Muhammad Ali and Martin Luther King, Jr.
The new Ken Burns four part documentary on Muhammad Ali aired on many PBS stations last week. It provided insightful information and context about the life and influence of a boxer who became known simply as “The Greatest.” Yet the man who was beloved throughout this country and the world at the time of his death in 2016 was the same man who was feared and despised by the majority of white people in America during the height of this boxing career. His stance of conscientious objection to the war in Vietnam cost him over three years out of boxing, because the government refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of his religious convictions against war. He was convicted of draft evasion in 1967 and faced up to five years in prison. Boxing commissions around the country suspended his boxing license, and the World Boxing Association stripped him of his title as the heavyweight champion. After lengthy appeals that failed, the Supreme Court decided unanimously in his favor in 1971. The same year Ali was convicted, Martin Luther King, Jr. came out publicly against the war in Vietnam in his famous speech “Beyond Vietnam” at Riverside Church in New York on April 4, 1967. That turned out to be exactly one year to the day before Dr. King was murdered on April 4, 1968. Here is a link to that speech. It turned out to be an amazing analysis of what was happening in Vietnam and a clarion call to end the war and pursue peace and justice. Dr. King was roundly criticized and denounced by the press and even many of his former allies including President Johnson. The first six minutes of the first video below gives a sense of the cost Dr. King paid for standing up against the war as a follower of Jesus. The second video provides a glimpse of a meeting between Muhammad Ali and Dr. King in which Dr. King articulates their common commitment to opposing the forces of oppression at work in their time. Although they came from different backgrounds and were of different religions, they both paid the price for being partners in the struggle for peace and justice. For any of us who want to celebrate the lives and legacies of these men, it is essential to include their willingness to endure criticism and vilification in order to persevere in their faith.