Muhammad Ali was the example my father held up to me of a principled and honorable human being, a person to hope I could model my own life after by drawing on his steadfast determination and unwavering kindness, and a hero who fought for the rights of all people to be free, to be respected, and to be true to their own beliefs.
Having the opportunity to attend his memorial service was an honor I will never forget. Love and admiration for Muhammad Ali can be found all over the world, but today I stood with my Louisville neighbors to pay our last respects to the man who taught us that we were all worthy of greatness.
A vigil was held the morning after the passing of Muhammad Ali, led by Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer.
A Jenazah, the traditional Muslim service, was held on Thursday night, June 10, at Freedom Hall in Louisville. The venue was significant as the last place that Ali fought in his hometown in November, 1961, where Ali defeated Willi Besmanoff.
For video of the service, see below:
Throughout the city, tributes to Muhammad Ali were found on lightposts, sidewalks, billboards, and buildings. The same man who began his life in a segregated Louisville, Kentucky has been mourned by his neighbors as the hero he was throughout the week proceeding his death.
The final farewell on Friday, June 11, began with a funeral procession through the streets of Ali’s hometown that lasted for three hours and was attended by more than 100,000 fans who gathered for a chance to say goodbye and to show their pride in Louisville’s native son. The procession also included his wife and children as well as pallbearers such as former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis and the actor who played Ali in an Oscar-nominated role, Will Smith.
Brief stops were made along the way at The Ali Center on Fourth Street in downtown Louisville and Ali’s childhood home before arriving at Cave Hill Cemetery where his remains were laid to rest under the spot where a simple headstone reading only “Ali” will soon be placed.
The service held today was free and open to the public in exactly the way that Ali planned it. Fans stood in line beginning Tuesday night around 8:00 pm for a chance to receive tickets to be part of this event. That line became a beautiful sharing of stories of Ali’s life and career as well as how much he meant to Louisville, to people of color, to athletes, and to the world.
14,000 tickets were available to fans for free and they were gone in just over an hour. Those of us fortunate enough to have received tickets met in front of Freedom Hall to be shuttled to the KFC Yum! Center the day of the service. The atmosphere of grief and the outpouring of emotion were palpable, but never more than when the buses pulled up in front of the arena filled with cheers as passengers saw the billboard screen outside.
Once inside the arena, those 14,000 fans from Louisville and all around the country were joined by celebrities and dignitaries from all over the world. A few celebrities in attendance were Matt Lauer, Sugar Ray Leonard, Bob Costas, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Spike Lee, and Mike Tyson. The collective feelings of love and connection with Ali rang out in conversations between guests as the crowd waited for the service to begin.
Speakers included Dr. Kevin Cosby, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Rabbi Michael Lerner, and Chief Sidney Hill and Chief Oren Lyons. Giving eulogies were Ali’s wife, Lonnie Ali, hs daughters, Maryum and Rashada, as well as Bryant Gumbel, Billy Crystal, and former President Bill Clinton.
For the full video of Muhammad Ali’s final memorial service in Louisville, Kentucky, see video below:
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