Abstract

national, even international, affection.Celebrated as an athlete, a humanitarian, and a leader, he was chosen to carry the inaugurating flame for the 1996 Olympics.The movie Ali earned both money and Oscar nominations in 2001.In 2000, the Kentucky legislature honored Ali as the "greatest athlete of all time." 1 His home city of Louisville named Ali as its most illustrious "native son." 2 All these honors and hundreds of others demonstrate the adoration of Ali and suggest his impact.Locally in Louisville and Kentucky, nationally in the United States, and globally, Ali has become one of the world's most famous figures of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. 32 In the Fall of 2005, the Muhammad Ali Center is to grace downtown Louisville as the foremost in a series of new attractions.The Center describes its focus as promoting peace and social responsibility.Its website proclaims that, "Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, the city where Muhammad Ali's story began, the Muhammad Ali Center will serve as a place to celebrate the deeply rooted values and worldwide influence of Ali." 4 For Louisville, the Ali Center is to be a nexus of history, politics, culture, and social ideas.