Today I choose boxing legend Muhammad Ali (Outside of the Ring)
Speaking with British TV interviewer Micheal Parkinson. For the record, I don't agree with everything Mr Ali says and I am more critical of the manner in how he chose to express certain views at times - but I'm damn near 90% in agreement with him about so called educated people, and I could definately see the cunning in some of Parkinson's clever questions as he tries to corner Ali about certain subjects. This footage was chosen over alot of what people typically like to see about Ali because this footage shows Ali in full intellectual confrontation with Michael Parkinson. He does not rely on being comical in his usual rhyming fashion, on the contrary in this program there wasn't alot of applause, but still the energy in the room was sharper then a blade.
What I do admire about Muhammad Ali is the boldness and passion of his views, something that isn't as present in modern day sports personalities. Money and Fame, to be without these things for so many of today's athletes is just too unbearable. Ali faced imprisonment, got bankrupted in his fight against the supreme court of America for his refusal to fight in Vietnam when unlawfully drafted. Ali faced public scrutiny and was stripped of his Heavyweight title and went through public life turmoil for what he believed in. For this reason, he is featured here as one of my favorite people to watch as he debates and speaks his mind.
Take it in...
No matter what your opinion, whether for or against, it would always take courage for a man or a woman to speak their mind just as Ali did in that footage without fear of what anyone else would think.
Stay tuned for the next Charismatic Person Moment in History.
2 comments:
You call that courage...I don't. I think he's a natural born ass hole who just so happened to have opinions that people actually respected. People who speak like that are exactly what they portray, they say what they feel and just don't give a damn. This type of person isn't courageous, they are bold.
Ali was conceded, a bit vain and a tad bit over-confident in his positions, defiant, stubborn even to the point where it hurt his health when urged to stop boxing many times.
But Ali is loved not because he was a big mouth boxer (their were many big mouth boxers, still are some). Ali was loved because he wasn't typically Negroe. He was ahead of his time when it came to showing people how to be themselves, how to follow your convictions, and that's always admirable especially during those times when if a Black person said something those days they were shot or hung from a tree.
When asked to fight in Vietnam
Ali said: "Those Viet-cong never called me nigger"
How many Black American soldiers are saying today ? "Those Iraqis never called me nigger, hell they didn't even bomb us, The Taliban did".
How is Obama's stand against the War any different from what Ali said against Vietnam...aren't both men considered "courageous" for speaking out against an unjust war?
Hence why I put the vanity fair cover picture of both of them together.
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