Muhammad Ali and the Code

Muhammad Ali was declared the “Sportsman of the Century” by Sports Illustrated at the end of the last Century.  He was the most recognized person in the world for many years.  Yet his career began as a loud-mouthed upstart (the “Louisville Lip”) who angered the vast majority of white America for his brashness and lack of respect for the traditional social customs.  He was perhaps the original trash-talker, at the least the first to make it a fine art.  His words were often mean (“Sonny Liston is too ugly to be the Champion; he’s the ugliest man alive.”)  He became a symbol of Black America’s changing identity in the 60’s, and his fight with Floyd Patterson (whom he called an “Uncle Tom”) symbolized the difference between two eras.  Many were suspicious of his conversion to Islam.  It took years for the public to realize that he was now driven by a desire for peace and reconciliation between all races, peoples and religions.  As the years passed he took a larger and larger place on the world’s stage, and the stinging words of his youth became more and more words that spoke courageous truth that many did not want to hear.  It took a lifetime, but those who reviled him slowly came to appreciate, admire and even love him.  He did not begin by “respecting the dignity of every person,” but he ended up devoting his life to that purpose, and to giving his life for “the betterment of (his) community and world.”   From a young man who threw his Olympic medal into the Ohio River out of anger over segregation, to the most beloved child of his city, to an Ambassador to the world, few people have had a greater impact on their eras.  What are the most important lessons to learn from his life that you can make a part of yours?  What are the ways in which you would like to grow?