Ali's hometown joins together in prayer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Muhammad Ali’s younger brother wept, swayed to hymns and hugged anyone he could reach. He raised his hands to the sky, eyes closed, surrounded by congregants at the church where their father once worshipped.
Rahaman Ali took center stage at the two-hour, high-energy service at King Solomon Missionary Baptist Church, sitting in a front-row pew with his wife, Caroline. The church is not far from the little pink house in Louisville’s west end where the Ali brothers grew up.
It was one of several emotional remembrances Sunday as the city joined together to mourn its most celebrated son, the Louisville Lip. Later this week, politicians, celebrities and fans from around the globe are expected for a Friday memorial service that Ali planned himself with the intent of making it open to all.
At his father’s church, the congregation stood in tribute, prayed for the former three-time heavyweight champion and his family and even dug into their pockets, filling a collection plate for Rahaman and his wife.
“There is no greater man that has done more for this city than Muhammad Ali,” said the church’s assistant pastor, Charles Elliott III.
Elliott recalled the comical side of the former boxing champion and global humanitarian, who died Friday night in Arizona.
Elliott said his grandmother was once a nanny to Ali’s family. He visited as a wide-eyed young boy, he said, and recalled the house had an elevator and a parrot who called out: “Here comes the champ, here comes the champ.”
His father, the Rev. Charles Elliott Jr., knew Ali for decades and remembered his generosity. He recalled when he was raising money in the 1960s to keep a program running to feed the city’s hungry, and Ali cut him a check. At the time, the program offered food twice a week, he said.
“He came in and he said, ‘Reverend, let’s feed ’em every day. I’ll give you a check,”’ he said.
The solace Elliott found Sunday morning, he said, was that Ali’s suffering was finally over. He noted that Ali’s daughter said The Greatest’s heart kept beating a half-hour after the rest of his organs failed.
“Ali always did something nobody ever did,” Elliott said.
Ali’s father, Cassius Clay Sr., a painter, was a member of King Solomon before his death decades ago. He painted a mural of Jesus’ baptism that still hangs behind the pulpit.
Muhammad Ali sometimes accompanied his father to the church, even after the boxer announced his conversion to Islam.
The Rev. Wanda McIntyre, who presided over the early service, said it reminded her that he believed above all in living life with tolerance and an open heart.
