The Poet, Frog, and People's Champ, Conclusion

Published: Sun, 04/14/24

A car crash.

A serious health crisis.

The birth of a child.

The death of a child.

An attempted lynching.

Psychologists call these Significant Life Events… or SLE’s.

They change us in profound ways.

Like the hands of a sculptor shaping clay, they make us into who we are.

Sometimes… they can even transform us from a caterpillar to a butterfly.

From something ordinary... to something extraordinary.

If we let them.

And, if we have the courage to see things through.

In the conclusion to The Poet, the Frog, and the People’s Champ, we’ll take a look at the final hours of the day that changed everything for our young, teenage champion.

Like Peter Parker, who became Spiderman, our young champ is beginning to understand that with great power comes great responsibility.

He had great powers… but unlike his predecessors, he would do something with them.

He would be a champion for the downtrodden.

If you’ve not read Parts 1 through 5... you'll want to do so before reading Part 6. You can get to them by clicking on the links below.

The Poet, the Frog, and the People's Champ, Part 1

The Poet, the Frog, and the People's Champ, Part 2

The Poet, the Frog, and the People's Champ, Part 3

The Poet, the Frog, and the People's Champ, Part 4

The Poet, the Frog, and the People's Champ, Part 5

If you have read Parts 1 through 5... let's roll.

I, Too

Home Is Where the Heart Is

It rained all the way back to the Black side of town.

After I dropped Ronnie off and got home, all my family was in bed asleep.

I went to my room to tell my brother Rudy what happened.

But he was sleeping so soundly, I just stood by the bed and watched him for a while.

Only 13 months separated us.

I’d loved him since the day he was born, and we were seldom apart.

My mother would tell everyone that whenever she tried to spank Rudy, I would break in and start hitting her.

Stop spanking my baby brother, I'd say. Stop spanking him!

Rudy had followed me into boxing and was the fighter I sparred with most in the gym.

He was my companion most mornings when I did my road work.

But as I looked down on him sleeping, I knew I would try to prevent him from becoming a fighter.

He had the courage... and he could punch.

But he wasn't gifted at it. He was getting hit too much.

Fighting is too dangerous a trade if you're not gifted for it.

I decided to talk to him in the morning and tiptoed out of the room.

I, Too

I felt too awake and stimulated to sleep.

So, I decided to stay up till daybreak, and then do my road work around Chickasaw Park.

I remember sitting on our old, worn-down sofa and feeling something in my pocket.

I pulled it out.

It was the little book the Black woman in the restaurant had given me... a book of poetry.

It was the same book she'd inserted my poem about how great America was. A poem that was now a source of shame.

As I leafed through it, I noticed that she'd underlined one of the poems.

It was a poem by a famous Black poet named Langston Hughes.

The poem was called... I, Too.

I began to read.

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.

They send me to eat in the kitchen,

When company comes.

But I laugh,

And eat well,

And grow strong.

Tomorrow,

I’ll be at the table

When company comes.

Nobody’ll dare

Say to me,

“Eat in the kitchen,”

Then.

Besides,

They’ll see how beautiful I am,

And be ashamed.

I, too, am America.

Poet Meets Poet

A few years later, I would meet Langston in a Greenwich Village poetry session.

I’d been invited there to read my poems.

I thanked him for his poem and asked him if he had any more. He graciously gave me three books of poetry.

His were the kind of poems that I liked.

Straight and simple.

And at least half of them were in rhyme!

Reflections

This brief "slice of life" in the life of Muhammad Ali took place within a single day.

But a lot can happen in a day.

In the space of that one day, a mere teenager came to a life changing realization.

He discovered that being an Olympic Champion, and a Great White Hope... couldn't even buy him a hamburger.

(I am the darker brother.)

He went from craving the acceptance and accolades of white America, to becoming a young man who had the courage to be himself.

(They send me to eat in the kitchen, when company comes.)

He committed to becoming his own kind of champion.

(But I laugh, and eat well, and grow strong.)

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali.

He would win the heavyweight title three separate times.

(Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table when company comes.)

Brash, confident, and outspoken… he would become the champion of people of color.

(Nobody will dare say to me eat in the kitchen then.)

He epitomized the truth that when you stand for something, you make it hard for someone to stand on you.

(Besides, they’ll see how beautiful I am...)

The young, Black boy, who couldn’t find love and respect in his own country, would become the most recognizable and adored athlete in the world.

(And be ashamed.)

The Olympic medalist who nearly lost his life in a lynching… lit the torch for the 1996 Olympic Games.

(I too... am America.)

Because of his impact and influence, he was named the Athlete of the 20^th Century.

He was named that because he was a shining example of what courage can do.

The Stoic philosopher, Thucydides, tried to tell us the same thing 2,500 years ago.

The secret to happiness is freedom.

And the secret to freedom…

is courage.

Muhammad Ali’s amazing journey is a testament to the happiness and freedom we can find… but only if we have courage.

Below are two powerful videos... one 2 minutes and the other 3-minutes.

They will give you a sense of Ali’s courage and the majestic arc of his life story.

They're really good... so enjoy.

Muhammad Ali discusses the word black 1968

Credits

The Greatest – My Own Story by Muhammad Ali

*** Available on Amazon, Audible, or wherever books are sold.

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