What makes a hero in today's world? Muhammad Ali's humanitarian ideals

Receiving the 2012 Liberty Medal National Constitution Center Philadelphia, PA 9/13/12

It was not boxing that makes Muhammad Ali a hero to many people.  Nor was it his objection to serving in the military in Vietnam.  It was his ability to stand up for his beliefs and to do so in an honest and direct way, that landed him in jail because of his refusal to be drafted into military service, to do so and remain on American soil and take the hard knocks for it as well.  He is also a hero because of his humanitarian ideals and service and his ability to stand up to Parkinson's disease, an illness that has caused serious disabilities that have not ended his ability to work for those ideals.

When people speak of football heroes, it is largely because of their prowess on the field of football or another sports activity..  However, most of these people have little that makes them outstanding except in sports, and how are sports a heroic venture?  But when people are able to make a contribution by their lives in educating about issues that impact all of us, and to do so proudly and with an eye to the needs of others, is when we stand and applaud those efforts as special.

 Ali won many fights, but his fight with Parkinson has been the one that has taken him down a lengthy road where he has had to suffer greatly, just as others with his illness have done.  He has, however, spoken out for treatment, has given to the cause of helping others and has demonstrated by his own behavior that he is not just a former boxing champion, but a champion of doing the right thing in the right way.

At a time when people are losing confidence in government, the media and even in their faith, sometimes it makes all people grow a little taller by knowing there are special people who make a difference with their lives.  And Muhammad Ali's life has made a difference.

A reader responded to the question asked about Ali's charitable work and said this:  Ali has also been a long-time supporter of research efforts to end Parkinson's disease, a disease he has battled with since the age of 42. To further this goal, he formed the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, A.Z., which provides treatment, research, and education for patients and families affected by Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders regardless of ability to pay."

Ali's website details what is said to be the six core principles guiding his humanitarian work.  These include, as stated to be:

Confidence:  Belief in oneself, one's abilities and one's future
Conviction:  A firm belief that gives one the courage to stand behind that belief, despite pressure to do otherwise
Dedication:  The act of devoting all of one's energy, effort and abilities to a certain task
Giving:  To present voluntarily without expecting something in return
Respect:  Esteem for, or a sense of the worth or excellence of oneself and others
Spirituality:  A sense of awe, reverence and inner peace inspired by a connection to all of creation and/or that which is greater than oneself


Ali is said by his brother to be too ill to attend a film about his life, as this article is written, I Am Ali, due to failing health.  His illness has robbed him of the ability to walk unaided or to speak intelligibly, as occurs with many people with Parkinson's disease, especially in its later stages.

For those of a certain age, who remembered the man and the major fight against Floyd Patternson  that brought Ali his original notoriety as a boxer and his poetic recitations of his prowess, watching the man deal with his mortality in a fashion that has grace and stature reminds one of what it takes to be special, to be a hero.  It means that sacrifice for others and the ability to deal with a threatening illness, looking into the face of disability and possibly death as a real champion, as Ali was those years ago in boxing and is now, at a time people refer to as their golden years,  pure gold.

Edward Snowden, Muhammad Ali and Martha Stewart: History's verdict isthe prism

[caption id="attachment_19032" align="alignleft" width="515"] Muhammad Ali being embrached by President Bush as a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.[/caption]

Carol Forsloff --Muhammad Ali protested the war in Vietnam at a critical time in his career as a boxer.  Martha Stewart was a household name as an adviser on all things household in a multi-million dollar empire of her making but found guilty of insider trading.  Both went to prison for crossing the line in some way they might have avoided through money and influence.  How does this differ with Edward Snowden and what might be history's verdict?

Obviously there are differences in the backgrounds of Snowden, Ali and  Stewart and the circumstances and behaviors of each when they made decisions that could damage their careers and cause them to be charged with criminal offenses.  But there is a prism of values in a broader sense that makes some comparisons reasonable of the behaviors of all three of these individuals,  as they have been viewed at the time they made their controversial decisions and what history's perception might be.

Muhammad Ali was a young boxer/fighter of great promise when he won the title of heavyweight champion of the world against George Foreman in the early 1960’s.  He was known for his colorful poetic style, his in-your-face manner, and his thumbing his nose at every establishment figure in the world of sports and elsewhere.  He was admired for his athletic skills but not beloved for his behavior, so when he became a Muslim and consequently refused to fight in the Vietnam War, few stood up and cheered his stance, except the more shrill of the anti-Vietnam movement at the time.   Because he had been drafted, and refused to serve in the war, according to the laws of the United States at the time, he had to go to prison.  He did, losing his treasured trophies, his reputation and a good deal of the time he needed to maintain his athletic skills.

Ali left prison a changed man,  with a following that expanded over the years, until he has become a respected figure in the eyes of many people in the United States.  He was seen by some of the liberal-minded folks of the 1960’s as a heroic figure.   Now, however, he is lauded as a man of strong will and the character to stand up for his beliefs in an authentic way, even as he had to stand up against racism that was a visible blot on the American landscape.    A movie has been made of his life, and he has received many commendations for his generosity and service in many areas, even as he has suffered disabilities from Parkinson’s disease.  His story is now seen by history as the story of American opposition to the Vietnam War and also of how history changes the perception  about those who suffer consequences for their beliefs in the manner he did.  He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Bush in November 2005.

Martha Stewart was accused of having inside trader information in the financial arena.   She went through a complex trial, that was already playing out in the press at the time,  being found guilty of knowing and using that inside financial information, which was against the law.  She went to prison, where she worked with female prisoners, teaching, guiding, consoling and generally being the woman of decorum that remains a figure of stature in the how-to world of both men and women.

Edward Snowden took a job that required a security clearance and took an oath not to reveal any information that was labeled as government secrets.  It is the kind of security clearance given to engineers, physicists and others who work in sensitive areas on sensitive government projects.  But he took the job, he says, specifically to reveal secrets, thereby violating both his company code and the government’s laws.  Rather than going to an American agency or media outlet first, he elected to divulge his secrets to foreign press and governments.

For Snowden, what is the judgment of him now and what will history's verdict be when he becomes the age of Muhammad Ali and Martha Stewart?  Will he be seen as a hero or traitor or just a man who made a decision and took the consequences in his own way, without any future redemption?     Some people have ambivalent feelings about all three figures in this discussion, but it remains the man or woman who flees, not faces, immediate consequences that does not have history's best assessment.   That's because character is often the standard by which many people rise and fall in the long lens of history's accounts.