The Funeral of Muhammad Ali BBC News Special


The Funeral of Muhammad Ali

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A final farewell to one of the greatest sporting

:00:00.:00:11.

icons of all time - Muhammad Ali's memorial

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is being attended by world leaders, friends and relatives.

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Tens of thousands of mourners have lined the route of his final

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procession to pay their respects to the boxing legend.

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the UDC lives in Kentucky when the former president Bill Clinton will

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And I'm Laura Trevelyan in Louisville, Kentucky,

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where the memorial service is due to start in around an hour.

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A service of Thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral marks

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the start of the Queen's official 90th birthday Celebrations.

:00:57.:01:04.

Also in the next hour: Euro 2016 gets under way in France.

:01:05.:01:10.

The disturbances took place at Marseille's old port just ahead of

:01:11.:01:15.

tomorrow night's game against Russia at 2016.

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I knew how much expectation there would be and I did not want to let

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And JK Rowling on the pressure for her play about that

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Good evening and welcome to BBC News.

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Let's join our correspondent, Laura Trevelyan, who's

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Just a few blocks from me is the KFC young centre where 15,000 people

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have gathered. The memorial service is due to begin shortly and it is a

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star-studded cast. Bill Clinton will be delivering one of the eulogies,

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the actor Billy Crystal will deliver another, the president of Turkey is

:02:19.:02:25.

present there as well. This will be an Interfaith Memorial service and

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it follows this morning where there was a final procession for Muhammad

:02:30.:02:33.

Ali as his casket was carried through the streets. Past his

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childhood home, as the places where he learned to box and the streets

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were thronged with people who had were thronged with people who had

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The man they called the Louisville Lip on his final lap.

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At the funeral parlour, family members and pallbearers

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gather - like former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson -

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as his coffin is loaded into the hearse.

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A final journey that will take in the streets where he grew up,

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around the city that was home, but where he also fought

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the segregation of 1960s America.

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And along the way, the streets are literally echoing to his name.

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Lining the route, those whose lives he touched and the people

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When you leave Ali, I have always thought, hmm,

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as he always had something to say on wisdom.

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But he left a legacy that will keep going.

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But he is still here, he lives in all of us.

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Since his death was announced, the Muhammad Ali Centre has

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become a makeshift shrine, a place where people

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I spoke to his friend and fellow civil rights activist,

:04:09.:04:13.

It is a sad day and a glad day, glad because the world

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acknowledges the special genius and greatness of Muhammad Ali

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Sad because we miss him, we miss him already,

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but his life and legacy and his music, as it were, lives on.

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It may be over 50 years since he fought battles on race

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and the Vietnam War, and 50 years since he became world

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champion, but this is someone whose significance went way beyond sport

:04:43.:04:45.

and politics and he transcends the generations.

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There are young and old on the streets today,

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and to modern America, his fight against injustice,

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intolerance, his pitch that anyone can achieve

:04:57.:04:58.

He is a cultural icon, to those on the streets,

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he was and still remains the greatest.

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That memorial service for Muhammad Ali is due to start very shortly. It

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is being held dust they block or so away from me here. What has happened

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there is that family members of Muhammad Ali are just going in to

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the auditorium and the 15,000 guests who were there, people from

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everywhere, everyone has been asked to rise to honour the family. This

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is going to be an Interfaith Memorial service. Muhammad Ali

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wanted the presents tips from all the religions. Will be Mormons,

:06:00.:06:05.

Buddhist, Catholics as well as Islamic scholars who will be

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speaking. Family members have said that this is because it is

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representing more hammered Ali's vision of an inclusive world, and

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the unity that he wanted to see in the world. We will see this memorial

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service beginning with their recitation from the Koran and an

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English translation and representatives from all the

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religions. That will be around 40 minutes and then family members will

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speak. His wife will speak, his daughter will speak and another

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daughter will speak. We will hear a reading from the daughter of Malcolm

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by, the founder of the nation of Islam that was such an influential

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movement for more Ali himself. He converted back in 1963. He was

:06:57.:06:59.

raised a Baptist. The first of the raised a Baptist. The first of the

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Interfaith speakers to speak will be from a Baptist church here in

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Louisville and that the religion that he started his live with. Then,

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after the family members who will speak we will hear from friends,

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from Billy Crystal the actor and comedian as well as a sportscaster

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and the final eulogy will be delivered by President Bill Clinton.

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A close friend of Muhammad Ali and who was with them when the centre

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was opened in 2005. A long time supporter. That memorial service

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will be getting underway very shortly.

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And one person who could not be here today was President Obama, because

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his daughter is graduating from high school. He did pay tribute today.

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I have had to slug it out little bit here in Washington and there have

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been times where I've been the underdog, just like the Champ.

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There have been times where I got beat up a little bit,

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and had to come back, and that sense of resilience,

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that's what these boxing gloves represent to me.

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So I just want to say, not just to all the fans around

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the world who drew such inspiration from Muhammad Ali, but most

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importantly to his family, to Lonnie and the kids and everybody

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who I know is celebrating a life during this week, you know,

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it is very rare where a figure captures the imagination

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of the entire world, and it is even rarer when that

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figure does so by being open and funny, and generous, and courageous.

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He was one-of-a-kind and in my book he will always be the greatest.

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He was one-of-a-kind and in my book he will always be the greatest.

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President Obama who keeps a pair of Muhammad Ali's boxing gloves in his

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private study just off the west wing of the Oval Office. He also has an

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iconic photograph of Muhammad Ali after winning a seminal fight in his

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private study as well. President Obama one of so many people from

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around the world paying tribute to Muhammad Ali and shortly has

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memorial service is going to begin here in Kentucky just short way away

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from where I am talking to you now. There were 15,000 tickets given out

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for this service. People were told to start queueing in the morning and

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the Jews were so long that they are to start giving the tickets out

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earlier because there were worries about the effect of the heat on

:10:04.:10:07.

people. All 15,000 tickets were given out within one hour, so many

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people wanted to be here for what they know will be an extremely

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special event. This is going to begin, it is due to be about two

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hours long, with a recitation from the Koran. That'll be from an arm

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and Muslim scholar. -- in. This event was carefully planned by

:10:35.:10:39.

Muhammad Ali and one of the speakers today, who is an Islamic scholar at

:10:40.:10:44.

the University of Waterloo in Canada, he planned the service very

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carefully with Muhammad Ali and he is one of the people who performed

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hammered -- Muslim burial ritual on hammered -- Muslim burial ritual on

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Muhammad Ali. Bill Clinton is coming in. He will be delivering one of the

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eulogies. A close personal friend of Muhammad Ali. Someone who has paid

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tribute to his activism, to his role as a global humanitarian, to

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speaking out against injustice and racism. He is supportive of the

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centre that I am standing in front of which was opened in 2000 and

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five. President Clinton was here for the opening of that and he will be

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the final speaker today. He will wrap up what will be an extremely

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moving occasion and on occasion just as Muhammad Ali wanted it to be. He

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knew this would be his farewell to the world. He spent ten years

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planning this with his wife and with helpers. Being a performer, a

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showman, a wit, he wanted to showcase his life and we can listen

:11:58.:12:09.

in now. In accordance with Muslim tradition

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and consistent with the wishes of Muhammad Ali, may God have mercy on

:12:17.:12:22.

him. We begin this programme with a brief recitation from the Koran, the

:12:23.:12:36.

Scripture of the Muslims. He is a young Imam. He is spearheading a

:12:37.:12:42.

blighted areas in Memphis. It is one blighted areas in Memphis. It is one

:12:43.:12:53.

of the few African American graduates. He will share with us a

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few verses from the Koran. now, with the translation of those

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verses, we would like to bring to the stage someone who is a second

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immigrants, an excellent student. In immigrants, an excellent student. In

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her spare time in recent years she raises money to provide medical

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supplies, surgical instruments, and other forms of medical assistance

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for Syrian refugees fleeing from the horror of the current conflict in

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that land. We pray that Almighty God brings it to a cessation soon.

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APPLAUSE In the name of God, the most

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those who say our Lord is gods, and those who say our Lord is gods, and

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are upright, the angels will descend upon them saying, have neither fear

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nor sadness. But rather rejoice in this paradise that you have been

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promised. We are your allies in this lower life and the life after you

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will have your heart's desire and you will have whatever ask for. As

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bitterly, from the one most forgiving, most merciful. --

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hospitably. Who is more beautiful in speech than the one who invites to

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God and us righteous works, saying, truly I am submitted to God? For

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good and evil are not equal. Repel ugliness with beauty and behold the

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one between Jew and whom there was enmity is transformed into a warm

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friend. But no one arrives at the station without great patience and

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immense fortune. Prostration, chapter 41, versus 30 - 35. Thank

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you. I forgot to mention that she is from

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Louisville, a proud resident of the city.

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O God, bless this day of hours. You O God, bless this day of hours. You

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are our protector. What an excellent protector. What an excellent helper.

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Honourable president Bill, William J Clinton, distinguished guests,

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viewing audience, on behalf of the viewing audience, on behalf of the

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family and the city of Louisville, Kentucky, the home of the People's

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Champ... APPLAUSE

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Ali! Louisville, Kentucky, admirably led by Meier Greg Fisher, I would

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like to welcome you -- Mayor. I would like to welcome you to this

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memorial service for the People's Champ, Muhammad Ali. At this time we

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would like to introduce our first speaker, Doctor Kevin Cosby.

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Time does not permit us to cheer. He has served as senior pastor and

:22:06.:22:21.

congregation has grown exponentially congregation has grown exponentially

:22:22.:22:25.

over the long years of his ministry. Reverend Cosby combines passion, wit

:22:26.:22:31.

and intellect as the foundation of the inspirational and inspirational

:22:32.:22:36.

ministry that has transformed the lives of thousands of individuals.

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Reverend Cosby. APPLAUSE

:22:41.:22:49.

Thank you. I looked in the dictionary for the

:22:50.:22:51.

word fidelity. It had two words. Lonnie Ali. In 1967, nine months

:22:52.:23:17.

prior to his assassination and martyrdom, Doctor Martin Luther King

:23:18.:23:26.

Jr. Was interviewed. The interviewer asked Doctor King a relevant

:23:27.:23:34.

question. He said, Doctor King, what has been the greatest effect and

:23:35.:23:40.

impact that the civil rights struggle has had on the Montenegro?

:23:41.:23:47.

Doctor King paused and said, besides the dismantling of barriers that

:23:48.:23:56.

prohibited the Montenegro from free access, the greatest and most

:23:57.:24:02.

profound effect that the civil rights struggle had was that it in

:24:03.:24:08.

fused something that we needed all along. And that was a sense of

:24:09.:24:22.

somebody nests. You will never be able to PCH what Doctor King meant

:24:23.:24:33.

when he said we needed the sense of somebody ness. Until you understand

:24:34.:24:40.

the 350 years of nobody ness, that was infused into the psyche of

:24:41.:24:50.

people of colour. Every sake -- every sacred document in our

:24:51.:24:56.

history, every hallowed institution conspired to convince the African in

:24:57.:25:02.

America that when God made the African that God was guilty of

:25:03.:25:09.

creative malfeasance. All of sacrosanct documents from the

:25:10.:25:14.

constitution, said that you are not ready. The Constitution said that we

:25:15.:25:21.

were three fifths of a person. Decisions by the Supreme Court said

:25:22.:25:28.

to the African that you have no rights, that whites were bound to

:25:29.:25:37.

respect. And even Francis Scott Key, in his writing of the Star-Spangled

:25:38.:25:45.

Banner, we sing verse one, but in verse three he celebrates slavery by

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from the sorrow of night or the from the sorrow of night or the

:25:57.:26:01.

death of the grave. Every institution from religion to

:26:02.:26:09.

to Jane and styles and, in fused in to Jane and styles and, in fused in

:26:10.:26:14.

the Cyclery of the African that he was inferior. But something happened

:26:15.:26:22.

to the depression generation and the World War II generation of African

:26:23.:26:26.

Americans. Jackie Robinson picked up his bat and hit a ball and the

:26:27.:26:34.

Brooklyn Dodgers one. Joe Lewis dismantled the pride of Arian

:26:35.:26:41.

supremacy by knocking out his opponents in 124 seconds. Jesse

:26:42.:26:48.

Lewis runs an ambulatory speed and winds for gold medals. Rosa Park

:26:49.:26:59.

sits down in a bus in December 1955 and a young seminary student from

:27:00.:27:04.

Boston University takes the complex ideas and tips on chocolate --

:27:05.:27:11.

dipped it in chocolate. APPLAUSE

:27:12.:27:17.

And then from Louisville,... APPLAUSE

:27:18.:27:31.

Emerged the silver tongued poet who took the ethos of somebody nests to

:27:32.:27:40.

unheard-of heights. Before James Brown said, I am black and I am

:27:41.:27:47.

proud, Muhammad Ali said, I am black and I am pretty.

:27:48.:27:54.

APPLAUSE Black and pretty was an oxymoron.

:27:55.:28:03.

Blacks did not say pretty. The first black millionaire in this country

:28:04.:28:10.

was not Oprah, but Madame CJ Walker. Who made products in order to help

:28:11.:28:18.

black people escape their African ancestry. Mahmood Ali said, I am

:28:19.:28:25.

proud. I am pretty. I am glad of who I am. And when he said that, that

:28:26.:28:33.

infused in Africans a sense of somebody ness. To extrapolate

:28:34.:28:39.

Muhammad Ali from the times in which he lived is what is called history.

:28:40.:28:48.

It is to talk about George Washington and not talk about the

:28:49.:28:51.

revolution. It is to talk about Abraham Lincoln and not the Civil

:28:52.:28:56.

War. Roosevelt and not talk about the depression. And World War II.

:28:57.:29:06.

Our brother, Muhammad Ali, was a product of a difficult time. And he

:29:07.:29:09.

dead to love. -- he dead to love. He dared to love America's most unloved

:29:10.:29:46.

race. And he loved us all and we loved him because we knew he loved

:29:47.:29:54.

us. He loved us all. Whether you lived in the suburbs of whether you

:29:55.:29:57.

lived in the slumps. Whether you lived on the Avenue of whether you

:29:58.:30:02.

lived in an alley. Whether you came from the penthouse of whether you

:30:03.:30:06.

lived in the projects. Whether you came from more house of whether you

:30:07.:30:16.

had no house. Whether you were hot yellow or not black, Muhammad Ali

:30:17.:30:23.

loved you. Aber city is known for two things. It is no one for

:30:24.:30:29.

Muhammad Ali and it is known for the Kentucky Derby debris. We hope you

:30:30.:30:34.

will come back and visit our city the first Saturday in May. We hope

:30:35.:30:38.

you will place a bet on one of the horses. But if you do, please know

:30:39.:30:43.

the rules. What will happen is the horses. In the starting gate and

:30:44.:30:47.

then the signal will be given and they will run in the mud for two

:30:48.:30:53.

minutes. Add the winner will then be led to the winner's circle where a

:30:54.:30:57.

read of roses will be played around the force's neck. We want you to

:30:58.:31:02.

make a bet but please know the rules. You cannot bet for the horse

:31:03.:31:09.

once it is in the winner's circle. You have to bet for the horse while

:31:10.:31:16.

it is still in the mud. APPLAUSE

:31:17.:31:23.

And there are a lot of people, there are a lot of people who have bet on

:31:24.:31:28.

Muhammad Ali when he was in the winner's circle. But the masses bet

:31:29.:31:33.

on him while he was still in the mud.

:31:34.:31:45.

Some people stood with him while he was in the mud.

:31:46.:31:49.

APPLAUSE Please don't mishear me. I'm not

:31:50.:32:07.

saying that Muhammad Ali is the property of black people. He is the

:32:08.:32:15.

property of all people. APPLAUSE

:32:16.:32:21.

But while he is the property of all people, let us never forget that he

:32:22.:32:27.

is the product of black people in their struggle to be free.

:32:28.:32:35.

APPLAUSE I went looking for Jesus on a poor

:32:36.:32:44.

street, thinking that I would find him as he walked around with men and

:32:45.:32:50.

women with stumbling feet. People who had their heads bowed low

:32:51.:32:56.

because they were broke and had nowhere to go. But then I went

:32:57.:33:00.

looking for Jesus way in the sky thinking he would wear a robe that

:33:01.:33:04.

would dazzle my eye. When certainly Jesus came walking by with stumbling

:33:05.:33:09.

feet because he had been hanging with the poor on a west street.

:33:10.:33:12.

APPLAUSE The Muhammad Ali of my childhood had

:33:13.:33:29.

a shuffle but as he grew older he what with shuffling feet, and I

:33:30.:33:33.

submit to you that he walked with shuffling feet not because of

:33:34.:33:37.

Parkinson's disease, but he walked with shuffling feet because he hung

:33:38.:33:47.

out with the folk in Louisville who had shuffling feet. Peace, and God

:33:48.:33:51.

bless you. APPLAUSE

:33:52.:34:21.

Yes, yes. Do not give a teenager a telephone and do not get a preacher

:34:22.:34:26.

and microphone! LAUGHTER

:34:27.:34:35.

We would like to bring the Senator to the stage. Now in his seventh

:34:36.:34:47.

term as the Utah Senator, one of Utah's senators. The most senior

:34:48.:34:52.

Republican in the Senate, author of some of the most far reaching

:34:53.:34:57.

legislation we have had in decades. Senator Orrin Hatch is a

:34:58.:35:01.

distinguished public servant and we are deeply honoured by his presence

:35:02.:35:13.

today. Well, Reverend, that was really good. Difficult for this poor

:35:14.:35:23.

old Senator to try to follow that! Well, ahead of the first fight

:35:24.:35:37.

with sunny Liston Muhammad Ali stood before a pack of reporters and said

:35:38.:35:47.

who he was, "I am the greatest". That is who he was -- Sonny Liston.

:35:48.:35:55.

He was not Muhammad Ali, the prizefighter, or even Muhammad Ali,

:35:56.:36:02.

the world champion. He was Muhammad Ali, the greatest. All these

:36:03.:36:12.

doubters dismissed that declamation as bravado but he was not talking

:36:13.:36:17.

trash, he was speaking truth. And he was, in the world of boxing, he

:36:18.:36:20.

truly was the greatest. APPLAUSE

:36:21.:36:34.

With the cut-throat quickness of a street fighter, and the simple grace

:36:35.:36:42.

of a ballerina, he moved with agility and punched with Herculean

:36:43.:36:50.

strength, but to assure that Ali's greatness stemmed purely from his

:36:51.:36:53.

athletic prowess is to see only half the man. Ali was great, not only as

:36:54.:36:59.

an extraordinary fighter, but he was a committed civil rights leader, an

:37:00.:37:06.

international diplomat, an advocate of religious freedom, and effective

:37:07.:37:16.

for Islam. He was something. He was caring as a father, husband, brother

:37:17.:37:23.

and a friend. Indeed, it is as a personal friend that I witnessed

:37:24.:37:27.

Ali's greatness for myself. I first met Muhammad Ali 28 years ago,

:37:28.:37:35.

almost to the day, to this day. I was in my Senate office and an

:37:36.:37:37.

assistant called and said, you have a visitor outside. I was really

:37:38.:37:44.

surprised that it was none other than the champion himself. The

:37:45.:37:49.

friendship we developed, I think, was puzzling to many people,

:37:50.:37:52.

especially to those who saw only our differences. And I would say that

:37:53.:38:06.

where others saw difference, Ali and I saw kinship. We were both

:38:07.:38:11.

dedicated to our families, and deeply devoted to our faiths. He

:38:12.:38:21.

took Islam and I to the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints.

:38:22.:38:25.

We were both products of humble backgrounds and hard youths. Ali

:38:26.:38:31.

grew up poor here in Louisville and I grew up poor in Pittsburgh. True,

:38:32.:38:35.

we were different in some ways but that fortified our friendship. They

:38:36.:38:42.

did not define it. I saw greatness in Ali's ability to look beyond the

:38:43.:38:47.

horizon. And our differences. To find common ground. This shared

:38:48.:38:55.

sensibility was the foundation of a rich and meaningful relationship.

:38:56.:39:00.

And I will forever treasure it. One of my fondest memories of our

:39:01.:39:10.

friendship was when Ali joined me in the Salt Lake to listen to the Salt

:39:11.:39:17.

Lake Quire. I have to say it was the Mormon Quire -- choir. Ali love

:39:18.:39:26.

music and he enjoyed the choir's performance but he seemed more

:39:27.:39:30.

pleased to share his particular religious beliefs with those who

:39:31.:39:34.

came to hear the Christian hens. He attracted big crowds, as he always

:39:35.:39:39.

did, and eagerly gave everyone autographed pamphlet explaining his

:39:40.:39:45.

Muslim beliefs -- Christian hymn. Hundreds of Mormons lined up to grab

:39:46.:39:49.

his pamphlets and of course I took one for myself. I was begging his

:39:50.:39:53.

deeply held convictions just as he respected mine. -- I respected his

:39:54.:40:01.

deeply held convictions. Our friendship was anchored by a

:40:02.:40:04.

different faiths. He was open to goodness in all of its realities and

:40:05.:40:08.

the righties. On another occasion I took him to Primary Children's

:40:09.:40:15.

Hospital in Salt Lake City. We visited downtrodden children who

:40:16.:40:23.

perhaps had never smiled a day in their lifetimes, until Ali showed

:40:24.:40:25.

up. He held those kids and look into their eyes. They would grin from ear

:40:26.:40:33.

to ear. These were kids that never smiled, they were so pained. The

:40:34.:40:37.

nurses were astounded. Never before had they seen someone who had

:40:38.:40:43.

connected so immediately and profoundly with these sick children.

:40:44.:40:48.

Ali had a special way with kids, as we all know. He may have been a

:40:49.:40:56.

tough and tenacious man in the ring but he was compassionate and tender

:40:57.:41:00.

around those he loved. For all of this ferocity as a fighter, Ali was

:41:01.:41:06.

also a peacemaker. A particular radio host in Utah berated me

:41:07.:41:12.

constantly on the airwaves. Week after week, the host asked, if I

:41:13.:41:19.

would arrange for Ali to meet Utah's former middleweight champion for a

:41:20.:41:25.

joint interview. Ali agreed, knowing the appearance could help me build

:41:26.:41:30.

some goodwill, but he was also very interested in meeting him as well.

:41:31.:41:33.

It was an unforgettable experience. There were two champions,

:41:34.:41:40.

face-to-face, reminiscing about some of the best fights the world has

:41:41.:41:45.

ever seen, and I have to say that in the process, Ali charm the radio

:41:46.:42:02.

host so much on my behalf, gently transforming an antagonist into a

:42:03.:42:06.

sparring partner, so dedicated was he to our friendship that he joined

:42:07.:42:10.

me on the campaign trail, during several election cycles. He came to

:42:11.:42:19.

Utah year after year to raise funds for charity benefiting needy women,

:42:20.:42:22.

women in jeopardy and families in our state. Ali did not look at life

:42:23.:42:32.

through the binary lens of the Republican and Democrat so common

:42:33.:42:39.

today. He is worthy causes and shared humanity. His willingness to

:42:40.:42:43.

put principles ahead of partnership helped show us all the path to

:42:44.:42:50.

greatness and I will never forget that greatness and nor will I ever

:42:51.:42:55.

forget him. APPLAUSE

:42:56.:42:59.

There were many faces to Ali's greatness. His abilities as a boxer,

:43:00.:43:07.

his charisma as a public figure, his Netherlands as a father and as a

:43:08.:43:14.

friend -- his benevolence as a father. All of these made him great

:43:15.:43:17.

but there was something else that made him the greatest. Ali was the

:43:18.:43:25.

greatest because, as debilitated yet unbroken champion in his later

:43:26.:43:29.

years, he pointed us to beyond ourselves. A greatness beyond even

:43:30.:43:36.

Ali. He pointed us to the greatness of God.

:43:37.:43:37.

APPLAUSE God raised up Ali to be the greatest

:43:38.:43:51.

fighter in the world of all-time, yet he allowed Ali to wrestle with

:43:52.:43:57.

Parkinson's disease, and inescapable reminder that we are all mortal and

:43:58.:44:04.

we are all dependent on God's race. Ali believe this himself and he once

:44:05.:44:09.

told me, "God gave me this condition to remind me always that I am human

:44:10.:44:15.

-- God's grace. And that only he is the greatest."

:44:16.:44:25.

Ali was an unsurpassed symbol of our universal dependence on the divine.

:44:26.:44:32.

He was the greatest. Because he reminded us all who truly is the

:44:33.:44:39.

greatest, God, our Creator. I am eternally grateful for my special

:44:40.:44:44.

bond with this special man and for my friendship with his beloved wife,

:44:45.:44:49.

Lonnie, who I loved dearly. She is one of the great women in this

:44:50.:44:56.

world. -- love dearly. APPLAUSE

:44:57.:45:02.

She was dedicated to her companion until the very end and, boy, I know

:45:03.:45:10.

it. I pray he will rest peacefully in the presence of the greatest of

:45:11.:45:18.

all. I can bear testimony that I believe in God. I believe we are

:45:19.:45:25.

here on earth for a reason. I believe that this Earth life is a

:45:26.:45:31.

time for us to do what is right for God, and for our fellow men and

:45:32.:45:37.

women, and I do not know that I have ever met anybody who did it any

:45:38.:45:44.

better than my friend, Muhammad Ali. God bless you and God bless the

:45:45.:45:46.

family. APPLAUSE

:45:47.:45:55.

Next, we would like to welcome Father, the father who was named

:45:56.:46:19.

with the title Monsignor by Pope John Paul II in 1991. His wisdom,

:46:20.:46:27.

scholarship and spiritual guidance is a source of countless guidance

:46:28.:46:34.

for Catholics and members of other faith communities far beyond his

:46:35.:46:44.

Pennsylvania home. Father Crighton... Let us prey. Loving

:46:45.:46:54.

eternal God. As we gather today in prayer, we do so with an abiding

:46:55.:46:59.

sense of gratitude. Our gratitude holds no bones, as we thank you for

:47:00.:47:06.

the gifts of this good and gentlemen -- no bounds. Muhammad Ali opened

:47:07.:47:13.

our eyes to the evil of racism, to the absurdity of war. He should us

:47:14.:47:17.

with incredible patients that a debilitating illness need never

:47:18.:47:30.

diminish joy and love in our lives -- patience. He showed the need to

:47:31.:47:34.

respect one another, to set aside racial differences. The legendary

:47:35.:47:41.

fighter of all time in reality taught us to heal rather than to

:47:42.:47:47.

fight. To embrace rather than to turn away. To include rather than

:47:48.:47:54.

exclude. Whilst proclaiming himself to be the greatest, he should us

:47:55.:47:58.

that his greatness lay in his love and concern for others, both

:47:59.:48:02.

particularly the marginalised, the suffering, the helpless, the

:48:03.:48:10.

hopeless. Your gift of him has enriched us, has made us better

:48:11.:48:14.

people, has created a more gentle world. We dare not return him to you

:48:15.:48:20.

today without expressing our gratitude for the gift of him. Amen.

:48:21.:48:24.

APPLAUSE Next we will hear a few brief words

:48:25.:48:32.

from Doctor Timothy Gianotti, an expert in

:48:33.:49:04.

Islamic studies in Ontarian, Canada. He is the principal Islamic adviser

:49:05.:49:13.

to the Ali family. He was instrumental in ensuring the last

:49:14.:49:20.

days of Muhammad's life, his shrouding, his burial and funeral

:49:21.:49:25.

today were all in accordance with the Scriptures of Muslim law. I

:49:26.:49:32.

would now like to bring to you the person I affectionately call brother

:49:33.:49:40.

Doctor Imam Timothy person I affectionately call brother

:49:41.:50:00.

Doctor Imam Timothy Gianotti. In the name of God who is the loving

:50:01.:50:21.

nurturer of creation, and the ever compassionate and ever merciful, I

:50:22.:50:31.

would like to share a player today. And this is a pre-adapted from a

:50:32.:50:34.

traditional prayer of the Prophet Muhammad, may peace be upon

:50:35.:50:53.

you. I would like to see to the family, to Lonnie, to everyone here,

:50:54.:50:57.

that serving Muhammad Ali has been one of the greatest privileges of my

:50:58.:51:10.

life. God, you who are the light of the heavens and the earth, Grant our

:51:11.:51:20.

brother Muhammad a light in his heart, a light in his earthly body

:51:21.:51:29.

no -- now restored to the earth. A light in his grave. A light before

:51:30.:51:38.

him as he journeys on to you, a light in all that he has left behind

:51:39.:51:48.

in this world, a light to his right and a light to his left. Oh, God,

:51:49.:51:56.

increase him in light. Grant him late. A light in his deeds in this

:51:57.:52:06.

world and a light in the hereafter -- grant him. A light in the hearts

:52:07.:52:11.

of those whom he loved and a light in the eyes of those who loved him.

:52:12.:52:23.

A light in those whom he knocked down, and a light in those whom he

:52:24.:52:33.

lifted up. A light in his words which echo in our hearts, a light in

:52:34.:52:41.

the lives of all those whom he touched. A light in his children,

:52:42.:52:52.

and a light in their mothers, a light in his grandchildren, and a

:52:53.:53:02.

light in his devoted wife, Lonnie. Lord, increase your servant in

:53:03.:53:09.

light, and give him light. Embrace him in light, and Phil us all with

:53:10.:53:26.

light -- fill us. You who are either light of the heavens and the earth.

:53:27.:53:31.

# Who are the light. You who are the most merciful. Allah.

:53:32.:53:38.

APPLAUSE Next we will hear a few words from

:53:39.:54:06.

the Rabbi who is the editor of a magazine whose name suggests -- as

:54:07.:54:12.

whose name suggests, the dedicated his life to working to repair the

:54:13.:54:26.

world. Rabbi Lerner is never afraid of ruffling a few feathers so we

:54:27.:54:28.

asking to be nice today. LAUGHTER

:54:29.:54:30.

. Rabbi Lerner... APPLAUSE

:54:31.:54:36.

We will see about those feathers. LAUGHTER

:54:37.:54:46.

Master of compassion, God of compassion, send your blessings to

:54:47.:54:57.

Muhammad Ali, and send your blessings to all who mourn for him,

:54:58.:55:01.

and send your blessings for all the millions and millions of people who

:55:02.:55:09.

mourn for him over this planet. I come here speaking as a

:55:10.:55:13.

representative of American Jews and to say that American Jews played an

:55:14.:55:17.

important role of solidarity with the effort in American struggles in

:55:18.:55:23.

this country and that we today stand in solidarity with the Islamic

:55:24.:55:27.

unity, in this country and all around the world.

:55:28.:55:36.

APPLAUSE # With Islamic communities. We will

:55:37.:55:42.

not tolerate politicians or anyone else putting down Muslims and

:55:43.:55:46.

blaming Muslims for a few people. APPLAUSE

:55:47.:56:03.

We know what it is like to be demeaned, to have a few people who

:56:04.:56:09.

act against the highest visions of our tradition, to then be identified

:56:10.:56:14.

as the value of the entire tradition, and one of the reasons

:56:15.:56:20.

that we at our magazine, a magazine of liberal progressive Jews but also

:56:21.:56:25.

an interfaith magazine, have called upon the United States to stand up

:56:26.:56:30.

to the part of the Israeli government that is oppressing

:56:31.:56:36.

Palestinians, is that we, as Jews, understand that our commitment is to

:56:37.:56:40.

recognise that God has created everyone in God's image, and that

:56:41.:56:45.

everyone is equally precious, and that means the Palestinian people as

:56:46.:56:49.

well as all other people on the planet.

:56:50.:56:56.

APPLAUSE I know the people of Louisville have

:56:57.:57:01.

a special relationship to Muhammad Ali and I had a personal

:57:02.:57:07.

relationship in this 60s when both of us were indicted by the federal

:57:08.:57:11.

Government for our stand against the war in Vietnam. I want to say that

:57:12.:57:21.

although he was cheered on as the heavyweight champion of the world,

:57:22.:57:26.

you know, the truth is that all honour to him, but heavyweight

:57:27.:57:31.

champions of the WorldCom and go. Sports heroes come and go. There was

:57:32.:57:35.

something about Muhammad Ali that was different -- of the world come

:57:36.:57:45.

and go. He used that stands to stand up to an immoral war and say, "no, I

:57:46.:57:56.

won't go". It is for that reason that tens of millions of Americans

:57:57.:58:01.

who do not particularly care about boxing do care about Muhammad Ali,

:58:02.:58:04.

because he was a person who was willing to risk a great honour that

:58:05.:58:09.

he got, and the great theme that he got, to stand up for the beliefs

:58:10.:58:15.

that he had, to speak truth to power when the rest of the people around

:58:16.:58:21.

him said, "no, you will lose your championship," and it was taken away

:58:22.:58:25.

from him, but he stood up and was willing to take that kind of a risk

:58:26.:58:31.

because of his moral integrity -- the great fame that he got. So I

:58:32.:58:38.

want to say, how do we honour Muhammad Ali? And the answer is the

:58:39.:58:44.

way to honour Muhammad Ali is to be Muhammad Ali today. That means us,

:58:45.:58:51.

everyone here and everyone listening, it is up to us to

:58:52.:58:56.

continue that ability to speak truth to power. We must speak out, reviews

:58:57.:59:05.

to follow the path of conformity to the game in life. You must refuse to

:59:06.:59:09.

follow the rules of conformity. Tell the 1% to one the 80% of the wealth

:59:10.:59:14.

in this country, it is time to share that well.

:59:15.:59:17.

APPLAUSE Tell the politicians who use

:59:18.:59:22.

violence worldwide and then preach nonviolence to the oppressed, it is

:59:23.:59:29.

time for them to end their drone work there and every other form of

:59:30.:59:32.

warfare, to bring the troops home, to close those bases, to tell those

:59:33.:59:39.

who created mass incarceration it is time for everyone in our society...

:59:40.:59:47.

Tell judges to let out of prison the many African-Americans swept up by

:59:48.:59:52.

racist police and imprisoned by racist judges.

:59:53.:59:53.

APPLAUSE Many of them in prison today for

:59:54.:00:10.

offences like possessing marijuana that white people get away with all

:00:11.:00:12.

the time. APPLAUSE

:00:13.:00:24.

Tell our elected officials to imprison those who approved torture.

:00:25.:00:34.

Till the leaders of tacky to stop killing the Kurdish people. Still

:00:35.:00:48.

the occupation of the West Bank and help create a Palestinian state.

:00:49.:00:52.

Till the next President of the United States

:00:53.:01:04.

CHEERING that she should seek a constitutional amendment to make

:01:05.:01:28.

sure that all sorts of money from corporations and individuals should

:01:29.:01:31.

be banned and that should all come from public funding.

:01:32.:01:41.

Tell her that the way to achieve homeland security is not for us to

:01:42.:01:51.

try new ways of domination. The strategy of domination has been

:01:52.:01:58.

tried for the past 10,000 years and it does not work. We want the United

:01:59.:02:05.

States to become the most generous and giving country in the world, not

:02:06.:02:13.

the most powerful. We can start with the global and domestic Marshall

:02:14.:02:18.

plan to once and for all and global and domestic poverty and

:02:19.:02:22.

homelessness, poor education and inadequate health care. As cheer of

:02:23.:02:31.

the Interfaith network of spiritual messengers, come and join us. I want

:02:32.:02:38.

to affirm our commitment to the well-being of all Muslims on this

:02:39.:02:43.

planet, as well as the people of all faiths. We wish to pay on to the

:02:44.:02:54.

Muslims of the warrant during Ramadan. We want to join and

:02:55.:03:01.

celebrate in the life of Muhammad Ali. Peace be upon him and peace be

:03:02.:03:04.

upon the Prophet Muhammad. Cramming. Tamer is not on our side. After that

:03:05.:04:11.

speech. Sidney Hill was selected 14 years ago as the spiritual leader of

:04:12.:04:20.

his people. He is a leader whose spirituality and passionate pursuit

:04:21.:04:25.

of justice is un-rivalled. We are honoured that he has come here

:04:26.:04:27.

today. The translation was it is my

:04:28.:06:54.

responsibility to speak on behalf of the people of the long house. They

:06:55.:07:04.

want you to be at peace of mind. Though, this great darkness which

:07:05.:07:14.

has happened to us, we must understand that he who has gathered

:07:15.:07:27.

as here, peacefully, will arrive at his land. The land of the Creator.

:07:28.:07:43.

These were the words. To the family, the relatives, of Muhammad Ali. He

:07:44.:08:05.

was a leader. He was a leader of men and a champion of the people.

:08:06.:08:11.

APPLAUSE. He fought for the colour of people

:08:12.:08:25.

-- of his people, but he was a man of peace, a man of compassion. His

:08:26.:08:36.

spirit has a clear path to the Creator.

:08:37.:08:53.

Myself, the faith keeper of the clan, we have journeyed here today

:08:54.:09:06.

to add our voice to this congregation in honour of his work

:09:07.:09:12.

and for the rights and dignity of people of colour and the common man.

:09:13.:09:20.

He was always in support of the indigenous peoples. For our inherent

:09:21.:09:38.

rates, our land rights, or self-determination and identity.

:09:39.:09:49.

These include the natural world. We know what he was up against. Because

:09:50.:10:00.

we have had 524 years survival training ourselves.

:10:01.:10:05.

In 1978, a Congressman from Washington Bridge built into

:10:06.:10:21.

Congress to terminate our treaties with the United States. The Indian

:10:22.:10:27.

nations walked from California to Washington in protest. Muhammad Ali

:10:28.:10:35.

Marched into Washington with us. He was a free, independent spirit.

:10:36.:10:55.

He stood his ground with great courage and conviction. And he peed

:10:56.:11:03.

a place. What his country did too. We all did. Values, principles that

:11:04.:11:14.

the German one destiny. The principles of a nation. Good people

:11:15.:11:25.

do not have many options. Good fighters know what I am talking

:11:26.:11:41.

about. He said, that the ring was his path to his destiny. He said he

:11:42.:11:47.

would be heavyweight champion of the world and he was, three games. And

:11:48.:11:52.

this is the fourth time, right here right now.

:11:53.:11:56.

On his journey in life, he lived and layer and the hard way. He brought

:11:57.:12:17.

to light into this world. My world. Our world. And that light will shine

:12:18.:12:26.

a long, long time. Peace, brother, peace. On behalf of

:12:27.:12:54.

of our people and indigenous people everywhere, peace. Thank you.

:12:55.:12:58.

We introduced the chief. His translation, we thank him for. He

:12:59.:13:28.

was born on the need reservation in upstate New York. He became the

:13:29.:13:32.

faith keeper of the Turtle clan. No, we would

:13:33.:14:01.

like to introduce the leader of interfaith work. He has a passion

:14:02.:14:05.

for teaching youth and invite letters has worked with years which

:14:06.:14:15.

led him to cross purposes with Muhammad Ali. His religious

:14:16.:14:20.

leadership focuses on compassion and tear and working together with all

:14:21.:14:31.

to build a better world. Rabbi Rapport. This is a reading from a

:14:32.:14:40.

war players on. It was written many

:14:41.:14:56.

years ago when he could not have known years ago when he was writing

:14:57.:15:00.

these words that he was composing E eulogy to Muhammad Ali full state

:15:01.:15:06.

birth is beginning and SSE continuation. From innocence to a

:15:07.:15:16.

weirdness and ignorance to knowledge. From foolishness to

:15:17.:15:23.

discretion. From weakness to strength and strength to weakness

:15:24.:15:28.

and often back again. From health to sickness and back to health again.

:15:29.:15:36.

From offence to forget the others and loneliness to life. From joy to

:15:37.:15:41.

gratitude and pain to compassion. From relief to understanding, from

:15:42.:15:47.

fear to faith. From defeat to defeat to defeat until looking back and you

:15:48.:15:56.

are ahead. Victory is not something along the way, but having made the

:15:57.:16:01.

journey stage by stage. Authors are beginning, death is a destination.

:16:02.:16:10.

Life is a journey. The secret pilgrimage to life everlasting. We

:16:11.:16:20.

see workshop rear and we see them until we encounter someone who

:16:21.:16:23.

embodies these words and makes them real. I have said these words many

:16:24.:16:29.

times before and memorial services and funerals. But never have I ever

:16:30.:16:35.

thought I would speak of a single shining light as I would do today.

:16:36.:16:42.

Muhammad Ali Was the heart of the city. The living embodiment of the

:16:43.:16:48.

greatest we can be. He was our heart and our heart beats still.

:16:49.:16:57.

Let me tell you a story you already know. It is one of the stories about

:16:58.:17:08.

Muhammad Ali being gracious to a stranger that many of are told that

:17:09.:17:15.

we sometimes forget the lessons this story is intended to teachers. It is

:17:16.:17:25.

about Eve women who is driving her father to a book store to pick up

:17:26.:17:35.

some Bibles and Korans 40 project they are working on. The pass a man

:17:36.:17:41.

with his thumb in the year. He says he's on his way home from church and

:17:42.:17:46.

just needs to go a few males down the street. They asked where he

:17:47.:17:53.

lives. He did not want it to trouble them. He has no idea who is sitting

:17:54.:17:58.

in the front seat of the Scarborough. Until Muhammad Ali

:17:59.:18:04.

times round and says it is no trouble at all. Once the moment gets

:18:05.:18:18.

over meeting the greatest, he says he would be please to give Muhammad

:18:19.:18:28.

Ali the tables in appreciation of the trade. Muhammad Ali Insist on

:18:29.:18:36.

paying for them. The man insists they are a gift. It turns out that

:18:37.:18:40.

the man had the stroke and has been forced into retirement. Muhammad Ali

:18:41.:18:47.

Tracer hand a big lot of money for the Bibles. This is really gets

:18:48.:18:55.

interesting. The man refused. Muhammad Ali Said, take the money, I

:18:56.:19:02.

am trying to get into heaven! And the man replied, so am I! Muhammad

:19:03.:19:11.

Ali Says if you do not take the money I may not get in. The man

:19:12.:19:18.

says, if I take your money, I may not get ten. The arrive at his home

:19:19.:19:23.

and the man invites them in to meet his wife of 30 years. He gives

:19:24.:19:33.

Muhammad Ali the Bibles and Muhammad Ali sought money under the table

:19:34.:19:40.

mat. He gives those numbers and tells him to give him a call

:19:41.:19:44.

anything he wants a raid home from the church again. Back in the car,

:19:45.:19:51.

Muhammad Ali says would you go of you read and pick him up and drive

:19:52.:19:56.

him back home. She said, yes. With tears in his eyes he said that in

:19:57.:20:03.

you. He says, you are on the road to

:20:04.:20:21.

heaven. Therein lies the greatness of Muhammad Ali. It was his ability

:20:22.:20:29.

to see in himself something greater. And to see others realise that

:20:30.:20:37.

greatness resided inside themselves. There will never be another greatest

:20:38.:20:43.

like Muhammad Ali. But we can no major his keenness and compassion.

:20:44.:20:48.

We can see in our hearts, there is a little bit of Muhammad Ali in me.

:20:49.:20:56.

This week, we have mourned the loss and celebrated the life of a legend

:20:57.:21:08.

and a citizen of the world. In all the words and all the ways, the most

:21:09.:21:13.

powerful moments of all been made in the voices of young people, repeated

:21:14.:21:18.

and peer services and chanted in the streets. I am Ali. I am not the fate

:21:19.:21:32.

he was and I may be will never have the courage that he never lacked.

:21:33.:21:41.

And I am certainly not as pretty! But in players, I am Muhammad Ali.

:21:42.:21:48.

Cash in my peers. But we can build a legacy worthy of

:21:49.:22:00.

the greatest of all time. Say that no with me, in your cart and in this

:22:01.:22:03.

room, I am Ali. One of the most amazing things we

:22:04.:22:27.

have witnessed here has been so many stories of canes ordinary people.

:22:28.:22:32.

People on the street working in the hotels and restaurants. Virtually

:22:33.:22:40.

everyone has a story. They have a story concerning how Muhammad Ali

:22:41.:22:47.

touched their lives. He came to my fourth grade class, Nicky Hilton

:22:48.:22:51.

near it in the server that way. He came to visit me when I was sick.

:22:52.:23:02.

Collectively, these experiences, they become a synergy. They become

:23:03.:23:08.

greater than the individual parts. And when we came through the streets

:23:09.:23:12.

of the city today I witnessed something I had never ever witnessed

:23:13.:23:23.

in my life. I do not think I will ever witness this again. I witnessed

:23:24.:23:33.

our. It may be loosely translated as seen truant.

:23:34.:23:54.

He has a member of the Japanese Buddhist order working for model

:23:55.:24:02.

piece for the practice of walking piece pilgrimages. And the

:24:03.:24:12.

construction of peace all over the world. He will be joined on stage by

:24:13.:24:24.

another member of the order. They will shear a traditional chant.

:24:25.:25:04.

reading by Ambassador Shabazz. She is proudly the proud of her parents,

:25:05.:30:18.

their parents, and then before them for descending generations. The

:30:19.:30:23.

former Prime Minister of Belize recognised her as a key Ambassador

:30:24.:30:26.

on international cultural affairs and project development and in 2002

:30:27.:30:32.

appointed her as ambassador at large, powerful and elegant. We

:30:33.:30:41.

invite Ambassador Shabazz to read and share, and inspire us.

:30:42.:30:45.

APPLAUSE Assalamu alaikum, may peace be upon

:30:46.:31:15.

us. As this is a celebration, I find myself torn between celebration and

:31:16.:31:21.

loss. And my breathing capacity has been weakened in this past week so I

:31:22.:31:28.

ask all of you gathered here and are far too please muster up and

:31:29.:31:39.

transmit a bit of your air to me. In the memory of Muhammad Ali, thank

:31:40.:31:44.

you all. Shukram, Merci, gracias, obrigado

:31:45.:32:09.

and more. And the differences in time zone, with all the prayers for

:32:10.:32:16.

Muhammad Ali and his family being in their thoughts, and this that --

:32:17.:32:24.

omits that, in the prayers of everyone, and those who don't even

:32:25.:32:27.

have a religion, they are thinking of the thoughts of the memory of

:32:28.:32:31.

their family, their father, their husband. In the spirit of my

:32:32.:32:32.

parents. Malcolm X Shabazz and Doctor Betty

:32:33.:32:53.

Shabazz, and in the presence of my five younger sisters, our children

:32:54.:32:56.

and our grandchildren, I would like to first honour his beloved id wife

:32:57.:33:10.

-- his beloved wife, my sister, Lonnie Ali. For all the strengths

:33:11.:33:16.

that you know and that resonate beyond, sometimes you do need a

:33:17.:33:20.

little help. No matter how magnificent you are, and indeed

:33:21.:33:26.

those that were with him, that loved him as family members, sustained

:33:27.:33:29.

that. His name children. As well as there are

:33:30.:33:57.

mothers, and the grandchildren who accompany them. To his only

:33:58.:34:10.

brother, Rahman, and his extraordinary example of a best

:34:11.:34:13.

friend, Howard Bingham, and to his sister-in-law Marilyn Wiliams. For

:34:14.:34:38.

all of my grief, I know there is none compatible to yours. For this

:34:39.:34:43.

day and those to come, as you redefine your waking days for a life

:34:44.:34:49.

without him here present, very different. Photos, memories, all the

:34:50.:35:00.

things we have of him, that keeping going, he touched you differently

:35:01.:35:04.

and that has to be honoured and recognised, never for a second. --

:35:05.:35:17.

never forsaken. When you are descendant of the principle of

:35:18.:35:21.

someone whose life was filled with principle, that seed is in use or

:35:22.:35:23.

that you have to cultivate that responsibly as well. -- that seed is

:35:24.:35:34.

in you. This moment is very meaningful to me, to have been

:35:35.:35:39.

amongst those chosen and blessed by Muhammad himself, and affirmed by

:35:40.:35:45.

his wife, Lonnie, to take part by sharing in this statement during

:35:46.:35:50.

this ongoing ceremony. Whilst he and I had a treasured relationship, the

:35:51.:35:54.

genesis of this love was through the love for my father. Muhammad Ali was

:35:55.:36:03.

the last of a fraternity of amazing men bequeathed to be directly by my

:36:04.:36:11.

dad. Somewhere between me turning 18, 19 or 20. They all seemed to

:36:12.:36:17.

find me, somehow guided by an oath are promised to my dad, long after

:36:18.:36:22.

him leaving this earth, to search for me. And they did. Each one,

:36:23.:36:30.

remaining in my life until joining the rest of the heavens's below

:36:31.:36:37.

that. This included Muhammad Ali -- the heavens's below that. My dad

:36:38.:36:41.

loved him as a little brother, 16 years his junior, and he was his

:36:42.:36:46.

entrusted friend. There was a double-take when I came upon him. As

:36:47.:36:54.

a child, and now looking right into his face, and you know how he is.

:36:55.:36:57.

When he gives you that look. LAUGHTER

:36:58.:37:05.

From the very moment we found one another, it was as if no time had

:37:06.:37:10.

passed at all, despite all of the presumptions of division. Despite

:37:11.:37:13.

all of the efforts at separation. Despite all of the organised

:37:14.:37:20.

distancing. We pulled right in to all of the unrequited duly

:37:21.:37:27.

acknowledged spaces we could explore and uncover privately -- we -- dove

:37:28.:37:41.

right in. He cried out loud. His belt, his grief, add not spoken to

:37:42.:37:45.

my dad just before he left, then just as loudly we would laugh at the

:37:46.:37:48.

best of stories, some that cannot Biraghi did. He was relief funny.

:37:49.:37:55.

What was significant, as brothers, for my father and Ali to Distin --

:37:56.:38:05.

was to discuss openly anything, all facets of life, namely of their

:38:06.:38:10.

responsibility of great men wanting to make a difference in the lives of

:38:11.:38:15.

others. A unifying topic was faith, and a generic -- and ecumenical

:38:16.:38:23.

faith, respect for all faiths, even those belonging to one specific

:38:24.:38:31.

religion or none, the root of such being the gift of faith itself. In

:38:32.:38:35.

his own words, he wrote "We all have the same God. We just serve him

:38:36.:38:47.

differently. Rivers, lakes, ponds, streams, oceans, they all have

:38:48.:38:52.

different names but they all contain water. So do religions have

:38:53.:38:55.

different names, and yet they all contain truth, truth expressed in

:38:56.:39:02.

different ways and forms and times. It doesn't matter whether you are a

:39:03.:39:09.

Muslim, a Christian, or a Jew. When you believe in God you should

:39:10.:39:12.

believe all people are part of one family." APPLAUSE

:39:13.:39:18.

If you love God you cannot love only some of his children.

:39:19.:39:33.

APPLAUSE His words, and certainly ideals

:39:34.:39:43.

shared by both men, love is a mighty thing, devotion is a mighty thing,

:39:44.:39:50.

and truth always rains. Having Muhammad Ali in my life somehow

:39:51.:39:54.

sustained my dad's breath for me, just a little while longer. 51 years

:39:55.:40:03.

longer, until now. APPLAUSE

:40:04.:40:14.

I am forever grateful at our union on this as together, that it allowed

:40:15.:40:22.

for a continuum of shared understanding, preserve

:40:23.:40:27.

confidentiality is, and the comfort of living in his own town of

:40:28.:40:31.

Louisville, Kentucky, for the past ten years.

:40:32.:40:36.

APPLAUSE That was not a plan. And mostly for

:40:37.:40:44.

the gift of knowing and loving his wife and children forever forward as

:40:45.:40:53.

my own family, know that. As the last of the fraternity reaches the

:40:54.:40:57.

heavens, my heart is rendered ever longingly for that tried, tribe of

:40:58.:41:08.

purpose, tribe of character, of confidence -- longingly for that

:41:09.:41:15.

tribe. Tribe of duty, of faith, of service. We must make sure that the

:41:16.:41:19.

principle of men and women like Muhammad Ali and others who

:41:20.:41:24.

dedicated their very being to assure that you get to recognise your own

:41:25.:41:30.

glory is sustained and passed on like that Olympic torch. My dad

:41:31.:41:39.

would often state, when concluding a parting from another, maybe meet

:41:40.:41:45.

again in the light of understanding, and I say to you with the light of

:41:46.:41:53.

that compass, by any means necessary -- may we meet again.

:41:54.:41:54.

APPLAUSE Ladies and gentlemen, representing

:41:55.:42:26.

the president of the United States and Mrs Obama, Miss Valerie Jarrett.

:42:27.:42:34.

APPLAUSE Good afternoon. On the half of

:42:35.:42:45.

President Obama and Mrs Obama, I wish to express to you their deepest

:42:46.:42:49.

regret that they could not be with us here today as we celebrate the

:42:50.:42:53.

extraordinary life of Muhammad Ali. I first met Muhammad Ali over 45

:42:54.:42:58.

years ago, through his friendship with my

:42:59.:43:10.

uncle Gene, and he would be so touched that his son is a pallbearer

:43:11.:43:17.

location right today. Because of my connection, the president and First

:43:18.:43:21.

Lady asked if I would read this tribute to him penned by President

:43:22.:43:32.

Obama. "It Was 1980, and epic career was in its twilight. Everybody knew

:43:33.:43:41.

it, probably including the chap himself. -- Champ. Muhammad Ali went

:43:42.:43:48.

into one of his final fights as the underdog and all the smart money was

:43:49.:43:52.

on the new Champ, and in the end of the odd makers were right. A few

:43:53.:43:58.

hours later at 4am, after the loss, after the fans had gone home

:43:59.:44:00.

were writing their final take, is sports writer asked a rest room

:44:01.:44:11.

attendant if he had bet on the fight. -- and the sports writers

:44:12.:44:15.

were writing their final take. The man, black, and on in years, said he

:44:16.:44:21.

had put his money on Ali. The writer asked why? "Why, man said, why?

:44:22.:44:30.

Because he is Muhammad Ali, that's why".

:44:31.:44:32.

APPLAUSE "He said, Mr, I am 72 years old, and

:44:33.:44:39.

I backed the known for giving me my dignity.

:44:40.:44:45.

APPLAUSE To Lonnie and the Ali family,

:44:46.:44:54.

President Clinton, and an arena full of distinguished guests, you are

:44:55.:45:00.

amazing. The man we celebrate today is not just a boxer or a poet, or an

:45:01.:45:06.

agitator or a man of peace, and he was not just a Muslim or a black man

:45:07.:45:12.

or a Louisville kid, although I know you wish that was it, Louisville,

:45:13.:45:16.

this wonderful city. He was not even just the greatest of all time. He

:45:17.:45:27.

was Muhammad Ali. The whole far greater than the sum of its parts.

:45:28.:45:31.

He was bigger, brighter, more influential and more original than

:45:32.:45:34.

just about any one of his error. APPLAUSE

:45:35.:45:44.

-- his era. You could not have made him up and, yes, he was pretty, too.

:45:45.:45:53.

He had fans in every city, every village, every ghetto on the planet.

:45:54.:46:01.

He was loved by foreign heads of state, the Beatles, the British

:46:02.:46:04.

invasion to the teacher to come to him. It seemed sometimes that the

:46:05.:46:09.

Champ was simply too big for America. But I actually think that

:46:10.:46:14.

the world flocked to him and wonder precisely because, as he once put

:46:15.:46:20.

it, Muhammad Ali was America. APPLAUSE

:46:21.:46:31.

Brash, defiant, pioneering, joyful. Never tired, always game to test the

:46:32.:46:38.

odds. He was our most basic freedoms, religion, speech, spirit.

:46:39.:46:46.

He embodied our ability to reinvent ourselves. His life spoke to our

:46:47.:46:50.

original sin of slavery and discrimination on the journey he

:46:51.:46:55.

travelled helped to shock our consciousness and read us on a

:46:56.:47:03.

roundabout path towards salvation -- lead us. Like America, he was always

:47:04.:47:12.

very much work in progress. We him a disservice to gauze up his story,

:47:13.:47:18.

sand down his rough edges, to speak only of floating like butterflies

:47:19.:47:24.

and stinging like bees. Muhammad Ali was a radical, even in radical

:47:25.:47:29.

times. A loud and proud and unabashedly black boys in a gym

:47:30.:47:33.

cruel world. APPLAUSE

:47:34.:47:43.

-- black voice. His jabs knocked some sense into us, yes they did.

:47:44.:47:49.

They brought understanding. There were times when he swung a bit

:47:50.:47:56.

wildly, that's all right. When he wound up accidentally hitting the

:47:57.:48:00.

wrong opponent, as he was the first to admit, but through all his

:48:01.:48:08.

triumphs and failures, seemed to achieve the sort of enlightenment

:48:09.:48:12.

and inner peace we are all striving towards. In the 60s when other young

:48:13.:48:17.

men his age were leaving the country to avoid war or jail, he was asked

:48:18.:48:25.

why he didn't join them. He got angry. He said, he would never

:48:26.:48:32.

leave. His people, in his words, are here. The millions struggling for

:48:33.:48:36.

freedom and justice and equality, and I can do a lot of help, in jail

:48:37.:48:41.

or not, right here in America. APPLAUSE

:48:42.:48:51.

He had every King script from him, his standing, his money, his

:48:52.:48:57.

passion, and very nearly his freedom -- stripped from him. But he still

:48:58.:49:01.

chose America. I imagine he knew that only here in this country could

:49:02.:49:08.

he win it all back. So he chose to help perfect a Union were a

:49:09.:49:13.

descendant of slaves can become the king of the world.

:49:14.:49:17.

APPLAUSE And in the process, lend some

:49:18.:49:25.

dignity to all of us. Maids, porters, students, an elderly

:49:26.:49:32.

bathroom attendant, and help inspire a young mixed kid with a funny name

:49:33.:49:39.

to have the audacity to believe he could be anything, even the

:49:40.:49:46.

president of the United States. APPLAUSE

:49:47.:49:56.

Muhammad Ali was America. Muhammad Ali will always be America. What a

:49:57.:50:06.

man, what a spirit, what a joyous maker -- mighty champion. God bless

:50:07.:50:16.

the greatness of Ali. God bless his family, and God bless this nation we

:50:17.:50:19.

love. Thank you very much." APPLAUSE

:50:20.:50:39.

Redesign gentleman, Lonnie Ali. -- ladies and gentlemen.

:50:40.:50:45.

APPLAUSE upon you, Assalamu alaikum. I said

:50:46.:51:41.

yesterday that I thought Ali had something to do with us all being

:51:42.:51:46.

here, and I suspect I was right. Let me acknowledge our principal Imam,

:51:47.:52:05.

and also Doctor Timothy Giomatti. We appreciate that this reflected the

:52:06.:52:14.

traditions of Muhammad Ali's Islamic faith. And that people have reached

:52:15.:52:24.

out to usi with their prayers. The messages have come in every language

:52:25.:52:27.

from every corner of the globe. From wherever you are watching, nor that

:52:28.:52:30.

we have been humbled by your heartfelt expressions of love --

:52:31.:52:36.

reached out to usi. It is only fitting we gather in a city to which

:52:37.:52:41.

Muhammad always returned after his great triumphs. A city that has

:52:42.:52:50.

grown as Muhammad has grown. Muhammad never stopped loving

:52:51.:52:52.

Louisville, and we know that Louisville loves Muhammad.

:52:53.:53:04.

APPLAUSE We cannot forget a Louisville police

:53:05.:53:11.

officer, Joe Martin, who embraced a young 12-year-old boy in distress

:53:12.:53:17.

when his bicycle was stolen. APPLAUSE

:53:18.:53:23.

Joe Martin handed young Cassius Clay, and sorry for tripping over

:53:24.:53:27.

that last word, the keys to a future in boxing. A future he could

:53:28.:53:33.

scarcely have imagined. America must never forget that when a cop and an

:53:34.:53:39.

inner-city kid speak to each other, then miracles can happen.

:53:40.:53:44.

APPLAUSE Some years ago during his long

:53:45.:54:05.

struggle with Parkinson's, in a meeting that included his closest

:54:06.:54:10.

advisers, Muhammad indicated that when the end came for him, he wanted

:54:11.:54:15.

us to use his life and his death as a teaching moment for young people

:54:16.:54:21.

for his country and for the world. In effect, he wanted us to remain

:54:22.:54:24.

people who are suffering that he had seen the face of injustice, that he

:54:25.:54:29.

grew up in a segregation and that during his early life he was not

:54:30.:54:33.

free to be who he wanted to be. But he never became embittered enough to

:54:34.:54:41.

quit or to engage in violence. It was a time...

:54:42.:54:46.

APPLAUSE It was a time when a young black boy

:54:47.:55:01.

his age could be hung from a tree as in 1955, with Emmett Till, and his

:55:02.:55:14.

killers went free. Doctor Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, gunned down

:55:15.:55:21.

for what they believed in. For his part, Muhammad faced federal

:55:22.:55:24.

prosecution. He was stripped of his title and his licence to box, and he

:55:25.:55:30.

was sentenced to prison. But he would not be intimidated so as to

:55:31.:55:35.

abandon his principles and his values. Muhammad wants young people

:55:36.:55:45.

of every background to see his life as proof that adversity can make you

:55:46.:55:51.

stronger, it cannot rob you of the power to dream and to reach your

:55:52.:55:57.

dreams. This is why we built the Muhammad Ali Centre, and this is the

:55:58.:56:03.

essence of the Ali Centre message. APPLAUSE

:56:04.:56:12.

Muhammad wants us to see the face of his Islam, true Islam, as the face

:56:13.:56:17.

of love. It was his religion that caused him to turn away from war and

:56:18.:56:23.

violence. For his religion, he was prepared to sacrifice all that he

:56:24.:56:28.

had and all that he was to protect his soul and follow the teachings of

:56:29.:56:38.

profit Muhammed, peace be upon him. Even in death, Muhammad has

:56:39.:56:46.

something to say, that his faith required he take the more difficult

:56:47.:56:49.

road. It is far more difficult to sacrifice oneself in the name of

:56:50.:56:53.

peace than to take up arms in pursuit of violence.

:56:54.:57:00.

APPLAUSE You know, all of his life Muhammad

:57:01.:57:07.

was fascinated by travel. He was childlike in his encounter with new

:57:08.:57:10.

surroundings and new people. He took his World Championship fights to the

:57:11.:57:15.

ends of the earth, from the South Pacific to Europe, to the Belgian

:57:16.:57:21.

Congo. And of course with Muhammad, he believed it was his duty to let

:57:22.:57:25.

everyone see him in person because, after all, he was the greatest of

:57:26.:57:28.

all time. APPLAUSE

:57:29.:57:38.

The boy from Grand Avenue in Louisville, Kentucky, grew in wisdom

:57:39.:57:41.

from his journeys. He discovered something new, that the world really

:57:42.:57:49.

wasn't black and white at all. It was filled with many shades of rich

:57:50.:57:52.

colours, languages and religions, and as he moved with ease around the

:57:53.:57:56.

world the rich and powerful were drawn to him, but he was drawn to

:57:57.:58:00.

the poor and the forgotten. APPLAUSE

:58:01.:58:07.

Muhammad fell in love with the masses, and they fell in love with

:58:08.:58:12.

him. The diversity of men and their faiths, in that, Muhammad saw the

:58:13.:58:16.

presence of God. He was captivated by the work of the Dalai Lama, by

:58:17.:58:21.

Mother Teresa and church workers, who gave their lives to protect the

:58:22.:58:26.

poor. When his mother died, he arranged for multiple faiths to be

:58:27.:58:30.

represented at her funeral, and he wanted the same for himself. We are

:58:31.:58:35.

especially grateful for the presence of the diverse faith leaders here

:58:36.:58:39.

today and I would like them to stand once more and be recognised.

:58:40.:58:41.

APPLAUSE Thank you. Thank you very much.

:58:42.:59:03.

You know, as I reflect on the life of my husband, it is easy to see his

:59:04.:59:13.

most obvious talents. His Majesty in the ring as he danced under those

:59:14.:59:16.

lights enshrined him as a champion for the ages. Less obvious was his

:59:17.:59:23.

extraordinary sense of timing. His knack for being in the right place

:59:24.:59:27.

at the right time seemed to be ordained by a higher power. Even

:59:28.:59:34.

whilst surrounded by Jim Crow, he was born into a family with two

:59:35.:59:37.

parents who nurtured and encouraged him. He was placed on the path of

:59:38.:59:42.

his dreams by a white cop, and the headteachers understood his dreams

:59:43.:59:46.

and wanted him to succeed. The Olympic gold medal came and the

:59:47.:59:51.

world started to take notice. A group of successful businessmen in

:59:52.:59:57.

Louisville called the Louisville Sponsoring Group, they saw his

:59:58.:00:02.

potential and helped him build a runway to launch his career. His

:00:03.:00:06.

timing was impeccable as he burst into the national stage. Just as

:00:07.:00:11.

television was hungry for a start to change... -- star. I am Laura

:00:12.:00:20.

Trevelyan. When he challenged the United States

:00:21.:00:40.

government, this chance of success was stolen, to none. But the taming

:00:41.:00:48.

of the decision converged with the rise of discontent in the war.

:00:49.:00:52.

Public opinion shifted in his direction. It was a stunning

:00:53.:00:58.

reversal of fortunes. When he went to Africa to retain his

:00:59.:01:15.

title from George Foreman, no one give him a chance. But it was called

:01:16.:01:27.

the miracle at four o'clock. He once again became the champion. As the

:01:28.:01:35.

years passed, and although slowed by Parkinson's disease, he was pushed

:01:36.:01:41.

by his faith to help the victims of strife. He travelled to places torn

:01:42.:01:52.

apart by war, like Iraq and Afghanistan. He stunned the world

:01:53.:01:57.

when he secured the release of 15 hostages from Iraq.

:01:58.:02:08.

As his voice softened, his message to: even more meaning. He let a

:02:09.:02:18.

torch which created new light at the 1996 Olympics.

:02:19.:02:29.

Always knew instinctively the road he had to travel. He lived for the

:02:30.:02:37.

moment. He did not will on the Pastore Harbor anxiety about the

:02:38.:02:42.

future. He learnt how to laugh. He would play practical jokes on just

:02:43.:02:47.

about everybody. He was sure-footed in his self awareness. His timing

:02:48.:02:59.

was once again poignant. As we face uncertainty in a world of divisions

:03:00.:03:09.

at home, as to who we a people, the life Muhammad of shines through. He

:03:10.:03:17.

was not up to give up on the hour of understanding and the strength of

:03:18.:03:22.

our diversity. He counted among his friends people of all political

:03:23.:03:28.

persuasions and so good in all faith and releases. He may have challenged

:03:29.:03:35.

his government, but he never ran from it.

:03:36.:03:45.

He loved this country and understood the hard choices in the hard road to

:03:46.:03:55.

freedom. He saw the nations school measured by the heart of its people.

:03:56.:03:59.

He saw the good in everyone. If you were one of the lucky ones to have

:04:00.:04:05.

met him, you will know what I mean. He woke up every morning thinking

:04:06.:04:11.

about his own salvation. You had to do a lot of good deeds to get there.

:04:12.:04:18.

I think his hope was that his life gave some guidance about what we

:04:19.:04:21.

might achieve for all people. And for what we set to aspire to achieve

:04:22.:04:29.

for ourselves and our families. Thank you.

:04:30.:04:54.

Ladies and gentlemen Mariam Ali. I want to say thank you to the city.

:04:55.:05:13.

All the love you have shown is in your lives have been unbelievable. I

:05:14.:05:19.

want to thank the entire world. My father was loved all over. The

:05:20.:05:25.

reception today was overwhelming but beautiful. We love you as much as

:05:26.:05:39.

you love us. Thank you. As you know, my father loved poetry, promoting

:05:40.:05:45.

his fights. I wrote a piece in honour of him on behalf of my

:05:46.:05:53.

sisters and brothers. It is cold, thank you our dear father. My heart

:05:54.:06:03.

was saw when your spirit soared. Your physical body is no more. But

:06:04.:06:09.

my mind tells different keels over all you taught me, your family and

:06:10.:06:15.

the masses. Most importantly, the belief in God who created humanity

:06:16.:06:24.

to thrive in quality, you fought for a purpose to uphold the print

:06:25.:06:30.

principle that we as a people of the range human rights. Stealing rate

:06:31.:06:34.

into the eyes of operation, you betrayed your your beautiful

:06:35.:06:41.

complexion. Your God-given skills, your independent will and the

:06:42.:06:48.

freedom of your beliefs. As your daughter, I am grateful about all of

:06:49.:06:52.

our conversations about relationships. Dating me to first

:06:53.:07:00.

having a loving relationship with self, refusing to let anyone chip

:07:01.:07:12.

away at my esteem. Thank you, our dear father, for asking us to think

:07:13.:07:18.

about our purpose. Showing us the beauty of service to others. We

:07:19.:07:24.

marvelled that you are sincere love for people as you treated all who

:07:25.:07:28.

approached you with dignity, whether they were rich or poor. Your

:07:29.:07:35.

kindness was unconditional. You never perceived anyone is being

:07:36.:07:40.

beneath you. So many have sheer personal stories about what you have

:07:41.:07:45.

meant to them, as you have exemplified values and qualities

:07:46.:07:50.

that have enhanced their lives. If I had every dollar for every story, I

:07:51.:07:55.

could paint the scary. Your family is so proud of the legacy you left

:07:56.:08:02.

behind. I hope that the history of you can help turn the tide of Sylvie

:08:03.:08:06.

and violence, because we are overwhelmed at the moment by the

:08:07.:08:18.

silence of tragic death. In American soil, in the Middle East or anywhere

:08:19.:08:26.

else, we crave for peace. The piece that you rest and no. We will

:08:27.:08:31.

forever cherish the 74 years you graced this earth. You will be

:08:32.:08:37.

greatly missed. No, we send you off in celebration. A final kiss and

:08:38.:08:45.

peers. As you enter your final round. God 's last boxing bill will

:08:46.:08:53.

sound in heaven. I love you. We all love you. Thank you very much.

:08:54.:09:02.

we are so honoured that you have packed this hall with your love.

:09:03.:09:47.

Thank you all. Thank you so much for being here today. To celebrate my

:09:48.:09:54.

father. You are the greatest father to us. It was God 's will to take

:09:55.:10:03.

you home. Your family will try our best to make you proud and carry on

:10:04.:10:09.

your legacy of giving and love. You have inspired those and the world to

:10:10.:10:17.

be the best version of ourselves. May you live in paradise, free of

:10:18.:10:28.

suffering. You shone in life and know you will shake up the world in

:10:29.:10:41.

darkness. He is looking at is no seeing, I told you I was the

:10:42.:10:46.

greatest. No one compares to you. You once said I know where I am

:10:47.:10:56.

going and I know the truth. I do not want to be who you want me to be, I

:10:57.:11:05.

am free to be who I am. No, you are free to be with your creator. We

:11:06.:11:13.

love you so much. Until we meet again, for I, butterfly, fly.

:11:14.:11:27.

Hello. I was born on the birthday of Muhammad and I was named after him.

:11:28.:12:13.

We can all learn from his example. Muhammad When was the stove he

:12:14.:12:22.

wanted to be remembered, he said he would like them to see, he took a

:12:23.:12:27.

few cups of love, one teaspoon of generosity, one quart of laughter,

:12:28.:12:36.

one pinch of concern and he mixed willingness with happiness. He had a

:12:37.:12:41.

lot to see and he started the top well. And he spread it over the

:12:42.:12:44.

course of a lifetime, thank you. Before I begin, I would just like to

:12:45.:13:24.

see I am truly honoured and humbled to be here. I would like to thank

:13:25.:13:34.

the Muhammad Ali centre and his family to allow me to speak. Let me

:13:35.:13:45.

tell you a story. It is a story about a man who refuse to believe

:13:46.:13:51.

that reality was limitation all to achieve the possible. A man who once

:13:52.:14:01.

reached up and touched the heart of an eight-year-old. It was someone

:14:02.:14:09.

whose reflection of herself which mirrored those who could not see

:14:10.:14:13.

past the colour of her skin. Instead of drawing on the pain of the

:14:14.:14:16.

distorted reality, she found strength. Just as this man did when

:14:17.:14:24.

he stood tall in the face of pelting rain and said I made disturbance in

:14:25.:14:31.

the sea of your complacency and I will never stop shaking and making

:14:32.:14:47.

waves. His voice echoed. It echoed through rain. She picked up the

:14:48.:14:51.

rocks which were thrown at her and she put them back with a voice so

:14:52.:14:56.

powerful that it turned all the pain she had faced in her life into

:14:57.:15:08.

strength. Into tenacity. No, that general stands before you to tell

:15:09.:15:17.

you that the cry Muhammad Ali of still makes these waves today.

:15:18.:15:27.

That we are to find strength in our idea of identity, whether we are

:15:28.:15:38.

black or white or Asian or Hispanic. Whether we are ready, disabled or

:15:39.:15:45.

able-bodied, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu Christian. His cry represents those

:15:46.:15:49.

who have not been heard. It invalidates the idea that we have to

:15:50.:16:04.

conform to one normal standards. That is what it means to defeat the

:16:05.:16:12.

impossible. Because impossible is not a fact. If possible as an

:16:13.:16:13.

opinion. Impossible is nothing. When I look into this audience, a

:16:14.:16:34.

nice meal. Ice mail to recognise that he has not really gone. He

:16:35.:16:42.

loves the new. He lives in me. He loves in every person he has touched

:16:43.:16:54.

on every corner of this world. Reality was never a limitation for

:16:55.:17:03.

him. For us, just as every punch his opponents through, impossible is

:17:04.:17:06.

never enough to knock a stone because we are Ali.

:17:07.:17:19.

We are greater than the rocks on the pressures that were thrown. We have

:17:20.:17:26.

the ability to empower and inspire and to connect and to unify and that

:17:27.:17:29.

will live on forever. Let me tell you a story about a man.

:17:30.:17:50.

His neighbours Muhammad Ali. He is the greatest of all time. -- his

:17:51.:17:56.

name is. He is from here and he lives in each

:17:57.:18:15.

and every one of us. His story is far from over. Thank you.

:18:16.:18:22.

Ladies and gentlemen, John Ramsey. First of all, on behalf of of

:18:23.:18:56.

ourselves, our condolences and heartfelt players to the family.

:18:57.:19:03.

Muhammad Ali Was blessed with many gifts. I have got to tell you that

:19:04.:19:13.

when I was in the procession today and saw the tens of thousands of

:19:14.:19:18.

people and the warmth and love and respect that was shown Muhammad Ali

:19:19.:19:24.

for, my heart swelled with pride. I know he was watching from above and

:19:25.:19:32.

absolutely loved it. But I do not think he would be surprised. He

:19:33.:19:37.

would say, the greatest city of all-time. How could it not be good?

:19:38.:19:48.

How can we lose. I am feeling so good I might make a comeback. That

:19:49.:20:00.

is so good I feel. For me, I always felt connected to them even before I

:20:01.:20:06.

met him. I was a little boy, maybe it is the fact I love the local

:20:07.:20:18.

football team. As our relationship evolved, I find that a lot of people

:20:19.:20:22.

and this personal connection with him. That is properly his magic.

:20:23.:20:29.

Initially, for a lot of men my age, it was the athlete I was attracted

:20:30.:20:35.

to. That size and speed and agility Antilles. He was not only world

:20:36.:20:47.

champion three times, but he was the Sports Illustrated athlete of the

:20:48.:20:52.

century. He was a once-in-a-lifetime athlete. But I would argue that the

:20:53.:20:57.

combination of compassion, came this love and the ability to link is up

:20:58.:21:05.

to a once -- made him a once-in-a-lifetime person. He was

:21:06.:21:13.

blessed with many gifts. He was a wise and faithful steward of these

:21:14.:21:18.

gifts. There are many stories. A couple encapsulate what he was all

:21:19.:21:26.

about. I remember in the summer of 2000, making a trip to the Olympics

:21:27.:21:31.

with him. He wanted to go and see a boxing match. 15,000 people were

:21:32.:21:38.

chanting for the United States of America. I was filled with

:21:39.:21:48.

patriotically. The boxer and the obligatory picture with him,. There

:21:49.:21:54.

was photographers everywhere taking pictures and thousands of people

:21:55.:22:01.

cheering for him. Then, Muhammad Ali leaned over and whispered, I want to

:22:02.:22:06.

see the loser. I want to see the loser. I motioned over to an Olympic

:22:07.:22:16.

official. Can you get the loser. There were not tens of thousands of

:22:17.:22:22.

people. There were no photographers. There was just a kid on a stool, E

:22:23.:22:30.

toll over estate, a towel over his head, the lowest point of his fight

:22:31.:22:41.

career. He was defeated. He was at the lowest of the law. But when

:22:42.:22:47.

Muhammad Ali Walton, he said, in broken English. Muhammad Ali Started

:22:48.:22:57.

canvassing. The kids started smiling and laughing. He said, you have got

:22:58.:23:04.

ability, I saw you did over there, do not give up. It took this kid

:23:05.:23:10.

from the bottom to the top in an instant. I got in the car and said,

:23:11.:23:25.

I try to be an nice guy, but I did not give them a second thought. You

:23:26.:23:31.

are the greatest. Tell me something I do not already know? But I do not

:23:32.:23:42.

want people to forget he was the finest example of a human that I

:23:43.:23:52.

have ever seen. Of the kindness advocate human possesses. But don't

:23:53.:23:59.

forget, he was the coolest cat in the room. He was good-looking, he

:24:00.:24:06.

had charm, he had charisma. He had swagger before any others even you

:24:07.:24:17.

what swagger was. About 25 years ago, he wanted to go to a

:24:18.:24:23.

restaurant. There was a fireman 's convention and all these guys at the

:24:24.:24:30.

numbers and lush at. They were all up for an autograph. If you want, I

:24:31.:24:38.

will play the bad guy and see that he has to go elsewhere. But in

:24:39.:24:44.

between I suffered, he was happy to do it. One man came up, he said, I

:24:45.:24:53.

said the stand she made in the civil rights movement and against the

:24:54.:25:00.

Vietnam War. I have got a picture of you in front of the fire hose. You

:25:01.:25:07.

are the real hero. You save lives and who your life and the line every

:25:08.:25:17.

day. You are the real deal. But you fought all of them. You fought the

:25:18.:25:32.

beer, the rabbit. You fought Joe Frazier. Smoking Joe Frazier.

:25:33.:25:39.

Muhammad Ali Interrupted and said, but he was not really smoking. I

:25:40.:25:45.

said that was a good link. He said, yes, break that down. But if there

:25:46.:25:54.

was a Kaiser in a third World country, he was on a plane with a

:25:55.:26:02.

cheque. If there were hostages to be released, he was a man of action.

:26:03.:26:14.

One of my favourite quotes, Muhammad Ali said service to others is the

:26:15.:26:17.

rent you pay for your room here on Earth. You are right. And I just

:26:18.:26:25.

want to see, Champ, you have paid up in full. You have paid up in full.

:26:26.:26:34.

He has taught us to love rather than heat, look for common similarities

:26:35.:26:52.

rather than differences. As we all know no, his fight is over, but the

:26:53.:27:03.

decision is in and it does not end. Because of Muhammad Ali, we all win.

:27:04.:27:14.

Thank you so much,. It is time for a man of peace to rest in peace. Thank

:27:15.:27:17.

you so very much. Thank you ladies and gentlemen. We

:27:18.:27:23.

are at the halfway point. I was clean-shaven when this

:27:24.:28:10.

started. All the amazing people here. This appalling of love and

:28:11.:28:26.

respect proves that despite retiring 35 years ago, he is still the

:28:27.:28:28.

champion of the world. -- opal ring. It took a bleak deep breath and

:28:29.:28:52.

side. My mind has been racing through my relationship with this

:28:53.:28:57.

great man. Every moment I can think of is cherished. I will tell you of

:28:58.:29:05.

some personal moments we had together. In 1974, I was just

:29:06.:29:11.

starting as a comedian. It was a three-minute conversation between

:29:12.:29:21.

Muhammad Ali and how, free I would imitate both of them. He had just

:29:22.:29:33.

George Foreman. -- beaten. He was going to post this dinner

:29:34.:29:39.

celebrating the life of Muhammad Ali. But the comedian was not

:29:40.:29:50.

available that they had booked. It was destiny. He said, I have met

:29:51.:29:54.

this young kid and he does a fantastic impersonation of Muhammad

:29:55.:30:02.

Ali. Dick said, OK I will give a try and as he stinks, I will cut him out

:30:03.:30:06.

of the shore. It was my first on television. Hopefully introduce you.

:30:07.:30:19.

No one knows who are. Just see I am one of the closest and dearest

:30:20.:30:25.

friends of Muhammad Ali. I thought, I would go into the make go into my

:30:26.:30:28.

routine and I would be fine. In a can and that was the first time

:30:29.:30:43.

I saw him in person -- then I got into the jammed it was the first I

:30:44.:30:48.

saw him in person. To live in his time. We have the clips and that is

:30:49.:30:53.

amazing but to live in his time... Experiencing the genius of his

:30:54.:30:58.

talent, watching his fights, it was absolutely extraordinary. Every one

:30:59.:31:02.

of his fights had the aura of a Super Bowl. He did things no one

:31:03.:31:05.

else would do. He would predict the round he would knock someone out,

:31:06.:31:10.

then he would do it! He was funny, beautiful, the most perfect athlete

:31:11.:31:13.

you ever saw, and those were his own words.

:31:14.:31:18.

LAUGHTER But he was so much more than a

:31:19.:31:24.

fighter, as time went on. With Bobby Kennedy gone, Martin Luther King

:31:25.:31:28.

gone, Malcolm X gone. Who was there to relate to when Vietnam exploded

:31:29.:31:34.

in our face? There were millions of young men my age eligible for the

:31:35.:31:37.

draft to war we did not believe in. We huddled on the conveyor belt

:31:38.:31:41.

feeding the war machine, but it was Ali has stood up for us by standing

:31:42.:31:47.

up for himself. And after he was stripped of the title, and the right

:31:48.:31:53.

to fight anywhere in the world, he gives speeches at colleges and on

:31:54.:31:56.

television that totally reached me. He was comparable speaking to --

:31:57.:32:03.

comparable speaking to kings and queens. Even when he lost everything

:32:04.:32:07.

else, she was always himself. Willing to give up everything for

:32:08.:32:13.

what he believed in. His passionate rhetoric for the pride of black

:32:14.:32:16.

people in our country resonated strongly in my house. I grew up in a

:32:17.:32:21.

house dedicated to civil rights. My father was a producer of jazz

:32:22.:32:24.

concerts in New York City and was one of the first to integrate

:32:25.:32:31.

concerts in the 40s and 50s. My uncle and my family, Jewish people,

:32:32.:32:42.

they produced Strange Fruit, Billie Holiday's Famous Song Describing The

:32:43.:32:45.

Lynching Black People In This Country. I Could Not Stop Looking At

:32:46.:32:51.

Him And He Seemed To Go. In Slow Motion, his amazing face, smiling

:32:52.:32:57.

and laughing. I was seated a few six from him, and on the day, all of

:32:58.:33:04.

these athletes, great athletes. The Stealers, all of them. Literary

:33:05.:33:09.

legends. George Plimpton, Neil Simon 's. All fawning over Ali, who then

:33:10.:33:16.

looked at me... With an expression that seemed to say, what is Joel

:33:17.:33:23.

Grey doing here? LAUGHTER

:33:24.:33:32.

I was introduced as one of Ali's closest friends. Two people clapped.

:33:33.:33:35.

My wife and the agent. LAUGHTER

:33:36.:33:40.

I rose, Vera Mora still staring at me, I passed behind him, got to the

:33:41.:33:46.

podium -- Ali was still staring at me. And I said, hello, everyone.

:33:47.:33:59.

Howard Cosell coming to you live from Zaire! Some people pronounce it

:34:00.:34:11.

zare, they are wrong. Then I did the English commentary, George Foreman,

:34:12.:34:15.

he is still fast. I'm still fast, I can be in my bed before the room

:34:16.:34:18.

gets dark! LAUGHTER

:34:19.:34:26.

Howard, I am announcing today I had new religious beliefs, from now on I

:34:27.:34:36.

want to be known as Izzy Izgawitz, an Orthodox Jew, and I am the

:34:37.:34:44.

greatest of all time! The audience exploded. No one had ever done him

:34:45.:34:48.

before and here I was, I could from Long Island, imitating the greatest

:34:49.:34:52.

of all time, and he was loving it. When I was done he gave me this big

:34:53.:35:00.

bear hug and he whispered in my ear, "You are my little brother". Which

:35:01.:35:03.

is what he always called me until the last time I saw him. We were

:35:04.:35:08.

always there for each other. If you needed anything, I was there. He

:35:09.:35:12.

came to everything I asked him to do. Most memorable. He was honorary

:35:13.:35:16.

chairman for a dinner at an event where I was being honoured by the

:35:17.:35:20.

Hebrew University injury so on. The dead of this promotion for it.

:35:21.:35:22.

came to the dinner -- Hebrew came to the dinner -- Hebrew

:35:23.:35:29.

University in Jerusalem. The most famous Muslim man in the world

:35:30.:35:32.

honouring his Jewish friend. APPLAUSE

:35:33.:35:42.

And because he was there, we raised a great deal of money and I was able

:35:43.:35:49.

to use it to endow the University in Jerusalem with something I'd told

:35:50.:35:51.

her about and it was something he loved the theory of and it strives

:35:52.:35:57.

to this day -- I had told him about. It is called Piece In The Performing

:35:58.:36:08.

Arts, with it's really an Arab, Palestinian directors all working

:36:09.:36:12.

together creating works of art. That does not happen without him. I had

:36:13.:36:20.

so many funny unusual moments with him, Howard Cosell's funeral, a very

:36:21.:36:26.

sombre day, to be sure. Closed casket on the stage and Muhammad Ali

:36:27.:36:29.

and I were sitting over there next to each other, and he quietly

:36:30.:36:33.

whispered to me, "Little brother, you think he is wearing his

:36:34.:36:43.

earpiece? " LAUGHTER -- hairpiece.

:36:44.:36:53.

I said, "I don't think so... " " well, then how will God recognise

:36:54.:37:04.

him? " so I said, Champ, once he opens his mouth, God will know. So

:37:05.:37:10.

we started laughing. It was a muffled laugh at first but then we

:37:11.:37:14.

could not contain ourselves. We were at a funeral, me and Muhammad Ali

:37:15.:37:19.

laughing like two little kids at something dirty in church. Then he

:37:20.:37:24.

looked at me and he whispered, "Howard was a good man". One thing

:37:25.:37:28.

he asked me if I would like to run with him one morning, and I said,

:37:29.:37:33.

that would be amazing, where do you run? He said, "I run at this country

:37:34.:37:38.

club, a golf course early in the morning, very private, no one

:37:39.:37:41.

bothers me. We will have a great time." I said I can't run there. It

:37:42.:37:49.

has a reputation for being restricted. They do not allow Jewish

:37:50.:37:55.

members. He was incensed. "I Am a black Muslim and they let me run

:37:56.:38:00.

there. Little brother, I will never run there again." And he didn't. My

:38:01.:38:12.

favourite memory perhaps was 1979. He had just retired and there was a

:38:13.:38:17.

retirement party in Los Angeles for Muhammad and 20 of his closest

:38:18.:38:20.

friends in Los Angeles. I performed a piece I had created. It had grown

:38:21.:38:26.

into a life story, the imitation, and it was called 15 rounds. I play

:38:27.:38:30.

him from the age of 18 until he is 36 ready for the rematch. I posted

:38:31.:38:35.

it on the Internet last week, the Doidge nobody had ever seen before.

:38:36.:38:41.

Of me portraying Ali doing his life, for him, all those years ago in 1979

:38:42.:38:46.

-- it was of me doing what nobody had ever seen before. There were 20

:38:47.:38:51.

people there but I was doing it only for him. It was my favourite

:38:52.:38:54.

performance of my life, I got lost on him. I didn't even know where I

:38:55.:38:58.

was at the end of the performance and suddenly I am backstage with

:38:59.:39:02.

another heavyweight champion, Richard Pryor. And he is holding on

:39:03.:39:07.

to me, crying, then I see Ali coming and he has a full head of steam,

:39:08.:39:13.

looking only at me, and he nudged Richard Pryor essayed, and he

:39:14.:39:21.

whispered in my ear, a big bear hug, "Little Brother, you made my life

:39:22.:39:25.

better than it was." But didn't he make all of our lives a little bit

:39:26.:39:30.

better than they were? APPLAUSE

:39:31.:39:39.

That, my friends, is my history with a man. I have laboured to come up

:39:40.:39:43.

with the way to describe the legend. He was a tremendous bolt of

:39:44.:39:47.

lightning created by mother nature out of thin air, a fantastic

:39:48.:39:51.

combination of power and beauty. We have seen still photographs of

:39:52.:39:55.

lightning bolt at the moment of impact, the rushes in strength admin

:39:56.:39:58.

assistant in eloquence and at the moment of impact it might up

:39:59.:40:10.

everything around it. He struck as in the darkest night, in the middle

:40:11.:40:13.

of America's most gathering storm. He toppled the most magnificent of

:40:14.:40:18.

falls and his light shone on America and we could see clearly injustice,

:40:19.:40:23.

inequality, poverty, pride, self-realisation, courage, laughter,

:40:24.:40:30.

love, joy and religious freedom for all. Ali forced us to take a look at

:40:31.:40:36.

ourselves. This brash young man who thrilled us, angered us, infused and

:40:37.:40:44.

challenged us, and ultimately became a messenger for peace. He said later

:40:45.:40:48.

is best when you build bridges between people, not walls.

:40:49.:40:57.

APPLAUSE My friends, only once in 1000 years

:40:58.:41:16.

or so do we get to hear a Mozart or see a Picasso, read Shakespeare. Ali

:41:17.:41:21.

was one of them and yet in his heart he was still a kid from Louisville

:41:22.:41:25.

who run with the gods, what with the crippled, and smiled with the

:41:26.:41:29.

foolishness of it all. He is gone but he will never die. He was my big

:41:30.:41:40.

brother. Thank you. APPLAUSE

:41:41.:42:01.

gentlemen, Bryant Gumbel. The great Maya Angelou who was herself no

:42:02.:42:33.

stranger to fame said people can forget what you said and did, but no

:42:34.:42:37.

one can ever forget how you made them feel. This applies to Muhammad

:42:38.:42:45.

Ali. The march of time may one day diminish his boasts and his poetry.

:42:46.:42:50.

Perhaps even his butterflies and bees. It may even one day all the

:42:51.:42:59.

memories of the Thrilla in Manila and the Rumble in the jungle, but I

:43:00.:43:05.

doubt any of us will ever forget how Muhammad Ali made us feel. I am not

:43:06.:43:13.

speaking about how proud he made you feel with his exploits or how

:43:14.:43:17.

special he made you feel when you were privileged enough to be his

:43:18.:43:26.

company. I am speaking about how he pricked our hearts and our souls,

:43:27.:43:34.

and our conscience, and made our fights his fights, for decades.

:43:35.:43:43.

People like me, who were once young, semi-gifted, and black, will never

:43:44.:43:50.

forget what he freed within us. Some of us, like him, took pride in being

:43:51.:43:56.

black, bold and brash, and because we were so unapologetic, we were in

:43:57.:44:05.

the eyes of many way too uppity. We were way too arrogant. Yet we

:44:06.:44:14.

revelled in being like him, by stretching society's boundaries as

:44:15.:44:18.

he did he gave us levels of strength and courage that we didn't even know

:44:19.:44:26.

that we had. But Ali's impact was not limited to those of a certain

:44:27.:44:35.

race, or of a second religion, or of a certain mindset -- certain

:44:36.:44:40.

religion. The greatness of this man for the ages was that he was in fact

:44:41.:44:53.

a man for all ages. Has any man ever had a great art to his life? What

:44:54.:44:57.

does it say of a man, any man, that he can go from being viewed as one

:44:58.:45:04.

of his country's most polarising figures to arguably its most

:45:05.:45:09.

beloved? APPLAUSE

:45:10.:45:21.

And to do so without changing his nature or for a second compromising

:45:22.:45:29.

his principles. Yes, you know there were great causes, great national

:45:30.:45:39.

movements, huge divisions, that for Ali's struggle to -- but Harry

:45:40.:45:46.

Truman had it right when he said men make history and not the other way

:45:47.:45:55.

around or as Lauren Hill so nicely put it, consequence is no

:45:56.:46:02.

coincidence. Befitting his stature as the goat he never shied away from

:46:03.:46:06.

a fight, fighting not only the biggest and baddest men of his day

:46:07.:46:11.

inside the ropes, but outside the ring he also went to to to with an

:46:12.:46:16.

array of critics, is seemingly endless succession of societal

:46:17.:46:24.

norms, the architects of a vile and immoral war, the US Government -- he

:46:25.:46:29.

went toe to toe. He even thought, ultimately to his detriment, the

:46:30.:46:38.

limitations of Father Time. Strictly speaking, fighting is what he did.

:46:39.:46:44.

But he broadened that definition by sharing his struggles with us and by

:46:45.:46:51.

viewing our struggles as his. And so it was that at various times he

:46:52.:46:57.

accepted and led battles on behalf of his race, in support of his

:46:58.:47:04.

generation, in defence of his religious beliefs, and ultimately in

:47:05.:47:12.

spate of his disease. I happen to have been overseas working in Norway

:47:13.:47:24.

this past week and my body, Matt, called and said the Champ had been

:47:25.:47:28.

taken to the hospital and that this time it was really serious. Right

:47:29.:47:35.

away, I called Lonnie. She was, as always, a pillar of strength. And as

:47:36.:47:44.

we discussed the medical details, the Doctors' views, and the ugly

:47:45.:47:56.

realities of mortality, Lonnie said, Bryant, the world still needs him.

:47:57.:48:04.

And indeed it does. The world needs a champion who always worked to

:48:05.:48:08.

bridge the economic and social divides that threaten a nation that

:48:09.:48:14.

he dearly loved. The world needs a champion that always symbolised the

:48:15.:48:21.

best of Islam, to offset the hatred of fear. And the world needs a

:48:22.:48:27.

champion who believed in fairness and inclusion for all. Hating people

:48:28.:48:33.

because of their colour is wrong, Ali said, and it doesn't matter

:48:34.:48:39.

which colour does the heating. It is just plain wrong. -- the hating.

:48:40.:48:51.

Yes, we do need Muhammad Ali now. We need the strength and the hope, the

:48:52.:48:57.

compassion and the conviction, that he always demonstrated. But this

:48:58.:49:03.

time our beloved champion is down. And for once he will not get up. Not

:49:04.:49:14.

this time. Not ever again. I want to close with a quick personal story.

:49:15.:49:18.

50 years ago Muhammad Ali defeated George Travalo in Canada

:49:19.:49:41.

and the very next day he showed up in my neighbourhood in the south

:49:42.:49:44.

side of Chicago. As he came out of the home of Elijah Muhammad I

:49:45.:49:51.

happened to be next shooting hoops in a friend's backyard. I of course

:49:52.:49:55.

quickly ran to the fence and for the first in my life I shook the Champ's

:49:56.:50:07.

hand. I was 17, I was awestruck and, man, I thought he was the greatest.

:50:08.:50:14.

Now, half a century and a lifetime of experience as later, I am still

:50:15.:50:22.

awestruck -- experiences later. And I am convinced more than other that

:50:23.:50:30.

Muhammad Ali is the greatest. -- more than ever. To be standing here

:50:31.:50:41.

by virtue of his and Lonnie's request, it is mind-numbing. The

:50:42.:50:50.

honour that Ali has done me today, as he goes to his grave, is one I

:50:51.:50:57.

will take to mind. God bless you, Champ.

:50:58.:51:01.

APPLAUSE -- to mine.

:51:02.:51:16.

Ladies and gentlemen, the 42nd president of the United States, the

:51:17.:51:22.

Honourable William Jefferson Clinton.

:51:23.:51:28.

APPLAUSE Thank you. I can just hear Muhammad

:51:29.:51:46.

saying now, "Well, I thought I should be eulogised by at least one

:51:47.:51:54.

president." And by making you the last in a long, long line, I have

:51:55.:52:01.

guaranteed you a standing ovation." LAUGHTER

:52:02.:52:07.

I am trying to think of what has been left unsaid. First, Lonnie, I

:52:08.:52:18.

thank you and the members of the family for telling me that he

:52:19.:52:28.

actually, as Bryant said, picked us all to speak and gave me a chance to

:52:29.:52:32.

come here. I thank you for what you did to make the second half of his

:52:33.:52:36.

life greater than the first. APPLAUSE

:52:37.:52:45.

I thank you for the Muhammad Ali Centre and what it has come to

:52:46.:52:53.

represent to so many people. Here's what I would like to see. I spend a

:52:54.:52:59.

lot of time now, as I get older and older and older, trying to figure

:53:00.:53:05.

out what makes people tick, how delete or note -- how do they turn

:53:06.:53:13.

out the way they are, how do some people refuse to become victims and

:53:14.:53:19.

rides from every defeat? -- rise from every defeat? We have all seen

:53:20.:53:24.

the beautiful pictures of Muhammad Ali with the boy, people visiting

:53:25.:53:36.

and driving by. I think he decided something I hope every young person

:53:37.:53:41.

in here will decide. I think he decided very young to write his own

:53:42.:53:55.

life story. I think he decided, before he could possibly have worked

:53:56.:54:02.

it all out, and before the date and time could work there will on him --

:54:03.:54:09.

fate and time. He decided that he would not be ever disempowered. He

:54:10.:54:17.

decided that not his race nor his place nor the expectations of others

:54:18.:54:21.

on him, negative or otherwise, would strip from him the power to write

:54:22.:54:31.

his own story. He decided first to use these stunning gifts, his

:54:32.:54:42.

strength and speed in the ring, his wit and way with words in managing

:54:43.:54:47.

the public, and his mind and heart, to figure out at a fairly young age

:54:48.:54:54.

who he was, what he believed, and how to live with the consequences of

:54:55.:55:01.

acting on what he believed. A lot of people make it two steps one and two

:55:02.:55:09.

and still can't quite manage living with the consequences of what he

:55:10.:55:15.

believes. For the longest time, in spite of all the wonderful things

:55:16.:55:20.

that have been said here, I remember thinking when I was a kid, this guy

:55:21.:55:26.

is so smart. And he never got credit for being as smart as he was. And

:55:27.:55:31.

then... APPLAUSE

:55:32.:55:36.

I don't think he ever got the credit, until later, for being as

:55:37.:55:45.

wise as he was. In the end, besides being a lot of fun to be around and

:55:46.:55:51.

basically it universal soldier for our common humanity, I will always

:55:52.:55:57.

think of Muhammad as a truly free man of faith.

:55:58.:56:01.

APPLAUSE And being a man of faith, he

:56:02.:56:09.

realised he would never be in full control of his life. Something like

:56:10.:56:18.

Parkinson's could come along. But being free, he realise that life

:56:19.:56:26.

still was open to choices. It is the choices that Muhammad Ali made that

:56:27.:56:32.

have brought us all here today. In honour and love.

:56:33.:56:40.

APPLAUSE And the only other thing I would

:56:41.:56:44.

like to see and I think we all need to really think about is that the

:56:45.:56:53.

first part of his life -- like to say. Is that the first part of his

:56:54.:56:58.

life was dominated by the Triumph of his truly unique gifts. We should

:56:59.:57:01.

never forget them, we should never stop looking at the movies, we

:57:02.:57:05.

should thank Will Smith for making his movie. We should all be thrilled

:57:06.:57:13.

at what a thing of beauty it was, but the second part of his life was

:57:14.:57:18.

more important. Because he refused to be present by a disease that kept

:57:19.:57:26.

him hamstrung longer than Nelson Mandela was kept in prison in South

:57:27.:57:30.

Africa -- he refused to be imprisoned by a disease. And the

:57:31.:57:37.

second half of his life, in that comedy perfected gift that we all

:57:38.:57:45.

have. Every single solitary one of us have guesseds of mind and heart.

:57:46.:57:57.

-- gifts of mind and heart. It is just the third away to release them

:57:58.:58:01.

in ways large and small. I wanted to ask Lonnie if she remembered a time

:58:02.:58:05.

they were still living in Michigan and I gave a speech in South West

:58:06.:58:09.

Michigan at the economic club there, and it was sort of a ritual that

:58:10.:58:14.

when a president leaves office, you know, you had to get reactivated.

:58:15.:58:18.

Nobody plays a song when you walk into the room any more. You don't

:58:19.:58:22.

really know what you're supposed to do...

:58:23.:58:24.

LAUGHTER And this club, called The Economic

:58:25.:58:31.

Club, I think. They are used to acting like you still deserve to be

:58:32.:58:36.

listened to, so they came to this dinner with me, they sat with me,

:58:37.:58:43.

and he knew, somehow, he knew that I was a little off my feet that night.

:58:44.:58:49.

I was trying to imagine how to make this new life. And so he told me it

:58:50.:58:54.

will eat bad joke. LAUGHTER

:58:55.:59:01.

-- he told me a really bad joke. And he told it's all well and laughed so

:59:02.:59:04.

hard that I totally got over it and had a great time. He had that feel,

:59:05.:59:13.

you know, there is no textbook for that. Knowing where somebody else is

:59:14.:59:18.

in their head, picking up the body language. Then Lonnie and Muhammad

:59:19.:59:27.

got me to come here when we opened the Muhammad Ali Centre, and I was

:59:28.:59:32.

trying to be incredibly, you know, grey-haired elder statesmen,

:59:33.:59:37.

dignified, I have to elevate this guy, so I am saying this stuff in

:59:38.:59:42.

very high to mine which, and Muhammad sneaks up behind me and put

:59:43.:59:45.

his fingers up like this. LAUGHTER

:59:46.:59:51.

Finally, after all the years we have been friends, my injuring image of

:59:52.:00:07.

him is like a little reel in three shots -- enduring. The boxer I

:00:08.:00:14.

thrilled to as a boy, the man I watched take the last steps to light

:00:15.:00:18.

the Olympic flame when I was president...

:00:19.:00:22.

APPLAUSE And I will never forget it. I was

:00:23.:00:30.

sitting there in Atlanta. By then we knew each other. By then I felt I

:00:31.:00:34.

had some sense of what he was living with, and still I was weeping like a

:00:35.:00:40.

baby, seeing his hands and legs shake and knowing that, by God, he

:00:41.:00:45.

was going to make those last few steps. The flame would be lit, the

:00:46.:00:50.

fight would be one. I knew it would happen. -- the fight would be won.

:00:51.:00:52.

APPLAUSE And then this. The children whose

:00:53.:01:09.

lives he touched. The young people he inspired. It is the most

:01:10.:01:16.

important thing of all. So I ask you to remember that. We all have a Ali

:01:17.:01:25.

story. It is the gift we all have that should be most honoured today.

:01:26.:01:30.

Because he released them to the world. Never wasting a day, that the

:01:31.:01:40.

rest of us could see any way. Feeling sorry for himself that he

:01:41.:01:45.

had Parkinson's, knowing that more than three decades of his life would

:01:46.:01:52.

be circumscribed in ways that would be chilling to the naked eye. But

:01:53.:01:58.

with the free spirit it made life bigot not smaller, because other

:01:59.:02:10.

people, -- bigger, made other people say would you will get that? Look at

:02:11.:02:16.

that. May not be able to run across a bring any more, or dodge and

:02:17.:02:21.

exhaust anybody any more, but he is bigger than ever because he is a

:02:22.:02:27.

free man of faith sharing the gifts we all have. We should honour him by

:02:28.:02:34.

letting our gifts go among the world as he did. God bless you, my friend.

:02:35.:02:38.

Go in peace. APPLAUSE

:02:39.:03:14.

Ali! There will be time for that. But right now is the time for

:03:15.:03:28.

silence, so will everyone rise and observe a period of silence, reflect

:03:29.:03:36.

on what the champion meant to you as the Ali family exits.

:03:37.:04:54.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much.

:04:55.:05:01.

APPLAUSE Be seated. Be seated, you seated.

:05:02.:05:10.

The programme is not over. We are trying to create space for the

:05:11.:05:13.

family to be able to exit in peace. Please be seated. We want to make

:05:14.:05:21.

prayer, we want to share something before we close the programme, so

:05:22.:05:30.

please be seated. As we move towards the end of the programme, which will

:05:31.:05:35.

occur in a couple of minutes, I will be remiss if I didn't say the

:05:36.:05:45.

following. Indeed, as we all know, and anyone who lives within a ghetto

:05:46.:05:53.

or barrio in the United States, there are reckless, violent

:05:54.:06:00.

policeman. That is a fact. But there are also policeman and women who are

:06:01.:06:05.

dedicated professionals who are compassionate, who have great

:06:06.:06:13.

concern for their communities, and I can say with all honesty and

:06:14.:06:18.

openness during my past week in Louisville Kentucky, in the past

:06:19.:06:24.

five days, myself, my wife, everyone I have spoken to, has commented on

:06:25.:06:33.

the professionalism, the dignity of the policeman and women in

:06:34.:06:41.

Louisville, contact you. -- Kentucky. That we have interacted

:06:42.:06:48.

with. I'm sure there are bad apples here too, but as they say, one bad

:06:49.:06:53.

apple does not spoil the whole bunch. They asked me to make a

:06:54.:06:58.

prayer to close this service, but Reverend Cosby threw down the

:06:59.:07:08.

gauntlet with that Western Pong, so I will have to respond -- poem. This

:07:09.:07:17.

palm was written in Muhammad Ali's house, and Mohammed Arlene was the

:07:18.:07:23.

first one to read this poem, and I am glad Mike Tyson left.

:07:24.:07:27.

LAUGHTER There are two parts. Part one is Ali

:07:28.:07:34.

the fight. He floated like a butterfly and staying like B. The

:07:35.:07:37.

greatest writer of this word is yet to see. His opponents agree on one

:07:38.:07:43.

thing, they all got it right. In the ring with miss your life was in

:07:44.:07:46.

danger that night. Had he read during the time of Tyson, and so on,

:07:47.:07:52.

his superiority over the former would be telling. Handy for Tyson at

:07:53.:08:00.

the height of his career, on the list of heavy weight champions their

:08:01.:08:02.

names would not appear. If reindeer could box, he would have fought

:08:03.:08:09.

them, if President could fight, he would have for Richard Nixon, for

:08:10.:08:13.

his right was filled with power and his left was relentless. He beats

:08:14.:08:16.

people so bad he would have to engage in acts of repentance. When

:08:17.:08:21.

you discuss it was the greatest heavyweight of all time, to mention

:08:22.:08:24.

any name other than Ali's is a crime.

:08:25.:08:28.

This is BBC News with coverage of tributes to boxing legend Ali, and a

:08:29.:08:39.

memorial service in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. It follows a

:08:40.:08:44.

procession to the streets where he grew up as a child and spent the

:08:45.:08:48.

winter of his life over the last two hours to stop we have seen Muslim,

:08:49.:08:54.

Christian and Jewish, other speakers, speaking of his fight for

:08:55.:08:57.

civil rights, while a message from President Obama raised his

:08:58.:09:03.

originality. It was an interfaith event that took place hours after

:09:04.:09:07.

thousands turned out in the streets of Louisville, many from all over

:09:08.:09:11.

the world and America, to say farewell to his covenant as it

:09:12.:09:17.

passed through the city streets. Ali was then buried in a private

:09:18.:09:20.

ceremony attended just by friends and family -- coffin. The ex-

:09:21.:09:26.

heavyweight champion and activist died aged 74. All of those honours,

:09:27.:09:35.

all of those speeches were rounded off with the former president of the

:09:36.:09:39.

United States, Bill Clinton, a very close friend and supporter of

:09:40.:09:40.

Muhammad Ali. We believe that coverage to bring

:09:41.:09:53.

you some breaking news that broke while that memorial service was

:09:54.:09:58.

taking place -- we leave. Rod Stewart and Tim Peake have been

:09:59.:10:02.

named in this week's Queen's birthday honours list. Other honours

:10:03.:10:19.

include the -- Penelope Wilton. He has been entertaining audiences for

:10:20.:10:24.

decades, and has now received a knighthood and becomes so Rod

:10:25.:10:29.

Stewart. Penelope Wilton has also been on it, so now Maggie Smith

:10:30.:10:40.

joins the honours. I imagined them surrounded by nannies and

:10:41.:10:45.

governesses starting iron to send in our review after tea. But it was an

:10:46.:10:51.

hour after every day. I see. How tiring. Tim Peake says he is

:10:52.:10:59.

honoured and privileged to be made a CNG, an award given for achievement

:11:00.:11:09.

outside the UK, in his case, space. Ant and Dec say they are honoured to

:11:10.:11:13.

be awarded for their broadcasting careers. Brian Blessed also

:11:14.:11:26.

honoured. It is one of Yorkshire. Whatever people say, people do like

:11:27.:11:31.

receiving awards, and I am absolutely delighted. Cock-a-hoop!

:11:32.:11:38.

In the world of sport, Alastair Cook, the youngest player to score

:11:39.:11:43.

10,000 test runs, is made easy BA, as is Alan Shearer, for his

:11:44.:11:56.

community work. -- CBE. I am absolutely delighted. The Chelsea

:11:57.:12:02.

manager who guided the team to a league and FA Cup double becomes an

:12:03.:12:09.

MBE. Of course, as in previous years, the vast majority of people

:12:10.:12:12.

being honoured by Her Majesty are people who never expected to be in

:12:13.:12:17.

the public eye. This youth worker played a crucial role in uncovering

:12:18.:12:20.

the scale of child sexual exploitation in Rotherham. She has

:12:21.:12:26.

been made an MBE. I am pleased and proud of got it, but also saddened

:12:27.:12:33.

for the reasons I got it, and never did this for any kind of award. I

:12:34.:12:38.

did it to try to get the voices of those who were being ignored for so

:12:39.:12:42.

long out there. Just one of many being honoured for making a

:12:43.:12:46.

difference in their committee. -- community.

:12:47.:12:51.

Because of our continuing coverage of Muhammad Ali's service, we

:12:52.:12:56.

haven't brought you the papers. Let's have a look now. A poll

:12:57.:13:04.

suggest a massive swing towards Brexit with a picture of Rod

:13:05.:13:07.

Stewart, who has been named in the suit's Queen's but they honours --

:13:08.:13:14.

this year's. David Cameron accused of using the honours list to dish

:13:15.:13:18.

out accolades to supporters of his campaign to keep Britain in the EU.

:13:19.:13:24.

The main story in the Times is a warning by Germany's finance

:13:25.:13:29.

minister that says Britain will be shut out of the single market if

:13:30.:13:34.

they vote for Brexit. Europe's migrant crisis, and claims that a

:13:35.:13:37.

think tank says it is costing EU member countries are to ?20 billion

:13:38.:13:43.

alone. The Telegraph's Todd's story is the so-called panicked reaction

:13:44.:13:47.

to polls that suggest loading support for the league campaign. In

:13:48.:13:53.

the Guardian leads for calls for the Labour Party to boost its campaign

:13:54.:14:01.

to keep Britain in the EU. There is a rally in bonds caused by investing

:14:02.:14:11.

jitters. And the Daily Mirror has more on why the partner of the

:14:12.:14:14.

former EastEnders actress Sian Blake says he killed her and her two

:14:15.:14:21.

children. Let's bring you up-to-date with the latest headlines.

:14:22.:14:25.

The headlines on BBC News: A final farewell to one of the greatest

:14:26.:14:29.

Muhammad Ali's memorial takes place in his hometown

:14:30.:14:32.

Astronaut Tim Peake is among those recognised

:14:33.:14:35.

in the Queen's Birthday Honours, just released.

:14:36.:14:37.

England football fans have again clashed with French police

:14:38.:14:39.

in Marseille, where the team play their opening match in Euro

:14:40.:14:42.

Apologies, slightly later than scheduled because of the late

:14:43.:14:58.

running of the memorial service for Muhammad Ali, in a fume minutes we

:14:59.:15:05.

will have an interview with Nigel Farage. First, a special Euro 2016

:15:06.:15:09.

edition of

:15:10.:15:11.

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