Ruling in a stunning reversal of fortunes. He was free to return to the ring. When he traveled to Central Africa to reclaim his title from George Foreman, none of the Sports Writers thought he could win. In fact, most of them feared for his life. But in what the africans call the miracle at 4 00 a. M. , he became a champion once more. [ applause ] and as the years passed and those slowed by parkinsons, muhammad was compelled by his faith to use his name and his notoriety to support the victims of poverty and strife. He traveled to places like wartorn afghanistan, campaigned as an advocate of reducing the debt of third world debt [ applause ] as his voice grew softer, his message took on greater meeting. He came full circle with the people of his country. When he lifted a torch that seemed to create new light in the 1996 olympics. [ applause ] muhammad always knew instinctively the road he needed to travel. His friends know what i mean when i say he lived in the moment. He neither dwelled in the past nor harbored anxiety about the future. Muhammad loved to laugh and played practical jokes on just about everybody. He was surefooted in his selfawareness, secure in his faith and he did not fear death. Yet, his timing is once again poignant. His passing and his meaning for our time should not be overlooked. As we face uncertainty in a world and divisions at home, as to who we are as a people, muhammads life provides useful guidance. Muhammad was not one to give up on the power of understanding, the boundless possibilities of love and the strength of our diversity. He counted among his friends people of all political persuasions, saw truth in all faith and in the nobility of all races as witnessed here today. Muhammad may have challenged his government but he never ran from it or from america. [ applause ] he loved this country and he understood the hard choices that are born of freedom. I think he saw a nations soul measured by the soul of its people. For his part, he saw the good soul in everyone and if you were one of the lucky ones to have met him, you know what i meant. He awoke every morning thinking about his own salvation and would often say, i just want to get to heaven and ive got to do a lot of good deeds to get there. And i think muhammads hope is that his life provides some guidance on how we might achieve for all people what we aspire for ourselves and our families. Thank you. [ applause ] ladies and gentlemen, maryam ali. Peace be with you, everyone here, and on behalf of the ali family, i just want to say thank you to louisville, kentucky, all of the love youve shown us in our lives has been unbelievable. Also, i want to thank the entire globe. My father was loved all over. The processional today was overwhelming but so beautiful. We love you just like you love us. Thank you very much. [ applause ] as you know, my father loved poetry. He was always rhyming and promoting his fights and he had poems of the heart, spiritual poems and poems to promote and i just wrote a piece for him, in honor of him on behalf of my sisters and brothers and everyone who loved my father. Its called thank you our dear father. My heart was sore when your six spirit soared. Your physical body is no more but my mind tells different tales of all that you taught me, your family and the masses. Most importantly, the belief in god who created humanity to thrive in quality. You fought for a purpose to uphold the principle that we as a people have divine human rights. Staring right into the eyes of oppression, you proclaim your beautiful complexion. Your godgiven skills, your independent will and the freedom of your faith. As your daughter, i am grateful for all of our conversations about men, women and relationships. Guiding me to first have a loving relationship with self, refusing anyone to chip away at my esteem and expect the respect of a queen. [ applause ] thank you, our dear father, for asking us to think about our purpose and showing us the beauty of service to others. We marvel that your sincere love for people as you treated all who approached you with dignity. Whether they were rich or poor, your kindness was unconditional. Never perceiving anyone as beneath you. So many have shared personal stories about what you have meant to them as you have exemplified values and qualities that have enhanced their lives. If i had every dollar for every story, i could pay for the sky. Your family is so proud of the legacy you left behind. But i hope that the history of you can help we apologize for the technical difficulties were having from louisville. Again, that was his daughter maryum speaking there on his behalf. Lets listen back in. Anywhere else in the world, we crave for peace. The peace that you rest in now. We will forever cherish the 74 years you graced this earth. You will be greatly missed but now we send you off in celebration, a blown kiss and prayers as you enter your final round. Gods last boxing bell will sound in heaven. I love you. We all love you. Thank you very much. [ applause ] ladies and gentlemen, rasheda ali walsh. [ applause ] we are so honored that you have packed this room with your love. Thank you all. Thank you so much for being here today to celebrate our father. You were the greatest father to us and it was gods will to take you home. Your family will try our best to make you proud and carry on your legacy of giving and love. You have inspired us and the world to be the best version of ourselves. May you live in paradise free from suffering. You shook up the world in life. Now youre shaking up the world in death. [ applause ] daddys looking at us now and saying, i told you i was the greatest. No one compares to you, daddy. You once said, i know where im going and i know the truth and i dont have to be what you want me to be. Im free to be who i am. [ applause ] now you are free to be with your creator. We love you so much, daddy. Until we meet again, fly, butterfly, fly. [ applause ] hello. I was born on muhammad alis birthday. It was named after him. He used to call me the little greatest. We can all learn from muhammads example of kindness and understanding. When muhammad was asked how he would like to be remembered, he said, i like for them to say he took a few cups of love, one tablespoon of patience, one teaspoon of generosity, one pint of kindness, one pinch of concern and then he mixed willingness with happiness. He added lots of faith and he stirred it up well. That he spread it over a span of a lifetime and he served it to each and every deserving person he met. Thank you. [ applause ] ladies and gentlemen, natasha. Before i begin, i would just like to say that i am truly humbled and honored to be here and i would like to thank the Muhammad Ali Center and the family for giving me the opportunity to speak and to echo the voice that muhammad has given me. So let me tell you a story about a man. A man who refused to believe that reality was limitation to achieve the impossible. A man who once reached up through the pages of a textbook and touched the heart of a girl whose reflection of herself mirrored those who cannot see past the color of her skin but instead of drawing on that pain from the distorted reality, she found strength just as this man did when he stood tall in the face of pelting rain and shouted, i am the disturbance in the sea of your complacency and i will never stop shaking your waves. [ applause ] and his voice echoed through hers, through mine and she picked up the rocks that were thrown at her and she threw them back with a voice so powerful that it turned all the pain that she had faced in her life into strength and tenacity and now that 8yearold girl stands before you to tell you that ali still shakes these waves today. [ applause ] that we are to find strength in our identities, whether we are black or white or asian or hispanic, lgbt, disabled or abled body, muslim, jewish, hindu or christian. His cry represents those who have not been heard and invalidates the idea that we are to be conformed to one normative standard. [ applause ] that is what it means to defeat the impossible because impossible is not a fact. Impossible is an opinion. Impossible is nothing. [ applause ] when i look into this crowd, i smile. I smile to recognize that he is not really gone. He lives in you and he lives in me and he lives in every person that he has touched in every corner of this world. Reality was never a limitation for ali, for us, just as every punch his opponents threw, impossible is never enough to knock us down because we are ali. [ applause ] we are greater than the rocks or the punches that we throw at each other. We have the ability to empower and inspire and to connect and to unify and that will live on forever. So let me tell you a story about a man. His name is muhammad ali. He is the greatest of all time. He is from louisville, kentucky, and he lives in each and every one of us. [ applause ] and his story is far from over. Thank you. [ applause ] ladies and gentlemen, john ramsey. First of all, on behalf of my fell fellow louisville residents, we know that muhammad was blessed with many gifts but none more than lonnie ali and we thank you so much. You know, ive got to tell you, louisville, when i was in the procession today and saw the tens and thousands of people and all of the warmth and love and respect shown for muhammad, ive got to tell you, my heart swelled with pride. I know he was watching from above and i know he absolutely loved it. But i dont think hed be surprised. I think muhammad would say, louisville, kentucky, the greatest city of all times. Im feeling good. Man. I tell you what, how can we lose with the stuff we use . Im feeling so good, i think im going to make a comeback and change my name back to walnut street. Thats how good i feel. You know, for me, i always felt connected to muhammad even before i had met him. You know, maybe it was the fact that i was a louisville boy. Maybe its the fact that i loved the louisville cardinals like muhammad. You know, but as our relationship evolved, i found that a lot of people felt this personal connection with muhammad. And thats part of the ali magic. You know, initially, for a lot of men my age and certainly myself, it was the athlete that i was attracted to. I mean, that kind of size, that kind of speed, agility, that grace not only made him the heavyweight champion of the world three times but it made him Sports Illustrated sportsmen of the century, the a. P. Athlete of the century and certainly made him the athlete a once in a lifetime athlete. But i would argue that the combination of compassion, kindness, love and the ability to lift us up made him a once in a lifetime person. [ applause ] you know, muhammad was blessed with many gifts, as i said, and he was a wise and faithful steward of those gifts. Many stories about muhammad but a couple really to me encapsulate what he was about. I remember back in 2000, i made a trip to the summer olympics with muhammad and one day he decided we were going to go see a boxing match and i remember were ringside, the american wins, 15,000 people are chanting, usa, usa and i thought, this is my olympic moment. You know, i was filled with patriotic pride. The boxer came down from the ring, he took the picture with muhammad, the fist shot, thousands of people cheering for muhammad and this victorious fighter and muhammad leaned down to me and whispered in my ear, he said, i want to see the loser. Im like, excuse me . I want to see the loser. I said, muhammad wants to see the loser. Can we go to the losing locker room . And we go there and theres not then tens and thousands of people, theres not any photographers. Theres a kid on a stool with a towel around his neck, a bloody mouth under his eye. This has got to be the lowest point of his athletic career and hes defeated and the vibe in that room was literally the lowest of low. But then when muhammad walks in, this kid recognizes him instantly and in broken english says muhammad and muhammad starts throwing out jabs and this kid starts ducking and smiling. Muhammad grabs him in a bear hug. He said, i saw what you did out there, man. You can be a champion, man. Dont give up. And i remember, it warmed my heart how he took this kid from here to here in an instant. And [ applause ] and i remember, i got in the car and i said to muhammad, i try to be a nice guy but ive got to tell you, i got caught up in the moment. I didnt give that losing guy a thought. I said youre the greatest. Muhammad said, tell me something i dont already know. He and but what i dont want people to forget, no doubt, hes the finest example of a human that ive ever seen. The finest example of a great human being that ive ever seen of the kindness that a human possesses. That was muhammad. But dont forget about this, man. Muhammad was the coolest cat in the room. I mean, he was good looking, he had charm, he had charisma, he had swagger before he knew that swagger was. I mean, i remember, i went to when about 25 years ago he came to town to visit his mother and wanted to go to outback steakhouse. We came in and at the time here in louisville, there was a Firemans Convention and they had their engine numbers on their shirt and sure enough i had seen this thing a million times. They line up for an autograph. I said, muhammad, if youd like, ill play the bad guy. Muhammad would have none of it. He said ill sign between bites. Hes taking bites of his food and signing. This one guy walks up and he was a big fan. He knew muhammad. All of his adrenaline flowing and he said i saw the stand you took in the vietnam war. Ive got to tell you, champ, youre my hero. Ive got a picture of you at my firehouse. Instant bely he wanted to change the channel. Said, youre the real hero saving lives. And the fireman responds real quickly. He said, you fought the bear, sonny liston. You fought joe frazier. And he said, yeah, but joe wasnt really smoking. And i said, muhammad thats a good line. He said, youre right. Write that down. But it wasnt all about signing autographs and kissing babies. If there was a village that needed food in a thirdworld country, muhammad was on the plane, will travel with check. If there was a conflict and he could be part of a resolution, again, muhammad will travel. As lonnie had mentioned, if there were hostages to be released, muhammad was a man of action. One of my favorite quotes and i think its right here in your program, Muhammad Said service to others is the rent you pay for the room here on earth and i just want to say, champ, your rent is paid in full. Your rent is paid in full. [ applause ] your rent is paid in full and you know, in fact, i think hes paid it forward. Because he has taught us to love rather than to hate. To look for commonalities rather than differences. So i think hes paid it forward for all of us. So, as we all know now, the fight is over but im here to tell you, the decision is in and it is unanimous, because of muhammad ali, we all win. The world wins. Thank you so much, muhammad. It is time for a man of peace to rest in peace. And thank you so very much. [ applause ] thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Were at the halfway point. I was clean shaven when this started. Dear lonnie, family, friends, mr. President , members of the clergy, all of these amazing people here in louisville, today this outpouring of love and respect proves that 35 years after he stopped fighting, he is still the champion of the world. [ applause ] last week, when we heard the news, time stopped. There was no war, there were no terrorists, no global catastrophes. The world stopped, took a deep breath and sighed. Since then, my mind has been racing through my relationship with this amazing man, which is now 42 years that ive known him. Every moment i can think of is cherished. While others can tell you of his accomplishments, he wanted me to speak and tell you of some personal moments we had together. I met him in 1974. I was just Getting Started as a standup comedian and struggling. But i had one good routine. It was a threeminute conversation between howard and muhammad where i would imitate both of them. Muhammad had just defeated George Foreman and sports magazine made him the man of the year. A great man, editor for sport, was going to host this televised dinner honoring muhammad. So dick called my agent looking for a comedian who did some sports material. As fate would have it, that comedian was not available and she wisely said its destiny, man. And she wisely said, but listen, ive got this young kid and he does this great imitation and i dont know why, but dick said, okay, ill try him. I couldnt believe it. My first time on television and it would be with ali. I ran to the plaza hotel, the event was packed. He said, how should i introduce you . No one knows who you are. And i said, just say im one of alis closest and dearest friends. And my thought was, ill get right to the microphone, go into my how word cosell and ill be fine and i move into the jam ballroom and thats when i saw him for the first time in person. Its very hard to describe how much he meant to me. You had to live in his time. Its great to look at clips and its amazing that we have them but to live in his time, watching his fights, his experience of the genius of his talent was absolutely extraordinary. Every one of his fights was the aura of a super bowl. He predicted the round that he would knock somebody out and then he would do it. He was funny. He was beautiful. He was the most perfect athlete you ever saw and those were his own words. But he was so much more than a fighter as time went on with Bobby Kennedy gone, Martin Luther king gone, malcolm x gone, there were millions of young men my age, eligible for the draft for a war we didnt believe in. All of us huddled on the Conveyor Belt but ali stood up for us by standing up for himself. After he was stripped of the title, after he was stripped of the title and the right to fight anywhere in the world, he gave speeches at colleges and on television that totally reached me. He seemed as comfortable talking to kings and queens as the lost and unrequitted. He was always himself, willing to give up everything for what he believed in. And his passionate rhetoric and the plight of black people resonated strongly in my house. I grew up in a house dedicated to civil rights. My father was the producer of jazz concerts in new york city and was one of the first to integrate concerts. My uncle and my family, jewish people, produced strange fruit, billow holidays classic song describing the lynching of africanamericans in this country. And now there he was a few feet from me. I couldnt stop looking at him and he seemed to like glow and he was in slow motion, his amazing face smiling and laughing. I was seated a few seats from him and all of these athletes in their individual sports, great ones, Archie Griffith who won the heisman and all in a day fawning over ali looked at me with an expression that seemed to say what is joe gray doing here . Mr. Schapp introduced me as one of mr. Alis closest and dearest friends. Two p