"I Shook Up the world"

     Just finished reading an article about Muhammad Ali. It reminded me of when I used to watch him fight.
He claimed to be the "Greatest"! Was he the greatest boxer? I think so, but it is debatable.
     I think he was the greatest, not for his boxing but because he stood by his principles no matter what. Here was a guy that grew up when, here in America the land of the free, a black man was supposed to be humble and bow down to the white man. I remember hearing people my age and older call Ali an upitty loud mouth nigger. He stood against that oppression no matter what happened. When he won gold medals in the Olympics  he threw them in the river to protest the hypocrisy and racism in America. When he was drafted in to the army to go to Vietnam and fight an unjust war. He stood up to it, faced prison time and was stripped of his world boxing title. He stood by his principles no matter what and yes, he changed the world! I wonder how many of us are willing to stand up against wrongs that the powerful are doing to line their own pockets with silver and gold while so many are struggling to make ends meet?  I wonder how many of us that love nature and all its beauty are willing to stand up against the powerful that would pollute and strip our lands of its natural resources?