On February 25, 1964

Cassius Clay, knocked out Sonny Liston for his first world title in boxing.

On March 6, 1964

Cassius Clay changed his name to Muhammad Ali

At the Ali/Liston (1964) fight was a photographer, Neil Leifer.

Leifer took what became an iconic photograph. You can buy a print from the photographer’s website, if you can afford it.

Artist, The Half Decent, painted a massive mural of it in a narrow ally that was impossible to get a straight on shot in.

The above slide show was taken from the most straight across vantage point, the indent for a fire escape.

Float Like A Butterfly, Sting Like A Bee

That is a statement made famous by Ali.

     I designed the costumes for a movie "Strange Justice", a docu-drama of the Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas United States senate hearings. The actor playing Clarence Thomas was Delroy Lindo. 
We were shooting backwards a decade, so I had his suits custom tailored. A suit was ready to be fit the day he arrived for prep. The fitting went well, but he had 1 request. Could I make the pockets really deep, to fit his large hands? 

I took hand measurements and sent the alterations to the tailor, with a special note about the pockets. Everything runs on a last minute seat of your pants timing in film. The suit was picked up from the tailor the night before he played.

     The morning Delroy played, I got called to his winnie*. He was livid. His hands would not fit into his pockets. They barely made it half way to his wrist. I walked to set with him while he tore a small strip off me. I had failed his simple request. 

     He didn't play again for 2 more days. So I personally took the suit into the tailor, who had not and still refused to make the pockets bigger. It was a tailoring no-no. I can be quite "assertive" when needed, and the pockets were corrected. 

     A couple of days after that I got called to his winnie, again. He looked me square in the eyes, and sincerely apologized for his behaviour about the pockets.

     I said something like.. aww that's okay.

     He said - When someone makes a sincere, honest and heart felt apology to you, you need to sincerely accept the apology, if in fact you are accepting it. 

     Eyes locked, I said Delroy, I honestly accept your apology, and I thank you for it. He said he appreciated my acceptance. We were best buddies on the shoot after that. He would hold talking on his phone to wish me a good morning, air high fives across a parking lots and always genuine smiles. 

     On the last day of the shoot, he gave gifts to some of the crew. I still remember him handing me a tiny jewelry box, opening it to find a marquesite & sterling bee brooch inside. I looked up and thanked him, all the while thinking “Sting like a bee- Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee". 

     I still have the brooch, and I cannot see an image of Ali without thinking of Delroy Lindo, and that honest apologies are 2 sided.

I close with a slideshow of demented angled shots form the narrow alley.

I went back to the alley a second time, as I had the warm filter on, accidentally. The alley was still narrow.

Pics taken by Resa – 2024

Toronto, Canada

The Artist:

winnie* – a Winnebago motor home used for stars’ dressing rooms on location shoots.