Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. told a story of when a southern state had first introduced the gas chamber as a form of capital punishment. The state agencies wanted to hear the last words of the first man executed by this chemical agent. They placed a microphone inside the gas chamber. The first person executed was a young African American. As the pellets of gas went inside, and began to infiltrate the man’s body, the last words he yelled were, “Save me, Joe Louis. Save me Joe Louis. Save me, Joe Louis.”

This week I read the autobiography of the legendary heavyweight boxing champion, Joe “The Bronze Bomber” Louis from Lafayette, AL. Joe Louis had a resilient mindset when he rose to become the youngest African American in the world, to become Heavyweight Boxing Champion in 1937. Joe Louis defended his title 25 times.

If we are born, and don’t place time in developing our mindset, we would be unconscious as a TOMBSTONE.. We would be void of activity. Things that are most obvious, would not occur to us, and we would lack action, and reaction.

Your mindset determines the movie playing of your life. Adversity can institute a quick check of how strong your mindset is. Survival, hunger, loss, pain, struggle, bad news, doubt, debt, destruction, not getting the answer you feel you deserve, can all affect one’s mindset. Joe Louis’s life encompassed a navigational journey that consistently challenged his mental fortitude.

Our mindset follows us around like our SHADOW. We can’t shake our SHADOW, but we can affect how the shadow illuminates…..

The most iconic, claim to fame boxing match for Joe Louis came in 1958, against Germany’s fighter Max Schmeling. Two years prior to their bout, Schmeling knocked out Joe Louis in the 12th round of their 15 round bout. That loss infuriated Louis, as he was the younger, sharper, better all-around fighter. During this particular fight camp, Louis’s mindset shifted as he had acclaimed so much in boxing, he negated some of the intrinsic fight training camp details that should never be neglected. The small details in boxing are, “Tesla” important. Joe Louis vowed to avenge his loss. Louis ended up regaining the Heavyweight title against James Braddock in 1937, one year before the Max Schmeling rematch was scheduled.

The second fight against Max Schmeling wasn’t just a normal heavyweight boxing bout. This was a time in America where Hitler of Germany was in full power! Schmeling, being from Germany, was being heralded by Hitler to be the Nazis representative, fighting for power of Hitler’s regime.

Schmeling really wasn’t into politics. He was forced to play the role for Hitler and the Nazis. Since the first victory versus Louis, Hitler courted him heavily. Private dinners, inviting him to parties ,etc…. Leading up to the fight, Hitler promoted Schmeling on all media platforms across Germany. These antics did not bode well for Schmeling. Louis would be in rare form for this battle ensuing.

Joe Louis stated the fight against Max Schmeling, was the most important fight of his life. Yes, it was for the title. Yes, it was to avenge his loss two years prior. But, at its core, it was the United States of America vs Germany.

The fight was held in New York at Yankees Stadium in front of 70,000 fans. Tens of millions were listening on radio frequencies. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had Joe Louis picked up in a limousine and brought to him for dinner before his fight. He told Louis that our country was depending on him for victory.

The thought of the President of the United States, giving me a message like that, packs enough energy, to power a rocket to the moon and back. Joe Louis left the meeting from President Roosevelt, and told his trainer he not only felt he was going to win. He knew he was going to win!

He had trained relentlessly, and it showed in the rematch. He knocked Max Schmeling out in the early rounds of the bout! Joe Louis avenged his loss, and gave America hope during a volatile time in American History. The Vietnam war was under way.

Jesse Jackson quoted on Louis’s victory. “Usually the champion rides on the shoulder of the nation and its people, but in this case, the nation rode on the shoulders of the hero. “

Joe Louis voluntarily opted for the draft, when he would have been given an exception. He served four years in the United States Army. Although he didn’t step into battle, the military used him to travel on a global tour, and do boxing exhibitions around the world. This is where his bond began with Sugar Ray Robinson. Robinson was a hot, up and coming boxer, that America was waiting for.

Joe Louis through his beliefs and efforts, eliminated segregated buses at its forts and bases in the military. Joe Louis and Hall of Fame baseball player Jackie Robinson served together in the military. They became very close friends. When Louis returned to boxing, Jackie Robinson often was seen with him going to the ring.

He actually saved Jackie Robinson from being booted out of the Army during a racial standoff that Robinson had with a white officer. Louis stepped in, offered a bribe to the white officer, and the situation dissipated. Both Louis and Robinson became officers in the Army.

Joe Louis had seven siblings. His father was a very hard working sharecropper in Alabama. He worked so hard, life ended for him in a mental institution. He was stricken with the stresses of life. Louis’s mother was magnificent. She raised all eight kids on her own until she later remarried. Louis stated they never missed a meal after his father died. His mother worked numerous jobs, as well as tended to sharecropping.

Once Louis’s mother remarried, the family went from eight children, to sixteen! Her new husband had eight kids of his own. The family packed up from the south, and moved up north to Detroit.

This was the time when the motor industry was taking off. His new stepfather, who he really loved, landed a job at the Ford Motor Company. It was in Detroit, that The Bronze Bomber, Joe Louis was introduced to boxing. Louis left a massive footprint, inside, and outside the boxing ring.