Celebrities, Deaths

Muhammad Ali: The Greatest At Civil Disobedience

Maybe it's unfair to expect that any athlete could ever assume Muhammad Ali's mantle.

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Muhammad Ali (Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty)

Muhammad Ali (Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty)

“He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.”

— Muhammad Ali

This past week has been filled with recollections of encounters with Muhammad Ali. I’ve read story after story from his friends, family, and fans about his courage, generosity, incredible dignity, and depth of spirit.

I have possibly the lamest Muhammad Ali encounter story ever. Date: February 8, 1998. Place: Madison Square Garden, New York. Event: The National Basketball Association’s All-Star game.

The place was loaded with celebrities. Evander Holyfield, Jimmy Smits, Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, Jack Nicholson, Spike Lee (sitting courtside, as usual). Michael Jordan played in the All-Star game and led all scorers with 23 points. Those are just the celebs I saw.

And, oh yeah, Muhammad Ali.

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He was sitting next to Mr. and Mrs. Broderick in a section just off the court. He was no more than five or six rows away as I walked past him. He looked toward me as I strolled by. I saw his face, that unforgettable face, that pretty face, noticeably stiffened by the effects of Parkinson’s.

Twenty feet from Muhammad Ali — my only live brush with The Greatest. I did not get a chance to meet him that day, but, from everything I’ve heard, had I approached him with my hand extended, he would have greeted me like a friend.

I haven’t thought about that moment for many years.

Following his passing last week, I took some time to reflect on why Muhammad Ali is my all-time hero. Every person who considers him to be “The Greatest” has his or her reasons. Here is the best way I can summarize my feelings: Courage of his convictions. Professionally brilliant and brash. Personally humble. World-class athlete. World-class communicator. World-class entertainer. Most importantly, world-class human being.

What a package.

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There’s so much I could write about him that I find worthy to note. His charisma. The way he faced Parkinson’s with such dignity, not wanting fans to feel sorry for him. His untiring charitable work. His incredible pugilistic skills, and on and on.

I want to focus, however, on the courage of his convictions because it ties directly to the legal system. I harken back to the early days of English law prior to the courts of equity. The common law was strict and people were punished for technical breaches, commonly resulting in unjust outcomes. Hence, the system evolved to allow an appeal to the king for a more fair result when the common law proved unjust in the circumstances. This eventually led to the creation of the courts of equity.

Equity is at the heart of civil disobedience. When the law is wrong, when the law is unjust, and when there is no king to whom one might appeal, people of conscience stand up to change it. They don’t hide from the consequences. They actually wear the consequences as a badge of honor.

That’s what Ali did in 1967 — at incredible personal cost.

His refusal during the heart of the Vietnam War to accept induction into the United States Armed Forces, something that offended both his religious and personal beliefs, is the most remarkable thing a professional athlete has ever done. Ali’s widely read diatribe on the Vietnam War is an example of his gift for communication:

Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on Brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights? No I’m not going 10,000 miles from home to help murder and burn another poor nation simply to continue the domination of white slave masters of the darker people the world over. This is the day when such evils must come to an end. I have been warned that to take such a stand would cost me millions of dollars. But I have said it once and I will say it again. The real enemy of my people is here. I will not disgrace my religion, my people or myself by becoming a tool to enslave those who are fighting for their own justice, freedom and equality.… If I thought the war was going to bring freedom and equality to 22 million of my people they wouldn’t have to draft me, I’d join tomorrow. I have nothing to lose by standing up for my beliefs. So I’ll go to jail, so what? We’ve been in jail for 400 years.

That quote — 200 words — brilliantly encapsulates the man, the Vietnam War, and centuries of American racial brutality. Muhammad Ali once reportedly scored 78 on an Army IQ test. Re-read those 200 words and tell me that’s a man with a 78 IQ (a supposedly race-neutral test — yeah, right). He didn’t read those words off a teleprompter. Nobody whispered them in his ears. That’s a man talking from his passionate heart. That’s a young man (in his mid-20s) with an incredible sense of his own values and a keen understanding of both the present and the past.

As a result of his refusal to accept induction, Ali was stripped of his boxing license and faced the raging wrath of America’s political and legal system. How dare a black man say no? How dare a black man publicly humiliate the government?

In the prime of his career, Ali went three years — a lifetime in the boxing game — between fights.

Yet he did not back down, taking his fight all the way to the Supreme Court, where a unanimous panel affirmed his right to refuse induction on religious grounds. Courage of his convictions. Civil disobedience at its finest, standing up for equity when the law is an ass, consequences be damned.

Jump forward five decades, forget civil disobedience, we live in an era of simple disobedience. Hardly a day goes by without some professional athlete getting arrested for something stupid. Money seems to drive everything. Aside from buying Christmas gifts for underprivileged kids, I rarely see athletes making a difference. Athletes are conditioned to keep their mouths shut, lest they offend sponsors (who don’t want controversy). When was the last time you heard LeBron James say something truly controversial? What about Aaron Rodgers? Mike Trout? Sidney Crosby?

Many athletes would profess to admire Muhammad Ali, but “admire” and “try to make an impact like” are two different things.

Steph Curry seems like a warm and decent human being, but is he ever going to do anything life-altering beyond the basketball court? After his career is over, will he tirelessly travel the world to make an impact on people’s lives? Do we even expect him to? Charles Barkley is an outspoken ex-athlete who frequently lashes out against racial inequality, but Ali was The Greatest and Barkley is “Chuck.”

With triteness, I note the world of today is so different from the Vietnam Era. There are no more Alis. Sadly, there might never be again. Maybe it’s unfair to expect that any athlete could ever assume Ali’s mantle. Perhaps this era won’t allow for it.

I believe you are defined by the company you keep and the esteem you receive from those who are also esteemed.

Nelson Mandela called Muhammad Ali his hero. Paul McCartney called him “a beautiful, gentle man.” The Reverend George Foreman said it was “a privilege and an honor to know him.” Michael J. Fox, a fellow Parkinson’s sufferer, said Ali was “a champion for millions of Parkinson’s families.”

The Champ. Hero to the heroes. The Greatest… in so many ways.

That’s the View From Up North. Have a great week.

Steve Dykstra is a Canadian-trained lawyer and legal recruiter. He is the President of Steven Dykstra Law Professional Corporation, a boutique corporate/commercial law firm located in the greater Toronto area. You can contact Steve at steve@stevendykstralaw.ca. You can also read his blog at stevendykstra.wordpress.com, follow him on Twitter (@Law_Think), or connect on LinkedIn (ca.linkedin.com/in/stevedykstra/).

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