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Jun 12, 2016 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon
This will be one of the most difficult columns to compose. What can anyone write about Muhammad Ali one day after he was buried that has not been published since last week by all kinds of humans from all over the globe? In the end, one has to settle on the mental satisfaction that in one’s library of columns, there is a composition on a human that was extraordinary. So extraordinary that one simply cannot be a commentator and not do a viewpoint on him; on one of the few superheroes civilization has produced.
To avoid repeating from the thousands of descriptions and analyses of Muhammad Ali that have dominated the world press in the past week, I will contextualize his importance to the meaning of life. Before I go further, it needs to be said that no commentator can look back at his/her career and find that there was not even a published paragraph on the unbelievable icons of this world. Michael Jackson was included on my list, even though his music didn’t touch the genre of philosophy as Bob Marley, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and a few others did. Jackson’s contribution to global pop culture reached greater heights than the Beatles, Elvis Presley and Motown.
Nelson Mandela made my list and I guess every other writer on Planet Earth. A few icons are getting on in age and one hopes they stay around forever but that is not scientifically possible, and when they do leave us, our pen must do the right thing. My mind comes to Mikhail Gorbachev. He is 85. I think Gorbachev’s place in world history is not properly addressed. He shaped the 20th century to allow for greater freedoms for the peoples of the world.
The genius of pop music, Burt Bacharach is 88. The football genius, Pelé is still young at 75 but from July to November in 2015, Pelé was hospitalized nine times. Pope Francis has my adoration. He is 79. Naom Chomsky is 87. I do not like how he overlooks Third World fascism, but Naom Chomsky is an international icon that the world needs. We should be glad we have him around. Gary Sobers is 79. I am not a huge admirer of Fidel Castro. I think he destroyed a beautiful legacy through the morbid pursuit of permanent power achieved through the use of murder and violence.
Muhammad Ali comes within the great, phenomenal tradition of humans who throughout thousands of years of history have taught civilization that without dignity there can be no actual existence. He showed the peoples of the world that if you are willing to fight other people’s dirty wars for them, you will end up a victim like those you kill, because people who send you to war have no use for you. The only winner in war is the man who sends you onto the battlefield to kill for him.
Ali showed the world that emulation of other people’s culture is another way of losing your dignity. At the height of global fame that was simply breathtaking, he turned his back on mainstream American culture and converted to Islam. It didn’t matter if he would lose his international following; if he would be shunned by his own country. In his heart that was what he wanted, and he openly embraced what he felt was his calling. The stark contrast between Michael Jackson and Muhammad Ali is incredibly graphic. Jackson wanted acceptance by one and all, so he emulated other cultures with tragic results. Ali would never shape his life to please others just because he wanted their acceptance. This is where the greatness of the man lies.
The entire world knew he was serious about his religion and his name-change, but Ali never let it affect his attitude to race relations. You have to look very hard to find condemnation of White Americans by Muhammad Ali, and you wouldn’t find it. You have to look very hard to find condemnation of other cultures by Muhammad Ali, and you wouldn’t find it. This is the beautiful legacy he has the world with. He was a man for all seasons, all races and all countries.
The lesson we should learn from Muhammad Ali’s life is that you can be proud of your race, your religion, your culture, but those are personal values that should never play a judgmental role in your relationship with the people you meet, work with, or have to relate to. He was Black, he was Muslim, but above all he was humane, and his humanity overrode everything else.
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