Trump blames
immigrants and people of color for America’s problems, Mr. Sanders blames the
Robber Barons (aka The Ruling Oligarchy) for many of the problems confronting
all Americans. The former message is
divisive, and coming from a billionaire – highly self-serving. While the latter political message addresses
the real problem: the economic and
political disenfranchisement of all Americans (regardless of race, color, or
creed), and our democracy usurped and controlled by the Shadow State/Billionaire class.
P.S.
The World’s
Greatest offers another lesson for all of us, particularly the youth. And that lesson is time is short. The Goddess Almighty gives us all gifts and a
limited amount of time to use them, so use both your time and your gifts wisely. Some would argue Ali’s greatest gift was his
fists, I would argue Ali’s greatest gift was his voice; but like a thief in the
night, his voice was taken from him at a relatively early age, through Parkinson’s. Perverse, isn’t it (?): One of the greatest voices of a generation muted early, and trapped in silence.
Reminds me of Beethoven losing his hearing, prematurely.
Paradox wrapped
in irony wrapped in an enigma, there’s no other way to describe why the Goddess
does what she does. We merely are
thankful that we were allowed to have Ali in our lives for the limited time allotted.
Ali’s spirit of
defiance and revolutionary drive lives on…. Today, some can see it in heroes,
like Mr. Edward Snowden and Ms. Chelsea Manning (both of whom are fighting the
state, and have done their utmost to educate Americans). And to think, Ali’s journey into boxing, and
his battles with American injustice, began when some neighborhood bully stole
young Cassius’ red Schwinn bicycle. We
should find the kid who stole that bike – motivating the young Ali to take up
the sport – and build a monument honoring him.
That thief set off a chain of events that produced the 20th
Century’s Greatest man.
Copyright
JM Hamilton Publishing 2016
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