Sunday Night With John: Rumble Young Woman, Rumble!

Rumble Young Woman, Rumble! 

John Paul Derryberry 

“Float like a butterfly! Sting like a bee! Rumble, young man! Rumble!” -- one of the most iconic quotes ever by one of my all-time favorite role models. It’s been written before and it’s an understatement to write again that Muhammad Ali lived a bold life. We know that he constantly saw rules, social norms, and race as lines to be challenged. How else do you explain a black man in the 60s and 70s being brash, confident and charming in the face of racism. The man stood in front of the world and proclaimed, “I'm the greatest, I'm a bad man, and I'm pretty!”  

So there was no doubt that, during my recent trip to Louisville, I was going to wander the halls of the Muhammad Ali Center. I have an affinity for rule breakers, for the people who find the courage to look at rules and say, those do not apply to me. It stems from my love affair with seeing rules as more like guidelines. As I strolled through the exhibits, I was reminded of the challenges black men faced in the 60s and 70s. I watched videos of great men like Martin Luther King Jr. commenting on Ali’s bravery. He was a lightning rod during a time in our history where chaos rained down.  I was reminded of the pushback, the questioning of his character and the hate thrown his way because he dared to declare, “Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?”

Trend setters, rule breakers, and challengers of authority will always face backlash, but often times history reveals them to be on the right side of the issue. As the world moved on, we came around to wanting another Ali in our lives. Someone who inspires, someone who challenges the status quo, and ultimately someone who reminds us that some rules are put there not to ensure our safety but to shackle our greatness.

From Louisville I traveled to Osage, Iowa, for two days of public speaking with the teachers and students there. As I finished the first sessions with the students, the teachers set reasonable and safe expectations for them to file out in line and in an orderly fashion. As I chatted with the middle school guidance counselor, a number of kids waved in my direction and smiled. I made eye contact with one young woman and I could tell she wanted to come over and say something to me. Her inner monologue must have been going, “I was instructed to stay in line, but I really want to break the rule and go say something to John Paul Derryberry.”  

I smiled as she was passing me and made her choice. She broke free from her line and came over to me. She said, “I just had to tell you that you did great”. She then extended her hand up for a high five. I hit that five high, replied, thank you, and handed her a sticker for her courage.  She bounded back to line all smiles as she showed her teacher the sticker she'd received. All I could think about was Ali breaking all his rules to become an icon and how this little girl gave me a memorable rule-breaking moment.  I smiled and thought, Rumble, Young Woman! Rumble.