The Devotion of Muhammed Ali

 I did watch all four two-hour segments of the Muhammad Ali documentary on PBS which aired a couple of weeks ago. I hadn't planned to view them all and at times I felt that there was just too much pummelling despite the fact that Ali's world-wide fame and perhaps notoriety resulted from his prowess as a boxer.His beginnings a a boxer were as a result of happenstance rather than intention, but he developed a singular focus which lifted him out of poverty. 

As I wrote a couple of months ago, I grew up with a sense of Ali as a braggart, as a shirker (he refused military service during the Vietnam War) and perhaps most disconcerting, an avowed Muslim. In the 60's and 70's many of us knew next to nothing about Islam but ignorance so often leads to suspicion. 

The documentary series certainly helped viewers understand that the loud-mouthed Ali who was too often cruel and demeaning to oppornents both inside and outside the ring was a complex and principled person in many respects. His conversion was specifically to the Nation of Islam, which at that time was essentially a cult, cherry-picking aspects of Islam and openly hostile to Whites. Just the same,

 Ali was devout, and felt that he could not participate in a war against other People of Colour, even though it was unlikely that he would ever have seen combat. He endured censure and widespread hatred because of his "unpatriotic" choice. He lost his boxing title at the height of his skills, and lmillions of dollars as well.

Evntually Ali came to a more moderate and orthodox understanding of Islam, as had his early mentor, Macolm X. He was bigger than boxing, for a time he was the best known athlete, and Muslim, in the world, a hero to Blacks and People of Colour around the planet. 

I am glad that I've come to a clearer picture of Ali, fisticuffs and all.