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AP
Muhammad Ali’s 10‑Year Anniversary: Lonnie Ali Calls for Compassionate Action","description":"On the decade‑anniversary of the boxing legend’s death, his wife Lonnie Ali urges the nation to honour his legacy with service and social justice","summary":"In Louisville, Kentucky, Lonnie Ali, the former spouse and lifelong companion of Muhammad Ali, highlighted his humanitarian legacy during the 10th anniversary of his death. Ahead of the \"Day of Compassion\" organized by the Muhammad Ali Center, she emphasized Ali’s mantra of service to others, urging Americans to unite, promote voting rights, and act with empathy in an increasingly polarised society. Ali, known as the “Louisville Lip,” was a prominent civil‑rights advocate and three‑time heavyweight champion. The anniversary day, set to become an annual event, reflects on one of Ali’s core values amidst a fractured nation and calls for political leaders to lead with compassion. The ceremony’s focus included the week‑long city celebrations of Ali’s life in 2016, featuring a historic funeral procession, speeches by national figures, and a public display of his influence, including the release of a USPS postage stamp bearing his likeness.","image":"","text":"<p>LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Muhammad Ali’s legacy extends beyond his stinging right jab, world titles and Olympic gold medal, to the heart and compassion he showed long after he left the ring, his wife Lonnie Ali said.</p>\n<p>“He transcended boxing into every space you can imagine,” she told The Associated Press this week ahead of the 10‑year anniversary of Ali’s death on June 3, 2016, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.</p>\n<p>“Muhammad lived by this mantra: service to others is the rent we pay for our room here on earth,” Lonnie Ali said during an interview at The Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky. “He showed up every day with kindness and empathy in his heart for people who are in need.”</p>\n<p>Ali, known as the “Louisville Lip” in his hometown, rose to prominence as a trash‑talking world champion boxer in the 1960s and began speaking about civil rights issues as his star was rising. He is widely regarded as the most famous and influential boxer of all time, winning the heavyweight title three times.</p>\n<p>The Ali Center is sponsoring a “Day of Compassion” on Wednesday, the 10th anniversary of his death, to promote acts of service and caring. Lonnie Ali, who serves as the center’s lifetime director, said the hope is an expanding annual event to highlight works of service and volunteering.</p>\n<p>The day will focus on one of “the core values that made up Muhammad Ali” in an increasingly divided country, she said.</p>\n<p>“Today, we are in a place where we are losing touch with our humanity and with each other,” she said. “It’s causing rifts, not just in families and communities, but in this nation. We’re becoming increasingly polarized and separated, and sort of retreating to people who think like us, look like us, and not really reaching out.”</p>\n<p>She also challenged political leaders to lead with compassion, noting the recent weakening of the 1965 Voting Rights Act by the Supreme Court.</p>\n<p>“We should always be thinking about how we can uplift a community, not how we can make it harder for them,” Lonnie Ali said. “We want equal representation in this country. You can’t have equal representation when you’re denying people voting rights, you can’t do that.”</p>\n<p>But there is hope, she said, and she saw that when the city of Louisville came together for a week‑long celebration of Ali’s life in 2016. The week was capped by a funeral procession through the city and past her late husband’s modest childhood home near downtown Louisville. Former President Bill Clinton and actor Billy Crystal spoke at his funeral, and Will Smith, who portrayed Ali in a 2001 movie, was a pallbearer.</p>\n<p>The outpouring of love for Ali at his hometown funeral service was livestreamed to millions around the world. A decade later, Ali’s face graced a U.S. Postal Service stamp for the first time, showing his enduring influence.</p>\n<p>“We’re talking about people who traveled thousands of miles to come here, who had never met the man, never laid eyes on him personally, but wanted to … give their last respects to him: kings, princes, presidents, heads of state, celebrities, sports figures,” Lonnie Ali said.</p>
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