Muhammad Ali is Dying ... Again

By DON ROLLINS

Partly real, partly human Rorschach, he will forever be our chiseled and charismatic warrior-jester: a wily tactician in the ring, a principled jester in the public eye.

When word came last week that boxing icon Muhammad Ali is nearing death, it was followed almost immediately by a vigorous Twitter/selfie denial from The Champ, himself: “Don’t believe the hype. Feeling great.”

Non-practicing Ali fans hearing the false claims for the first time likely shrank at the prospect of his passing; but his millions of more dedicated followers across the globe long ago became callous to such rumors, so many times has he allegedly been at death’s door – only to miraculously rejoin us on this dusty plane. Indeed, over the course of the last decade reports of his impending demise have given rise to multiple social media death notices, premature press eulogies and racist good-riddance blogs. Yet, taxing as the irresponsible news segments must be to Ali and his loved ones, there is a silver lining to the bogus death bed reports: we have time to practice living in a world without him.

If that sounds like so much Baby Boomer hyperbole, consider that for the better part of a decade Muhammad Ali’s was the most recognized name in the world. Equal parts athlete, entertainer, activist, and ambassador, he was heralded from Attica to Africa as a force for change. But as with Dr. King, Ali’s legacy has in large measure been scrubbed clean of the more acidic elements that seemed to alienate every social, religious and political conservative in the nation – save for the compulsively photo-mugging Richard Nixon. And if the overall conservative response to Ali bordered on vitriol, those of us who shared his era recall a sizeable contingent of on- and off-record liberals for whom he was likewise political Kryptonite.

In his 2005 book The Lost Legacy of Muhammad Ali, author Thomas Hauser underscores the point that so caustic was Ali in his public prime, even the most progressive of mid-’60s/mid-’70s Democratic stalwarts reflexively distanced themselves from Ali and his periodic jeremiads.

Hauser delivers the reader a predictably complex Cassius Clay/Ali, complete with often stormy life, compulsive grandstanding and self-indulgences – a sadly familiar narrative among young, superior athletes.

Hauser thickens his plot by introducing the corrosive impact of corporatism and commercialism brought to bear on Ali’s legacy: “… there has been a determined effort to rewrite history in order to take advantage of Ali’s economic potential.”

The book’s essays reference examples of this whittling away of the boxer’s less temperate side, underscoring some of those given in Hauser’s earlier works on Ali. Example: Hauser suggests the major event that triggered Ali’s objectification was the full-circle moment when Ali was chosen to light the Olympic flame at the 1997 Games – the point in time when both Republican and Democratic corporatists “rediscovered” Ali and the profits he might still garner.

Gone here is Muhammad Ali, disturber of the status quo. In his place is the politically neutral hero, ringing the closing bell on Dec. 31,1999, as Wall Street marked the end of the most profitable century in history. Even allowing for recurring financial hardship, Ali and his inner circle are responsible for the ultimate handling of his image. But there can be no denying corporate America’s knack for spotting human trademarks with capitalistic promise, turning even prophets into profits.

In a passage from the UK Observer Sport Monthly written in 2003, Hauser presaged the day when news of Ali’s death is no longer a hoax: “Great [men] are considered great, not only because of what they achieve, but also because of the road they travel to reach their final destination. Sanitising Muhammad Ali and rounding off the rough edges of his journey are a disservice both to history and to Ali himself. Rather than cultivate historical amnesia, we should cherish the memory of Ali as a warrior and as a gleaming symbol of defiance against an unjust social order…”

Until that day, we can at least practice living in that world without him.

Don Rollins is a juvenile court program coordinator and Unitarian Universalist minister in Jackson, Ohio. Email donaldlrollins@gmail.com.

From The Progressive Populist, December 1, 2014