Page 2 The Skanner June 15, 2016
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Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now
Opinion
Bernie Foster
Founder/Publisher
Remembring Muhammed Ali’s Courage and Grace
Bobbie Dore Foster
Executive Editor
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News Editor
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Reporter
Monica J. Foster
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“
Rep. Eddie
Bernice
Johnson
U.S. Rep.,
Texas
He was a wise and purposeful
man, a son of the South, who
rose to the pinnacle of a sport
that brought him fame and
wealth. Despite his success it
appeared that he was in pur-
suit of something else, some-
thing far more valuable than
money, fame, regular men-
tion in the headlines of news-
papers or a gallery of friends.
He oten said that those who
are not “courageous enough
The meaning and dimensions of
his life have helped to shape the
very mosaic of the 21st century
light illuminated the hearts,
the minds, and the souls of
men, women and children the
world over. He lived a trans-
formational life with vision at
its core.
Muhammad Ali once said
that a person who views the
world at 50-years of age the
same as they did at 20-years of
age has wasted 30 years of life.
to take risks will accomplish
nothing in life.” The risks
that he took inside and out
of the boxing ring were nu-
merous, from refusing to
enter the drat for the Viet-
nam War which caused him
to be stripped of his title and
banned from boxing while
in his prime, to exposing his
CREATIVE COMMONS
Jerry Foster
Advertising Manager
ith the passing of
the larger than life
sports personality,
Muhammad Ali, the
world has lost more than a
great boxing champion. We
have lost a remarkable hu-
man being whose life was
laced with courage, dignity
and grace. While his athletic
talents had long since passed,
his face was recognized on
every continent in the world,
from the largest cities to the
smallest villages. He was
more than a citizen of a single
country. He was, in fact, a citi-
zen of the world.
The meaning and dimen-
sions of his life have helped
to shape the very mosaic of
the 21st century. His inner
Congresswoman Johnson said that Muhammad Ali was a wise and purposeful
man, a son of the South, who rose to the pinnacle of a sport that brought him
fame and wealth.
body to more than 20,000
punches from his opponents
throughout his historic ca-
reer.
During the course of his
life, Muhammad Ali strug-
gled with the direction of his
nation, and some of its citi-
zens struggled with him.
Yet, as time passed and his
compassion for others and his
battle for social and economic
justice emerged, he became
a national and international
hero.
We may never see the likes
of Muhammad Ali again. Yet
we must never forget all that
he stood for, and the manner
in which he engaged with us
and the world.
I am grateful that he chose
to live and work amongst us
as he did. We are a better peo-
ple, a better nation, and a bet-
ter world because of the life
and inluence of Muhammad
Ali.
Congresswoman
Johnson
represents the 30th Congressio-
nal District of Texas.
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No, Muhammed Ali Did Not ‘Transcend Race’
M
uhammad Ali was,
among other things, a
proud Black man.
He embraced his
Blackness, and oten referred
to it. He is oten quoted for
saying he had no quarrel with
the Vietcong, but less fre-
quently quoted for saying, in
the very next sentence, “the
Vietcong never called me a
n**r.” Muhammad Ali was un-
apologetically Black.
Why, in death, are White
folks claiming that he “tran-
scended” race?
White people must think it
some kind of compliment to
say someone “transcended”
race. I consider it an insult.
Race is nothing that some-
one has to overcome, or “rise
above.” Race is not an impedi-
ment. It is simply a fact.
Muhammad Ali is “The
Greatest,” he’s amazing, he’s
an outstanding boxer, he’s a
humanist and he is a Black
man. Nothing to transcend.
Something just to be.
I have never heard any-
one say that a White person
transcended race because,
perhaps, Whiteness is not
perceived as a hindrance,
as something to rise above.
Whiteness is perceived as the
norm, and everything else is
perceived as at least some-
what deicient.
This manner of thinking
Julianne
Malveaux
NNPA
Columnist
is what allows the likes of
Donald Trump to disrespect
a judge because his parents
were born in Mexico. It is the
kind of thinking that allows
a judge to sentence a teen-
“
humanism and his kindness?
Why is it necessary to implic-
itly put his Blackness down,
to compliment the man while
going negative on his race?
He never went negative. He
was essentially, and centrally,
a Black man.
Ater all, he converted to the
Nation of Islam when he was
in his early twenties and had
adhered to that faith for the
rest of his life. His friendship
with Malcolm X was likely
the foundation of his unwill-
White people must think it some
kind of compliment to say some-
one “transcended” race. I consider
it an insult
aged White Stanford rapist
to six months in jail because
he would be damaged by jail
time. It is the kind of thinking,
indeed, that compelled tens of
thousands of people to call for
the parents of a Black child
who fell into a gorilla pen in
Cincinnati to be investigated
by Child Protective Services.
It is plain and simple White
privilege that allows a White
person to speak of an Afri-
can American icon as having
“transcended race.”
Why not say that Muham-
mad Ali has “universal ap-
peal”? Why not speak to his
ingness to be drated to ight
in Vietnam. Many African
Americans decried his con-
version, but he was so irm in
it that he fought all the way to
the Supreme Court to protest
his elimination from profes-
sional boxing.
Through it all, Ali was out-
spoken and deiant. He pro-
claimed, “I am America. I am
the part you won’t recognize.
But get used to me. Black, con-
ident, cocky; my name, not
yours; my religion, not yours;
my goals, my own; get used to
me.”
White folks kind of got used
to him, but they attributed
their acquiescence to the fact
that Ali had “transcended
race.” What he actually did
was elude them: he took no tea
for their fever.
There is so much of Muham-
mad Ali’s life that is inspira-
tional. Yes, he was an amaz-
ing boxer, and he was also an
amazing human being. He
stood for what he believed in,
regardless of the cost, losing
his prime years of boxing, be-
cause of his religious beliefs.
He did, as he said, “loat like a
butterly and sting like a bee.”
He stung with his ist and
with his words. He made us
smile, he made us laugh, and
he made us inhale with his
awesome athleticism. And
when he succumbed to Par-
kinson’s disease, he made us
marvel at his grace and digni-
ty.
Whatever we have to say
about Muhammad Ali, let’s
not say that he “transcended
race.” He was a Black man. A
courageous man. An unapol-
ogetically arrogant man. Yes,
he had universal appeal. But
according to him, he was al-
ways Black.
Julianne Malveaux is an au-
thor and economist. Her latest
book “Are We Better Of? Race,
Obama and Public Policy is
available at juliannemal-
veaux.com and Amazon.com.