Will

by Will Smith

There are rare individuals among us who just know who they are, they know what they are, and they are crystal clear about what they are here to do—Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, and even budding change agents like Malala Yousafzai and Greta Thunberg. Each accepted their divine duties and are willing to suffer for what is right and to benefit others. There’s an intoxicating power in their conviction—they are calm, they are decisive, and they are loving, even in the midst of conflict and the worst of storms. Just being in their presence inspires your heart toward higher purpose. You want to follow them; you want to serve them; you want to fight alongside them. Muhammad Ali, at the height of his fame and fortune—and in the prime years of his athletic capabilities—gave up everything to oppose the war in Vietnam. He refused induction into the US Army on religious grounds as a conscientious objector, and in 1967, Ali was convicted of “draft evasion” and sentenced to five years in prison. His passport was seized; he was heavily fined; and he was punished with a three-year ban from boxing. I ain’t draft dodging. I ain’t burning no flag. I ain’t running to Canada. I’m staying right here. You want to send me to jail? Fine, you go right ahead. I’ve been in jail for four hundred years. I could be there for four or five more, but I ain’t going no ten thousand miles to help murder and kill other poor people. If I want to die, I’ll die right here, right no...