Dear Editor
Muhammad Ali embraced his celebrity, but it seemed to compel him towards, rather than away from, saying things that challenged the social norms of the time. Instead, he used his platform to champion civil rights even when it earned him notoriety, and his refusal of the draft in 1967 cost him his world title and earned him a three-year boxing ban. He also associated with controversial black supremacist movements and ideas that he later renounced.
The reams of obituary that have been written about Ali tell us much about the world of the 1960s and 1970s, not because he simply reflected the society in which he practised his sport, but because, like other great civil rights activists of the 20th century – Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela – he catalyzed social change.
Ali was one of a kind, won’t be duplicated, and won’t be replicated. Celebrity wasn’t clearly recognized or defined in Ali’s age, although he did recognize that his talents and attributes, even physical and charismatic attributes, could engender social change for his people and he took that leap and did it.
He was astute in recognizing that his stance against the Vietnam War could cost him everything in the short term, but would transform his world and that of his people in the mid to long term, and took that gamble. He had the foresight that his status would only wane for a short while as he was a one-man blockbuster, irresistible and irrepressible. He played the system for the better to achieve some measure of social justice for Blacks and open authorities eyes to the prevailing unacceptable circumstances.
I don’t know of any modern day celebrities who will do that now. As Malcom X’s daughter said at the memorial, Ali belonged to a distinguished fraternity of the time (MLK, Malcolm X, JFK, Rosa Parks); the fraternity for social change at all costs; the fearless fraternity which no longer could accept the status quo. I am in awe of these inspiring stalwarts. In these modern times we are starved of real heroes, both political and social, as we are all held to ransom by the powers that be and the warped ideologies both capitalist and spiritual that they espouse.
As for modern day celebrities, they are ten a penny. All it takes to assume celebrity status now is an audition on the X Factor or similar reality TV shows.
Yours faithfully
Rooplall Dudhnath
