June 09, 2016 - Issue 657 A Beautiful Specimen Of A Man! A Poem about Ali By Dr. Carlos Russell, PhD Early this morning,   On first reading    Of the passing       Of Muhammad Ali,        Sweet and bitter memories         Came to me.         "A "black man's Hero" was he. Though saddened and sullen,     He still is for me.         Who "floated like a butterfly           And stung like a bee";             Who "shook up the world"                For all of us to see. "Ain't got no quarrel with no Vietcong"    Remained with me all life long.     That, was Muhammad Ali!        A beautiful specimen of a MAN!          For all on the planet to see. "The most colorful fighter in the world"     Was he. "The "Bear" The "Mummy" And the "Beast" Like struck trees they fell   Flat at his feet.   "He came,      He saw,        He conquered"         --Almost all--  And now he is gone. The world will mourn his  loss.      With tears in my eyes,      This morning,        I ask.  "When cometh such another?" BlackCommentator.com Guest Commentator, Dr. Carlos E. Russell, PhD is Professor Emeritus C.U.N.Y. - Brooklyn College. In the sixties, he served as an Associate Editor of the Liberator magazine. As such, he was one of the first to interview Malcolm X after he left the Nation. He is best remembered as the founder of Black Solidarity Day in New York in 1969 and as the Chair of the Black Caucus of the Conference on New Politics in 1967. In addition, he was a consultant to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the planning for the Poor Peoples March. Excerpts of his participation can be seen in Citizen King and Eyes on the Prize (PBS Mini Series Boxed Set). Born in the Republic of Panama, he has served as that country’s representative to the U.N and the O.A.S. with the rank of Ambassador. He has also served as the nightly host of “Thinking it Through” a talk show that was aired on WLIB in New York. He is a playwright and poet as well. Contact Dr.Russell.