(Photo of Center courtesy of the Muhammad Ali Center)
The Muhammad Ali Center had a star-studded opening in November 2005 attended by Brad Pitt, Jim Carrey, and Bill Clinton, among other celebrities. Of course, now that Ali has passed away, the Center will take on even greater significance as part of the legacy for someone who should never be forgotten.
But the Center is about so much more than Ali, and that’s because of the man he was – someone who sincerely wanted to make the world a better place. Billy Crystal has called Ali the greatest man he’s ever known.
Ali was a native of Louisville, and his center is one of the most inspiring places I have ever visited. I’ve been there three times over the years and will go back the next time I’m in the city.
Besides his personal history, it’s devoted to tolerance among religions and races. There are several floors with all sorts of innovative exhibits, one of which is a circular screen showing video on the ceiling. You sit in lounge chairs to watch. One of my favorite exhibits is one that you watch from the floor above, as you look down on a huge video screen that’s contained within a boxing ring. The video shows footage of Ali’s classic fights.
When it opened, the Center included an exhibit donated by Angelina Jolie called “Hope and Dream” with a wall filled with more than 5,000 tiles containing artwork by children from more than 140 countries. There are fun and educational interactive exhibits for kids within the Center that promote admirable qualities, such as dependability, courage, and acceptance, and school groups regularly visit.
There are videos about the civil rights movement and an exhibit where you walk in to a diner and are told “you can’t come in.” It really sends home what it was like for African Americans in the 1960’s. Other videos discuss Ali’s refusal to fight in the Vietnam War, and a wide screen shows video of Ali lighting the Olympic torch in a room filled with different colored Olympic torch light replicas that emerge from the floor. It chokes me up every time I visit that room, watching his hands shake from Parkinson’s Disease as he lights the torch. It has personal significance to me since my mother also had Parkinson’s Disease.
Ali’s Olympic medal and Presidential Medal of Freedom are on display at the Center, as well as most all of his other awards. One of his cars is on display, too. Galleries include a wonderful display of LeRoy Neiman artworks depicting Ali.
Another video includes interviews with African Americans who talk about how Ali’s self-confidence and his willingness to be outspoken gave them more confidence and made them feel that they had the right to speak their minds.
You can’t possibly visit the Center without feeling moved and uplifted, and I think it’s reason enough to visit my hometown of Louisville (although there are plenty of other reasons to visit the city as well). You can make a donation to the Center in memory of Ali by visiting their website at www.alicenter.org. Check out their video below to learn more.
Melanie Votaw is the Publisher and Executive Travel Writer of LuxuryWeb Magazine. She has visited more than 50 countries on 6 continents and written for such magazines as Executive Travel, Just Luxe, Business Insider, South China Morning Post, Travel Mindset, and more. She is a member of the International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association and the International Travel Writers Alliance. Melanie's photography has won awards, and she has also written 39 nonfiction books as either the author or ghostwriter.
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