PRINTER'S NO. 1915
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE RESOLUTION
No.
389
Session of
2015
INTRODUCED BY WILLIAMS, DINNIMAN, TEPLITZ, RESCHENTHALER,
ARGALL, BLAKE, COSTA, FONTANA, KITCHEN, FARNESE AND
GREENLEAF, JUNE 13, 2016
INTRODUCED AND ADOPTED, JUNE 13, 2016
A RESOLUTION
Honoring the life of Muhammad Ali, a trailblazing athlete, civil
rights activist, humanitarian, philanthropist and global
citizen, and mourning his death.
WHEREAS, Muhammad Ali touched countless lives with his
unwavering spirit and was not only a monumental athlete, but
also a symbol of black aspirations and independence; and
WHEREAS, Muhammad Ali died of septic shock due to unspecified
natural causes in a Phoenix, Arizona, hospital on June 3, 2016;
and
WHEREAS, Mr. Ali, born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., on
January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky, was the son of a
painter and a child of the segregated south; and
WHEREAS, Responsible for some of the most legendary moments
in the ring, Mr. Ali's incomparable work ethic and innovative
boxing strategies introduced a groundbreaking approach to the
sport that had never been seen before; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Ali's work ethic and confidence proved to be a
recipe for success, allowing him to win the 1960 Olympic Gold
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Medal in Rome and be the first three-time heavyweight champion
with a career record of 56 wins, 5 losses and 37 knockouts; and
WHEREAS, Muhammad Ali spent time in Pennsylvania training
first on a mink farm in Reading and later at a training camp he
established in the countryside of Deer Lake, where he prepared
for all of his fights from 1972 onward; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Ali said, "Boxing was just a means to introduce
me to the world," and he truly was a citizen of the world; and
WHEREAS, Muhammad Ali was fearless in his stance on civil
rights, his early relationship with the Nation of Islam and his
insistence on being called Muhammad Ali instead of Cassius Clay
in 1964, which heralded a new era in black pride; and
WHEREAS, Muhammad Ali's willingness to speak out on civil
rights issues, as well as his opposition to his induction to the
Vietnam War draft citing religious reasons, were highly
controversial and posed great peril to his career; and
WHEREAS, As the reigning World Heavyweight Champion in 1967,
Mr. Ali was stripped of his titles, arrested and exiled from
boxing for three years for his refusal to participate in the
Vietnam War because it was against his religious convictions;
and
WHEREAS, Mr. Ali never wavered, becoming the voice of a
generation that opposed military involvement in Vietnam and
sought social justice in the United States; and
WHEREAS, Subsequent to his victory before the Supreme Court
of the United States in defense of his conscientious objections
to the Vietnam War, Muhammad Ali won back his title that was
stripped from him in 1974 by changing people's perception of
what it meant to be a champion; and
WHEREAS, In 1984, Muhammad Ali took his fight outside of the
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ring against Parkinson's disease; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Ali's tireless efforts in the face of a
degenerative disease were recognized all over the world when he
created the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Ali traveled the world to advocate for
Parkinson's disease research and endeavored on many other
humanitarian, goodwill and charitable missions; and
WHEREAS, Not only did Muhammad Ali receive the Sports
Illustrated "Sportsman of the Century" honors in 1999, he was
granted the highest honor for civilians in the United States by
receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005 from
President George W. Bush; and
WHEREAS, Muhammad Ali was not just a fighter in the ring, but
a fighter for social justice, a fighter for understanding and a
fighter for peace; and
WHEREAS, Wanting nothing more than to fight for the rights of
others, Mr. Ali said, "The more we help others, the more we help
ourselves"; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate honor the life of Muhammad Ali, a
trailblazing athlete, civil rights activist, humanitarian,
philanthropist and global citizen, and mourn his death.
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