THE TRIBUTES + WATCH - Muhammad Ali: 1942- 2016

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"When I was younger I used to dream that I was running down Broadway in downtown Louisville, Kentucky and all of the people were gathered in the street waving at me and clapping and cheering my name. I waved back then all of a sudden I just took off flying. I dreamed that dream all the time."  - Muhammad Ali - 

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Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer Outside Metro Hall

Statement From Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer On The Passing of Muhammad Ali. 

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer delivered a speech on the death of Muhammad Ali on Saturday morning, June 4, 2016, outside Metro Hall, 527 W. Jefferson St. Here is the full text:

"Muhammad Ali lived a life so big and bold, it’s hard to believe that any one man could do everything he did, could be all the things that he became in the course of just one lifetime.

This man, this champion, ended his 74 years yesterday as A United Nations Messenger of Peace; a Humanitarian and champion athlete who earned Amnesty International’s Lifetime Achievement Award; the Presidential Medal of Freedom; and Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Century.

He was co-founder, with his beloved wife Lonnie, of the Muhammad Ali Center, which promotes respect, hope, and understanding here in his hometown of Louisville, and around the world.

A man of action and principle, he was a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War, and willingly paid the price, taking a stand that forced him out of the ring for over three years during the prime of his career.

A devout Muslim and interfaith pioneer, he took the name Muhammad Ali in 1964 and advocated for understanding and peace among people of different faiths.

He was, of course, three-time heavyweight champion of the world -- a young, handsome fighter with swagger like the world had never seen. He intimidated opponents outside the ring and dominated them inside it.

Like when he predicted he would beat Sonny Liston in 1964, made it happen, and shouted, “I shook up the world.”

He was winner of the Olympic Gold Medal in Rome, 1960.

A graduate of Louisville’s Central High School, class of 1960.

He was a 12-year-old boy whose red bicycle was stolen in front of a gym on Fourth Street, who told police officer Joe Martin that he wanted to “whup” whoever took it. And Martin said that he’d better learn to box first.

Muhammad Ali was a boy who grew up at 3302 Grand Avenue. He liked to eat hot dogs and play Clue with his brother in a house that’s now a museum.

And before that, he was a newborn baby, Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., born January 17, 1942 to Cassius Sr. and Odessa Grady Clay.

Imagine that day, that little boy, eyes wide open looking around the room at the old Louisville General Hospital. Not knowing the life that awaited him. The life he would make. The world he would shake up. The people he would inspire.

And like you, I am absolutely one of those people.

Muhammad Ali belongs to the world, but he only has one hometown. The Louisville Lip spoke to everyone, but we heard him in a way no one else could – as our brother, our uncle, and our inspiration.

And I am so grateful I had the chance to know him and see how he leveraged his fame to share his message of love, peace and compassion.

What The Champ would want us to do right now is to spread that same message, follow his example, and live by the same six core principles that he lived by:

Confidence, Conviction, Dedication, Giving, Respect and Spirituality.

I’d like to close with Muhammad’s words, which carried just as much grace and power as his fists ever did. This comes from his book The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on Life’s Journey. “It doesn't matter whether you're a Muslim, a Christian, or a Jew. When you believe in God, you should believe that all people are part of one family. If you love God, you can't love only some of his children.” 

He believed passionately in the need for us all to keep our eyes, our minds and our hearts open so we can keep learning from each other. As he says,

“My soul has grown over the years, and some of my views have changed. As long as I'm alive, I will continue to try to understand more because the work of the heart is never done.”

We all remember the incredible moment in 1996 when Muhammad held that burning torch in his trembling hand and lit the Olympic flame in Atlanta.

And now, he has passed his torch to us.

While there can only be one Muhammad Ali, his journey from Grand Avenue to global icon serves as a reminder that there are young people with the potential for greatness in houses and neighborhoods all over our city, our nation and our world.

There is no limit to what our kids can do if we help them realize their full human potential - and there is no excuse for us to do anything less than our best to help them find that greatness in themselves.

That’s how we can be champions. Muhammad Ali has shown us the way.

Today, we, his fellow Louisvillians, join the billions whose lives he touched worldwide in mourning his passing, celebrating his legacy, and saying, “Thank you Muhammad, for everything you’ve given to your hometown, your country, and the world.”

Thank you. 

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President Barack Obama/Twitter

President Obama Looks Through a Muhammad Ali Book. 

Statement From President Barack Obama and The First Lady Michelle Obama On The Passing of Muhammad Ali. 

Muhammad Ali was The Greatest.  Period.  If you just asked him, he’d tell you.  He’d tell you he was the double greatest; that he’d “handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder into jail.”

But what made The Champ the greatest – what truly separated him from everyone else – is that everyone else would tell you pretty much the same thing. 

Like everyone else on the planet, Michelle and I mourn his passing.  But we’re also grateful to God for how fortunate we are to have known him, if just for a while; for how fortunate we all are that The Greatest chose to grace our time. 

In my private study, just off the Oval Office, I keep a pair of his gloves on display, just under that iconic photograph of him – the young champ, just 22 years old, roaring like a lion over a fallen Sonny Liston.  I was too young when it was taken to understand who he was – still Cassius Clay, already an Olympic Gold Medal winner, yet to set out on a spiritual journey that would lead him to his Muslim faith, exile him at the peak of his power, and set the stage for his return to greatness with a name as familiar to the downtrodden in the slums of Southeast Asia and the villages of Africa as it was to cheering crowds in Madison Square Garden.

“I am America,” he once declared. “I am the part you won’t recognize. But get used to me – black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own. Get used to me.”

That’s the Ali I came to know as I came of age – not just as skilled a poet on the mic as he was a fighter in the ring, but a man who fought for what was right.  A man who fought for us.  He stood with King and Mandela; stood up when it was hard; spoke out when others wouldn’t.  His fight outside the ring would cost him his title and his public standing.  It would earn him enemies on the left and the right, make him reviled, and nearly send him to jail.  But Ali stood his ground.  And his victory helped us get used to the America we recognize today.

He wasn’t perfect, of course.  For all his magic in the ring, he could be careless with his words, and full of contradictions as his faith evolved.  But his wonderful, infectious, even innocent spirit ultimately won him more fans than foes – maybe because in him, we hoped to see something of ourselves.  Later, as his physical powers ebbed, he became an even more powerful force for peace and reconciliation around the world.  We saw a man who said he was so mean he’d make medicine sick reveal a soft spot, visiting children with illness and disability around the world, telling them they, too, could become the greatest.  We watched a hero light a torch, and fight his greatest fight of all on the world stage once again; a battle against the disease that ravaged his body, but couldn’t take the spark from his eyes. 

Muhammad Ali shook up the world.  And the world is better for it.  We are all better for it.  Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to his family, and we pray that the greatest fighter of them all finally rests in peace.

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Statement From President George W. Bush On The Passing of Muhammad Ali. 

White House Photo by Paul Morse

Courtesy of George Bush Presidential Library and Museum/NARA

President George W. Bush embraces Muhammad Ali after presenting him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Wednesday November 9, 2005 during ceremonies at The White House. 

KENNEBUNKPORT, MAINE - Laura and I are saddened by the death of Muhammad Ali, The Greatest of All Time. I gave Ali the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005 and wondered aloud how he stayed so pretty throughout so many fights. "It probably had to do with his beautiful soul. He was a fierce fighter and he's a man of peace, just like Odessa and Cassius Clay Sr.  believed their son could be."

Muhammad Ali was an iconic and historic figure who thrilled, entertained, influenced and inspired millions. Americans will always be proud to have been in his corner and called him one of our own. 

Laura and I send our heartfelt condolences to Muhammad Ali's family and friends.

Muhammad Ali received The Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in 2005. Please WATCH below: 

Youtube/WRLD TV

Muhammad Ali Receives Presidential Medal of Freedom.   

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Statement From President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton On The Passing of Muhammad Ali. 

Root.com

President Bill Clinton Awards Muhammad Ali 

The Presidential Citizen's Medal in January 2001.

Hillary and I are saddened by the passing of Muhammad Ali.  From the day he claimed the Olympic gold medal in 1960, boxing fans across the world knew they were seeing a blend of beauty and grace, speed and strength that may never be matched again.

We watched him grow from the brash self-confidence of youth and success into a manhood full of religious and political convictions that led him to make tough choices and live with the consequences. Muhammad Ali was courageous in the ring, inspiring to the young, compassionate to those in need, and strong and good-humored in bearing the burden of his own health challenges.

 
I was honored to award him the Presidential Citizens Medal at the White House, to watch him light the Olympic flame, and to forge a friendship with a man who through triumph and trials became greater than his legend. 

Through triumph and trials he  became even greater than his legend. Hillary and I send our deepest condolences to his family and friends. 

JuicyChitChats 2016. [Tuesday 14th June]

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