Please sign the petition below to remove the statue of Jefferson Davis currently in Kentucky’s Capitol Rotunda, and replace it with a tribute to Muhammad Ali, “the Louisville Lip” and “the Greatest of All Time.”
I just heard from the Ali family: It is the Champ’s belief that Islam prohibits three-dimensional representations of living Muslims. Accordingly, I have adjusted the petition to call for a two-dimensional representation of Ali (a portrait, picture or mural) in lieu of a statue.
UPDATE (Tuesday, December 2, 2014)
In this interview with WHAS-TV’s Joe Arnold, Governor Steve Beshear endorses the idea of honoring Muhammad Ali in the State Capitol (although he disagrees with removing Davis). Arnold explores the idea further on his weekly show, “The Powers that Be.”
Click here to check out WDRB-TV’s Lawrence Smith’s coverage of the story.
And here’s my op-ed in Ali’s hometown paper, the Louisville Courier-Journal.
UPDATE (Saturday, June 4, 2016)
In the wake of the 2015 Charlestown tragedy, in which a Confederate flag-waving murderer united the nation against racism, all of the most powerful Kentucky policymakers — U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, Governor Matt Bevin, Senate President Robert Stivers and House Speaker Greg Stumbo — called for the removal of the Davis statue from the Rotunda. Today, as we commemorate last night’s passing of Muhammad Ali, there is no better moment to replace the symbol of Kentucky’s worst era with a tribute to The Greatest of All Time.
UPDATE (Wednesday, June 8, 2016):
Great piece by Lawrence Smith of WDRB-TV in Louisville on the petition drive to replace Jefferson Davis’ statue in the Capitol Rotunda with a tribute to Muhammad Ali.
UPDATE (Thursday, June 9, 2016):
Excellent piece on the petition drive by Jack Brammer that was featured on the front page of the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Highlight of the article:
Miller said he has received a few “angry comments” on his call to honor Ali.
“One of them encouraged me to kill myself,” he said. “You can quote me that I have decided not to take their advice.”
UPDATE (Friday, June 10, 2016)
The petition drives continues to show the Big Mo(hammed): check out these stories from WKYU-FM public radio in Bowling Green and WKYT-TV, Channel 27 in Lexington:
UPDATE (Saturday, June 11, 2016):
Still not convinced? Check out this excerpt from today’s New York Times:
When I was a senior at UK in 1977, with my roommate, I attended a Halloween party held at Gatewood’s house which was in the old YWCA located somewhere in downtown Lexington.
My roommate’s father was the sheriff of Casey County, so we borrowed two deputies uniforms and attended the party. I recall that there was a goodly contingent of bikers and others in attendance who were not happy with law enforcement, and we got a number of evil stares.
I recall walking into rooms and hearing toilets flushing, small parcels being thrown under furniture, etc. It was big fun, but we were not the hit of the party.
I last saw Gatewood at the Master Musician’s Festival here in Somerset. I told him that he was like Elvis-he was everywhere. We had a good laugh and talked about his Halloween parties.
I will miss him. He was unique. He always had a good story and I smiled everytime I was around him. He will be missed.
The author, C. Josh Givens, in a 2008 Halloween costume. No person can truly dress as a Kentucky punk without a "Gatewood for Governor" t-shirt.
As a community newspaper journalist in Kentucky since the mid-90s, I came to understand Gatewood was someone most media types would expect walking into the lobby each campaign cycle. Whether a race was on for governor, Congress, or even the local city council, Gatewood was expected, whether he was running or not.
Some called him a “perennial” candidate, but I have never liked that tag. It always sounded a tad bit back-handed to me, like the big papers and television talkers were saying, with some snarky inside wink-and-nod, “Here comes Gatewood … again and again and again.”
With Gatewood, somehow folks tried to make the very word — “perennial” — some type of curse word.
Perhaps those that used it the most were part of the “petrochemical-pharmaceutical-military-industrial-transnational-corporate-fascist-elite SOBs” crowd, which Gatewood convinced many of us were a threat to our Constitutional freedoms.
Then again, perhaps those who used it the most were part of what is mainstream, conservative Kentucky.
Gatewood always answered questions, which can be a novel ideal when considering Kentucky campaigns and the often too-comfortable relationship between hometown media and candidates.
Genuinely good guy Gatewood, you were comfortable with him, yes, but there always seemed to be an unspoken — “I am here to get my message out. If you don’t ask the right questions, I will still give you the answers. It’s an important message.”
Gatewood made you smile, whether you knew who in the Hell he was or not.
In what would be his final campaign, Gatewood and his running mate Dea Riley, fought a huge uphill battle in the Kentucky Governor race. But despite this uphill battle, Gatewood and Dea were keen to come to smallish Butler County — a heavily Republican county — and talk with me. We ran his story on the front, we ran his picture, we published a 30-minute video interview.
It lit a small fire of sorts. My phone rang, my email inbox filled — “Who is this Gatewood? I like the way he thinks.”
Now, memorializing with a tear in my eye, I enthusiastically agree with them. I sure did like the way that genuinely good guy Gatewood thought … which was for himself.
Rest in peace, Gatewood. You have shown us all, coming back year-after-year creates lasting marks. Your Commonwealth will long remember your impact.
You have made the path smoother for those will continue to come back and back and back.
I’m mourning the loss, at age 64, of my friend, author and frequent Kentucky political candidate Gatewood Galbraith.
Anyone who wants to be a best-selling author needed to spend time around Gatewood. He had knack for understanding his audience that few others had.
My first book fair event ever was the 2006 Kentucky Book Fair. When I walked into the arena, I found they had me sharing a table with Gatewood, who was promoting his excellent autobiography, The Last Free Man in America.
I was horrified that I was perched next to a perennial gubernatorial candidate who advocated the legalization of marijuana and was known to take a toke or two on his own.
Read the rest of… Don McNay: Book Marketing Lessons from “The Last Free Man in America”
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Fri Jan 6, 2012 at 9:15 AM ET
Reports have come out that the Penn State football team has hired the Patriots offensive coordinator, Bill O’Brien, as their head coach to replace the legendary Joe Paterno. It is preliminary report so we don’t know any details of the deal as of yet. A formal announcement is expected to come on Sunday. [ESPN]
By John Y. Brown III, on Fri Jan 6, 2012 at 9:00 AM ET
I want to share a few memories about Gatewood Galbraith, a KY statesmen, who died Tuesday night in his sleep.
I don’t claim to know Gatewood as a good friend, but he was much more to me than a casual acquaintance. I ran in several statewide races alongside Gatewood.
Political candidates are a bit like athletes traveling together across the state appearing to shake hands and give speeches wherever twoor more registered voters are gathered. There is a camaraderie that develops. And a respect and friendship that lasts.
As a young man I knew Gatewood the way everyone else knew him, as the hilarious, unrestrained, whip-smart, loquacious character who added comic relief and trenchant insights to KY’s governor’s races.
One of the first debates I watched with Gatewood he defended medicinal marijuana by saying something along the lines of “We aren’t talking about people who get drunk, cross state lines and trash hotel rooms. We are talking about people who will mellow out and order a pizza and fall asleep.”
But because he wanted to legalize medicinal marijuana (coupled with the fact he looked like he just dressed himself and shaved from the back seat of his car) he was never taken as seriously as he could have been. And I wondered how seriously he wanted to be taken. Gatewood could have been an able governor had he ever found a way to get elected, but I’m not sure he really ran to win. I think he ran because he couldn’t not run and because he had something to say and people wanted to hear it. And it beat practicing law seven days a week.
And he was at good running for office—extraordinary, in fact. It just made sense for Gatewood to run. And keep running. And because of that, he mattered a lot to a lot of people across our great state.
Read the rest of… John Y. Brown, III: A Few Memories About a KY Statesman
By Jonathan Miller, on Fri Jan 6, 2012 at 8:30 AM ET
The colorful story of Kentucky politics lost a legendary character this week in the passing of Gatewood Galbraith.
Gatewood would have never considered himself a recovering politician — He enjoyed politics too much to ever fully leave. But his candor, aversion to hyper-partisanship and extraordinary sense of humor certainly reflected the values of The Recovering Politician.
So today, we are dedicating this site to his memory, and we’ve opened it up to the RP Nation to share their remembrances.
For our Kentucky readers, this is a chance to say goodbye, and share a few laughs, with someone who was part of our Comonwealth’s political fabric for more than three decades. For our readers outside the Bluegrass State, it’s a chance to learn about a true Kentucky original.
We hope you enjoy this day of Gatewood memories. And if you missed your chance to submit an article, please feel free to fill up our Comments section with your remembrances.
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Jan 5, 2012 at 3:00 PM ET
The Politics of Tech
After the lengthy fundraising by Wikipedia, characterized by the personal appeal from Jimmy Wales, they ended up raising $20 million. [Venture Beat]
A Dehli, India court has ordered 22 social-networking sites to remove all “anit-religious” and “anti-social” material contained on them in 90 days. The most notable websites listed are Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Yahoo. [Hindustan Times]
Internet Explorer use continues to slide as it loses more and more of the market share it once dominated. It is predicted that by March Microsoft’s internet browser could fall below a 50% market share. [Computerworld]
In the wide world of censorship – it is now illegal for citizens of the Republic of Belarus to access foreign websites. [The Next Web]
For hackers, what is the best way to combat censorship in America? Could it be to launch their own satellites? [PC World]
By John Y. Brown III, on Thu Jan 5, 2012 at 12:30 PM ET
It’s not a medical breakthrough to reverse memory loss.
Consider it more of a coping mechanism. And a darned good one at that.
Maybe memory loss is inevitable with the aging process….but don’t despair. Don’t cede anything to our younger colleagues! Instead, finesse!
You don’t need to know a whole lot in this life to be profoundly effective, successful and fulfilled. We really need only to kno…w “a little.”
The trick is to have some attitude about the little we still retain. And sometimes, if need be, ratchet up a little more attitude to drive the point home.
Afraid you’ll have trouble remembering all this? Don’t. Watch the video–repeatedly–until it becomes second nature. It says it all. And with the attitude.
Blog this!
