Muhammad Ali, the fifth Beatle. Image from Wikimedia, labeled for reuse.
Appreciating Ali wasn’t always easy for me. Media portrayal of the man didn’t make it easier.
As a young, impressionable, eldest-son-type, I was all ears when my father yelled “why don’t you turn your hat around like ‘The Mick’?” at the television as though Ken Griffey, Jr., could hear him. Here in 2016, following trashy tell-all books and perjury in front of congress all recognize Junior as being ‘one of the good ones’ in comparison to his ‘roid-raging contemporaries.
Which is as good a segue as any into race’s role in my late-come appreciation for Muhammad Ali.