FAVORITES. ORDER NOW AT PAPA MURPHY’S. EACH DAY DURING BLACK HISTORY MONTH, WE ARE HIGHLIGHTING IMPORTANT PEOPLE, CONTRIBUTIONS AND MOMENTS IN BLACK HISTORY. ON THIS DAY IN 1870, HIRAM REVELS TOOK THE OATH OF OFFICE AS THE FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN U.S. SENATOR. IN HIS FINAL SENATE SPEECH, REVELS DEFENDED LEGISLATION TO PROHIBIT DISCRIMINATION IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SCHOOLS BASED ON RACE, COLOR, OR PREVIOUS CONDITION OF SERVITUDE. AND ON THIS DAY IN 1974, WAS THE DAY CASSIUS CLAY SHOOK UP THE WORLD WITH HIS DEFEAT OF SONNY LISTON. CLAY, AS HE WAS KNOWN AT THE TIME, WAS A 22 YEAR OLD PHENOM KNOWN FOR HIS FLAMBOYANT STYLE AND BRAVADO. THAT NIGHT IN MIAMI, CLAY DANCED AROUND THE RING AND UNLEASHED A SCORCHING ATTACK TO CLAIM HIS FIRST BOXING TITLE WITH A SEVENTH ROUND TKO AGAINST LISTON. THE FOLLOWING YEAR, THE TWO WOULD MEET AGAIN. CLAY HAD CHANGED HIS NAME TO MUHAMMAD ALI, AND HE SENT SONNY LISTON TO THE FLOOR IN THE FIRST ROUND OF THAT MATCH AND CEMENTED THIS PHOTO. IT WOULD BECOME
Muhammad Ali’s legacy extends beyond his stinging right jab, world titles and Olympic gold medal, to the heart and compassion he showed long after he left the ring, his wife Lonnie Ali said.”He transcended boxing into every space you can imagine,” she told The Associated Press this week ahead of the 10-year anniversary of Ali’s death on June 3, 2016, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.”Muhammad lived by this mantra: service to others is the rent we pay for our room here on Earth,” Lonnie Ali said during an interview at The Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky. “He showed up every day with kindness and empathy in his heart for people who are in need.”Ali, known as the “Louisville Lip” in his hometown, rose to prominence as a trash-talking world champion boxer in the 1960s and began speaking about civil rights issues as his star was rising. He is widely regarded as the most famous and influential boxer of all time, winning the heavyweight title three times.Video below: Muhammad Ali’s prediction of his face on a U.S. stamp comes trueThe Ali Center is sponsoring a “Day of Compassion” on Wednesday, the 10th anniversary of his death, to promote acts of service and caring. Lonnie Ali, who serves as the center’s lifetime director, said the hope is an expanding annual event to highlight works of service and volunteering.The day will focus on one of “the core values that made up Muhammad Ali” in an increasingly divided country, she said.”Today, we are in a place where we are losing touch with our humanity and with each other,” she said. “It’s causing rifts, not just in families and communities, but in this nation. We’re becoming increasingly polarized and separated, and sort of retreating to people who think like us, look like us, and not really reaching out.”She also challenged political leaders to lead with compassion, noting the recent weakening of the 1965 Voting Rights Act by the Supreme Court.”We should always be thinking about how we can uplift a community, not how we can make it harder for them,” Lonnie Ali said. “We want equal representation in this country. You can’t have equal representation when you’re denying people voting rights, you can’t do that.”But there is hope, she said, and she saw that when the city of Louisville came together for a weeklong celebration of Ali’s life in 2016. The week was capped by a funeral procession through the city and past her late husband’s modest childhood home near downtown Louisville. Former President Bill Clinton and actor Billy Crystal spoke at his funeral, and Will Smith, who portrayed Ali in a 2001 movie, was a pallbearer.The outpouring of love for Ali at his hometown funeral service was livestreamed to millions around the world. A decade later, Ali’s face graced a U.S. Postal Service stamp for the first time, showing his enduring influence.”We’re talking about people who traveled thousands of miles to come here, who had never met the man, never laid eyes on him personally, but wanted to … give their last respects to him: kings, princes, presidents, heads of state, celebrities, sports figures,” Lonnie Ali said.
Muhammad Ali’s legacy extends beyond his stinging right jab, world titles and Olympic gold medal, to the heart and compassion he showed long after he left the ring, his wife Lonnie Ali said.
“He transcended boxing into every space you can imagine,” she told The Associated Press this week ahead of the 10-year anniversary of Ali’s death on June 3, 2016, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.
“Muhammad lived by this mantra: service to others is the rent we pay for our room here on Earth,” Lonnie Ali said during an interview at The Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky. “He showed up every day with kindness and empathy in his heart for people who are in need.”
Ali, known as the “Louisville Lip” in his hometown, rose to prominence as a trash-talking world champion boxer in the 1960s and began speaking about civil rights issues as his star was rising. He is widely regarded as the most famous and influential boxer of all time, winning the heavyweight title three times.
Video below: Muhammad Ali’s prediction of his face on a U.S. stamp comes true
The Ali Center is sponsoring a “Day of Compassion” on Wednesday, the 10th anniversary of his death, to promote acts of service and caring. Lonnie Ali, who serves as the center’s lifetime director, said the hope is an expanding annual event to highlight works of service and volunteering.
The day will focus on one of “the core values that made up Muhammad Ali” in an increasingly divided country, she said.
“Today, we are in a place where we are losing touch with our humanity and with each other,” she said. “It’s causing rifts, not just in families and communities, but in this nation. We’re becoming increasingly polarized and separated, and sort of retreating to people who think like us, look like us, and not really reaching out.”
She also challenged political leaders to lead with compassion, noting the recent weakening of the 1965 Voting Rights Act by the Supreme Court.
“We should always be thinking about how we can uplift a community, not how we can make it harder for them,” Lonnie Ali said. “We want equal representation in this country. You can’t have equal representation when you’re denying people voting rights, you can’t do that.”
But there is hope, she said, and she saw that when the city of Louisville came together for a weeklong celebration of Ali’s life in 2016. The week was capped by a funeral procession through the city and past her late husband’s modest childhood home near downtown Louisville. Former President Bill Clinton and actor Billy Crystal spoke at his funeral, and Will Smith, who portrayed Ali in a 2001 movie, was a pallbearer.
The outpouring of love for Ali at his hometown funeral service was livestreamed to millions around the world. A decade later, Ali’s face graced a U.S. Postal Service stamp for the first time, showing his enduring influence.
“We’re talking about people who traveled thousands of miles to come here, who had never met the man, never laid eyes on him personally, but wanted to … give their last respects to him: kings, princes, presidents, heads of state, celebrities, sports figures,” Lonnie Ali said.
