Grawemeyer Spirit Award
Congratulations to Muhammad Ali, recipient of the Grawemeyer Spirit Award.
Sidebar
The Grawemeyer Awards program at the University of Louisville pays tribute to the power of ideas, emphasizing the impact a single idea can have on the world. The first Grawemeyer Award was presented in 1985 and to date, more than $14 million has been bestowed on winners from across the globe.
To commemorate the program’s 30th anniversary, the Grawemeyer Spirit Award was established to recognize an individual whose beliefs, actions and worldwide impact are in accord with Charles Grawemeyer’s impetus for creating the awards program that bears his name. Muhammad Ali was honored with the inaugural Grawemeyer Spirit Award for his lifetime of inspiring others and for making the world a better place.
The awards ceremony and community celebration to highlight 30 years of the Grawemeyer Awards and honor Muhammad Ali as the first recipient of the Grawemeyer Spirit Award took place on September 17, 2015 at The Louisville Palace. Mr. Ali and his wife, Lonnie, were in attendance and Howard Fineman, global editorial director of The Huffington Post served as master of ceremonies.
Dr. James R. Ramsey, president of the University of Louisville shared information about Charles Grawemeyer’s legacy, followed by a presentation about the power of ideas by Rev. Dr. Michael Jinkins, president of the Louisville Seminary. Fineman delivered the keynote speech, which included a recorded retrospective by longtime Ali photographer Neil Leifer. Dr. Ramsey, joined on stage by Jinkins and Grawemeyer Awards Executive Director Charlie Leonard, presented the award to Mr. Ali saying, “Although Mr. Ali and Charles Grawemeyer traveled very different paths in life, their destinations are similar—a world where every individual’s worth is cause for celebration; a world in which inspiration plus action can lead to transformation; a world where each of us can make positive change by discovering our own greatness.”
“Muhammad is honored to be recognized by the University of Louisville and the Grawemeyer Awards Committee with the very first Charles Grawemeyer Spirit Award,” said Lonnie Ali. “In accepting this award, we are reminded that Muhammad’s life continues to inspire generations of people to discover and cultivate their own path to greatness and to use their talents and successes to empower others in communities all over the world. This award allows Muhammad’s legacy, like Charles Grawemeyer’s legacy, to live on through the people they inspire.”
Muhammad was born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. on January 17, 1942 in Louisville. Later in life, he abandoned what he called his “slave name” in lieu of the Muslim name: Muhammad Ali. Muhammad’s boxing career began as a child and by the time he turned 18, he had won six Kentucky Golden Gloves championships, two National Golden Gloves championships, two national AAU titles and a gold medal at the Olympics in Rome in 1960. Four years later, he went on to become Heavyweight Champion of the World, a title he earned three times during his boxing career. Ali has been inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, named “Sportsman of the Century” in Sports Illustrated and in 1997, he earned the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. The following year, Ring Magazine named him number one in a ranking of greatest heavyweights of all time.
Muhammad Ali is one of a select few individuals to have transcended athleticism into a symbol of larger societal issues and it is the totality of his life and the core principles that have guided him that have made him one of the most beloved symbols of peace and well-being in our nation and the world. His awareness of the needs of the developing world has guided much of his good work. He has served as a symbol of hope and a catalyst for constructive international dialogue, has delivered sorely-needed medical supplies to an embargoed Cuba, provided more than 22 million meals to the world’s hungry, and helped secure the release of 15 U.S. hostages from Iraq during the first Gulf War. As testament to his work in developing nations, the United Nations named him a Messenger of Peace, and he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, as well as Amnesty International’s Lifetime Achievement Award. In September 2012, he was the recipient of the prestigious National Constitution Center Liberty Medal.
Beyond his international efforts, Ali is equally devoted to helping charities at home. In addition to co-founding the Muhammad Ali Center with his wife Lonnie, Ali hosts the annual Celebrity Fight Night in Phoenix, is involved as a founding member of Athletes for Hope, and contributes substantially to the awareness and research efforts of Parkinson’s disease. Muhammad Ali has proven that one person can change the world.
Glass award sculpture created by Ché Rhodes, associate professor and head of studio glass for the University of Louisville Hite Art Institute
Presented to Mr. Ali on September 17, 2015
From the artist:
First, we chose to make the bowl form primarily for its symbolic value. The bowl represents the sharing of sustenance and food. It is intended to function as a metaphor for giving and thriving.
The extra-ordinary thickness and weight of the bowl are meant to be appropriate for Muhammad Ali’s tremendous strength—both physical and of character—and stature.
It is decorated with a single band comprised of 73 twisted white and black lines. The inner 18 lines are black and represent the first 18 years of his life—up to the point where he earned the Olympic gold medal. This is the point where he became a champion and it is also when he announced that he had thrown the medal into the Ohio River. At this moment, he is transformed into not only an athletic champion, but also a champion of humanitarian, social and political causes. In contrast, the outer 55 lines are white and encircle the black lines. These represent the remaining years of his life, up through today, as an advocate and warrior for human rights, dignity, and freedom.
When the bowl is in its upright position, it is able to perform its function as a vehicle for nourishment and giving. The butterfly is visible in this position, which is intended to convey the idea of peacefulness and compassion. Not visible in this position is a bee, on the bottom of the bowl, which expresses the idea of forcefulness. In order for the bee to be visible, the bowl must be inverted, thus denying its function. Though forcefulness is not necessarily or always negative, the idea of inverting the bowl to reveal either creature represents the freedom to make the choice between peacefulness and forcefulness. No other person possesses these two qualities to the extent that Mr. Ali does. Moreover, no one has ever evidenced as much wisdom and thoughtfulness about choosing the appropriate time and manner in which to use peacefulness and forcefulness than Muhammad Ali.