When I think of professional sports as a platform for protest in today's Black Lives Matter movement, I'm reminded of historical sports figures who made statements of racial protest in their day; Jesse Owens, Bill Russell, John Carlos and Tommie Smith. Some of these black men, and I'm sure others less famous, were banned and/or blacklisted from competing in their sport ever again, ala Colin Kaepernick.
There was one great African-American sports figure who stood up and protested not only racial inequality and discrimination, but also an unjust war (Vietnam).
In 1967, Boxing Legend Muhammad Ali had his championship title and professional boxing license stripped after being convicted of draft evasion. He was sentenced to 5 years in jail and a $10,000.00 fine.
"On April 23, 1971, the Supreme Court voted to send the world's best known athlete to jail"
We all remember Ali as a natural at creating fun rhymes/raps about his unmatchable boxing prowess and "pretty" looks. His unique lyrical cadence and style were all his own. To this day his saying "Float like a Butterfly Sting like a Bee" is still printed and sold on T-shirts; I happen to own one and wear it proudly. Though he sometimes taunted opponents with poems of domination and victory, almost all understood that it was just Ali having fun and selling the big showdown.
I recently came across an early Ali interview where he gives a powerful rendition of a poem he penned, inspired by racial injustice and police brutality during the 1971 Attica Prison uprising. Not only does Ali display a mesmerizing ability to recite the lengthy poem from memory, he delivers it with a style and grace not unlike the boxing skills he demonstrated in the ring.
Ali’s genius and grace transcended the boxing ring, and this poem is proof of that.
‘Better to
Die Fighting to be Free’
Better far –
from all I see –
To die
fighting to be Free
What more
fitting end could be?
Better
surely than in some bed
Where in
broken health I’m led
Lingering until
I’m dead
Better than
with prayers and pleas
Or in the
clutch of some disease
Wasting
slowly by degrees
Better than
a heart attack
Or some dose
of drug I lack
Let me die by
being Black
Better far
that I should go
Standing
here against the foe
Is the
sweeter death to know
Better than
the bloody stain
On some
highway where I’m lain
Torn by
flying glass and pane
Better
calling death to come
Than to die
another dumb,
Muted victim
in the slum
Better than
of this prison rot
If there’s
any choice I’ve got
Kill me here
on the spot
Better for
my fight to wage
Now while my
blood boils with rage
Less it cool
with ancient age
Better
violent for us to die
Than to
Uncle Tom and try
Making peace
just to live a lie
Better now
that I say my sooth
I’m gonna
die demanding Truth
While I’m
still akin to youth
Better now
than later on
Now that
fear of death is gone
Never mind
another dawn.
-
Muhammad
Ali
10 Athletes who made historic political or social protests
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