When we keep the legacies
Of love and truth alive
All life’s timeless hope
And dreams will survive
On the battlefield of injustice He was a prophet of peace
A spiritual keynote, a drum major for justice
A locksmith for love
Thus the melody of brotherhood Through all struggle and strife
Will someday find perfect harmony On the keyboard of life
Daniel R. Queen, American Poet on Reverend Martin Luther King, 1989.
AS the greatest show on earth, World heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali did not over-look Africa. When he ruled the waves, he found time for the mother continent. Indeed, anytime he breezed into the stubborn streets of Lagos, there was instant pandemonium. On the night of the “Rumble in the Jungle,” the night he sent the Reverend gentleman, George Foreman nearer to Jesus, Ali Bomaye! i.e. Ali kill him!, was the emotional one-sided assonance he deservedly got from the Zairen brothers who really wanted Foreman dead, for daring to stand against their idol.
That was the evergreen bonding holding the continent and the Greatest. Many years after the show, and its train off the stage, Ali returned to a tumultuous crowd in Khartoun on a three country tour to raise funds for the relief of war refugees and victims of Sahel drought and other natural disasters.
President of the Ashad group that organized the trip, Dr. Gutbi Ahmed said that it was necessary the organization, got the services of Muhammad Ali because of his popularity in Africa and the United States. “He went to Africa to see for himself the gravity of the hopeless situation, the enormity of human sufferings.”
Africa has been badly hit by drought and the greatest problem facing Sudan and surrounding countries is the encroaching desert. For according to the French, those African entities surrounding the Sahel are referred to as the Triage nations. These are countries, which, because of incessant conflicts, scotch earth drought, inclimate environment and weather and above all, irresponsible and corrupt leadership, would remain permanently under developed in spite of foreign aid. As if these problems were not enough, the civil war in the then Southern Sudan contributed to the loss of many arable lands. As a result turning thousands of refugees to the mercy of the hostile realities, Ali’s landing and Reception in Khartoun, Sudan by 2 a.m. that year was beyond expectation. Led by the American Ambassador and his family, the Sudanese Minister of Information, thousands including sporting associations were on hand to welcome home, the most popular American in Africa. As always the magician of the crowd, Ali raised his fist and the milling crowd in the African darkness waved back in ecstasy.
For ten days, the people would not let him go and he took time to inspect the various refugee centers, Ashad’s sister organization offices, such as, the African Charitable Society for the Welfare of Childhood and Maternity; The African Islamic Relief Agency, and the African Council for Private Education.
He also paid special courtesy calls to the then Prime Minister, Sadiq Elmahdi and other government officials.
From Sudan he touched town Nairobi, Kenya, before embarking on a six-day tour of Uganda. In Uganda he saw and exchanged views with the President before taking off to Masaka a city that was completely destroyed during the Ugandan civil war.
In Uganda the problems were different from the Sudanese crisis. Here there was acute break down of infrastructure, many orphans and displaced people. The rural economy had collapsed due to lack of water supply; equipment for essential services and agricultural machinery. The people needed vocational training programs and schools for the education of their youth.
Ali returned to America and worked the phones and was able to raise money, procure hospital equipment and convince American Doctors and Nurses to join others who were in the field, giving humanitarian succor to the sick, to the orphans, to the refugees and to the poverty stricken in those Triage nations of the Sahel.
I have reproduced these few lines of my trip led by the Greatest to East Africa 1999, from Arlington Virginia, sponsored by the Ashad as my own tribute to the Greatest who passed to the beyond over the weekend. Muhammad Ali was a citizen of the world, multi facilitator, multi talented, Poet who conjured “I have handcuffed Lightening,” Philosopher, Historian, Dancer, iconic Entertainer, Civil Rights Activist, three times Heavyweight Champion of the world, the first sports deity to transcend the field of play, a Muslim without daggers, the greatest Messiahic seminal Figure of the last century.