Muhammad Ali: The End Of Fear

Preach

A quick few words about the passing of one of the most important people of the past one hundred years. Not just for marketers and advertisers!

When I was a kid, not to put too fine a point on it... Muhammad Ali was widely loathed, especially in my social circle. I won't repeat the words used to describe him, but Uppity might have been the least charged among them, with all kinds of other indignities hurled his way.

The only thing that kept the haters at bay was the fact that (a) Ali kept winning, and (b) the only guys to beat him, even in his failing years, were also African-Americans. Rooting for the likes of George Foreman, Leon Spinks or Larry Holmes was all just rooting for anyone on the Not Ali ticket.

So, what was it that people hated about the guy?

It really wasn't his stand against the war in Vietnam. Working classes of every race hated that war early and often, since only their sons got chosen to serve, and the long-term "vision" of a curtailed political system was rarely a big deal. Nor was it the points for which Ali could be pilloried; his cruelty in the ring to outmatched opponents in his peak days, his occasional political missteps, his general tendency towards outrage, his defense of a sport that gave him riches, but also helped to rob him of his intellect.

Rather, this.

Before Ali, there were controversial black athletes. Sonny Liston, the man he beat to be champion the first time, was a figure of considerable distaste for White America. Besides, every pioneer tends to wind up with arrows on their back and stomach.

Ali took that controversy to an entirely different level, because he didn't believe in false humility about his opinion of his opponent's competence. So instead of keeping his head down and reciting cliches, he took public discourse into realms that were not seen before. By doing this, Ali gave the biggest possible green light to competent African-Americans of all stripes that always following someone else's rules, regardless of the merit of these rules, was for rubes.

Because of one guy, being himself, refusing to be afraid.

This, to me, is the legacy of Ali, and why he was important.

Without Ali, maybe we don't get Mandela, Prince, Obama, and so many others.

Greatness isn't just what you do. It's what you inspire.

And very few people have ever inspired more greatness than Muhammad Ali.

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