Muhammad Ali, Dead at 74
“I don’t have to be who you want me to be; I’m free to be who I want.”
-- Muhammad Ali, morning after winning his first heavyweight title
I want to keep a few tidbits from the Times's extensive obituary. It was noted that Cassius Clay started boxing at 12 after his new red Schwinn bike was stolen, and thus a legend was a born. Beyond the boxing, of course, Ali had a controversial political life, reacting against the white supremacy of America, joining a separatist black sect, the Lost-Found Nation of Islam. He once said, “In the jungle, lions are with lions and tigers with tigers. I don’t want to go where I’m not wanted.” He was seldom without humor, though, and he once joked, “If a black man, a Mexican and a Puerto Rican are sitting in the back of a car, who’s driving? Give up? The po-lice.”
This obituary was written with some esprit, as we can see with this observation: "His personal life was paradoxical. Ali belonged to a sect that emphasized strong families, a subject on which he lectured, yet he had dalliances as casual as autograph sessions." Interestingly, in these relations, Ali seemed to stick to his 'lions and tigers' philosophy, keeping to black women.
But there is always the boxing, that whole 'float like a butterfly, sting like a bee' thing, "carrying into the ring a physically lyrical, unorthodox boxing style that fused speed, agility and power more seamlessly than that of any fighter before him."
Interestingly, as related in the obituary, "The traditionalist fight crowd was appalled by his style; he kept his hands too low, the critics said, and instead of allowing punches to 'slip' past his head by bobbing and weaving, he leaned back from them. Eventually his approach prevailed."
Ali perhaps best summed up his impact on the American experience this way: "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 used to me."
[Source: Robert Lipsyte for The New York Times]
-- Muhammad Ali, morning after winning his first heavyweight title
I want to keep a few tidbits from the Times's extensive obituary. It was noted that Cassius Clay started boxing at 12 after his new red Schwinn bike was stolen, and thus a legend was a born. Beyond the boxing, of course, Ali had a controversial political life, reacting against the white supremacy of America, joining a separatist black sect, the Lost-Found Nation of Islam. He once said, “In the jungle, lions are with lions and tigers with tigers. I don’t want to go where I’m not wanted.” He was seldom without humor, though, and he once joked, “If a black man, a Mexican and a Puerto Rican are sitting in the back of a car, who’s driving? Give up? The po-lice.”
This obituary was written with some esprit, as we can see with this observation: "His personal life was paradoxical. Ali belonged to a sect that emphasized strong families, a subject on which he lectured, yet he had dalliances as casual as autograph sessions." Interestingly, in these relations, Ali seemed to stick to his 'lions and tigers' philosophy, keeping to black women.
But there is always the boxing, that whole 'float like a butterfly, sting like a bee' thing, "carrying into the ring a physically lyrical, unorthodox boxing style that fused speed, agility and power more seamlessly than that of any fighter before him."
Interestingly, as related in the obituary, "The traditionalist fight crowd was appalled by his style; he kept his hands too low, the critics said, and instead of allowing punches to 'slip' past his head by bobbing and weaving, he leaned back from them. Eventually his approach prevailed."
Ali perhaps best summed up his impact on the American experience this way: "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 used to me."
Click to view[Source: Robert Lipsyte for The New York Times]