Mourning the greatest: "unforgivably black" and peacefully Muslim Muhammad Ali

When Muhammad Ali died in June 2016, media were filled with remembrances of the boxer. Some memories focused on what he meant to his home state of Kentucky, or how an individual had bonded with their father while watching Ali in the ring. Others focused on what Ali's status as a celebrity Black Muslim man meant to them. The boxer who called himself "the Greatest" joined the Nation of Islam after his first fight with Sonny Liston in 1964 and later became a Sufi Muslim. Islam, in its many forms, is viewed with suspicion in the United States and Ali was likely the most visible Muslim American during his lifetime. This research examines how writers remembered Ali in the week after his death and identifies three themes which seemed most prominent: Ali as the proud Black Muslim man, Ali as freedom fighter, and Ali as an embodiment of peace.