06/02/26 07:05:00
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06/02 07:01 CDT Muhammad Ali's family reflects on the champion boxer's legacy
10 years after his death
Muhammad Ali's family reflects on the champion boxer's legacy 10 years after
his death
By DYLAN LOVAN
Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) --- Muhammad Ali's legacy extends beyond his stinging
right jab, world titles and Olympic gold medal, to the heart and compassion he
showed long after he left the ring, his wife Lonnie Ali said.
"He transcended boxing into every space you can imagine," she told The
Associated Press this week ahead of the 10-year anniversary of Ali's death on
June 3, 2016, after a long battle with Parkinson's disease.
"Muhammad lived by this mantra: service to others is the rent we pay for our
room here on earth," Lonnie Ali said during an interview at The Muhammad Ali
Center in Louisville, Kentucky. "He showed up every day with kindness and
empathy in his heart for people who are in need."
Ali, known as the "Louisville Lip" in his hometown, rose to prominence as a
trash-talking world champion boxer in the 1960s and began speaking about civil
rights issues as his star was rising. He is widely regarded as the most famous
and influential boxer of all time, winning the heavyweight title three times.
The Ali Center is sponsoring a "Day of Compassion" on Wednesday, the 10th
anniversary of his death, to promote acts of service and caring. Lonnie Ali,
who serves as the center's lifetime director, said the hope is an expanding
annual event to highlight works of service and volunteering.
The day will focus on one of "the core values that made up Muhammad Ali" in an
increasingly divided country, she said.
"Today, we are in a place where we are losing touch with our humanity and with
each other," she said. "It's causing rifts, not just in families and
communities, but in this nation. We're becoming increasingly polarized and
separated, and sort of retreating to people who think like us, look like us,
and not really reaching out."
She also challenged political leaders to lead with compassion, noting the
recent weakening of the 1965 Voting Rights Act by the Supreme Court.
"We should always be thinking about how we can uplift a community, not how we
can make it harder for them," Lonnie Ali said. "We want equal representation in
this country. You can't have equal representation when you're denying people
voting rights, you can't do that."
But there is hope, she said, and she saw that when the city of Louisville came
together for a weeklong celebration of Ali's life in 2016. The week was capped
by a funeral procession through the city and past her late husband's modest
childhood home near downtown Louisville. Former President Bill Clinton and
actor Billy Crystal spoke at his funeral, and Will Smith, who portrayed Ali in
a 2001 movie, was a pallbearer.
The outpouring of love for Ali at his hometown funeral service was livestreamed
to millions around the world. A decade later, Ali's face graced a U.S. Postal
Service stamp for the first time, showing his enduring influence.
"We're talking about people who traveled thousands of miles to come here, who
had never met the man, never laid eyes on him personally, but wanted to ...
give their last respects to him: kings, princes, presidents, heads of state,
celebrities, sports figures," Lonnie Ali said.
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