{"id":21883,"date":"2019-10-09T16:09:53","date_gmt":"2019-10-09T16:09:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wbcboxing.com\/?p=21883"},"modified":"2019-10-09T16:09:53","modified_gmt":"2019-10-09T16:09:53","slug":"round-12-don-jose-sulaiman-an-inspiration-and-champion-of-equality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wbcboxing.com\/en\/round-12-don-jose-sulaiman-an-inspiration-and-champion-of-equality\/","title":{"rendered":"Round 12: Don Jose Sulaiman, an Inspiration and Champion of Equality"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Round 12: Don Jose Sulaiman, an Inspiration and Champion of Equality<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n

BY MAURICIO SULAIM\u00c1N<\/p>\n

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One glorious day in 1985, at the United Nations General Assembly, Jose Sulaiman received from the Secretary General, Javier Enrique P\u00e9rez de Cuellar, a citation for\u00a0his tireless work against discrimination and in favor of human inclusion and the fundamental rights of equality<\/p>\n

Jos\u00e9 Sulaiman\u2019s spirit, humanity and example lives on, actively promoting human equality and the culture of peace, as a vital lesson of life.<\/p>\n

Jose Sulaiman and his legacy are directly linked with the efforts of the Holy Father Francisco and his Pontifex Foundation Scholas Ocurrentes.<\/p>\n

Pope Francis visited Mozambique, Africa and Don Jose\u00b4s legacy was manifested when His Holiness inaugurated the surf school in Tofo, which is named \u201cJos\u00e9 Sulaim\u00e1n.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Africa\u2019s relationship with my Dad dates back to the 40s. My Grandfather Don Elias sent him to meet his family, located near Boston. He took the GreyHound\u00a0bus\u00a0in Texas, and it was on that route that he witnessed and experienced the horrendous practice of racial discrimination.<\/p>\n

Bus sections, restaurants and bathrooms for African-Americans\u00a0embossed with the shameful letters\u00a0\u201cBlack section,\u201d an appalling \u00a0degradation to the Human Race, that Don Jos\u00e9 hated and loathed until his last breath. That trip left\u00a0forever changed, marked, inspired and determined Don Jose to do everything within his power to combat the evil of racism.<\/p>\n

In the late 1960s, my Father traveled as a supervisor of the World Boxing Council (WBC) to South Africa. On the flight there was the challenger, who had African origin. He talked to him a lot and assured him that he would be close, alert \u00a0and attentive \u00a0to anything he needed.<\/p>\n

Upon landing, they were immediately separated, and he did not see him again until the dressing room, minutes before the fight. Three arrogant white men entered, and read a preposterous manifest to the boxer, naming him \u201c\u00a0A temporally honorary white \u201d to allow him to get into the ring that night.<\/p>\n

It was in 1975, when my Father was elected \u00a0WBC\u00a0President \u00a0in Tunisia, Africa, and he accepted, under the condition of being able to take actions and \u00a0measures to change the world of boxing.<\/p>\n

His first decision was to expel South Africa from the WBC. He imposed a suspension to that country, and fought Apartheid.\u00a0 Leading by example and leading from the front Don Jose motivated and inspired many sports organizations to do the same.<\/p>\n

One glorious and forever memorable day in 1985, at the UN General Assembly, Jos\u00e9 Sulaim\u00e1n received from the Secretary General, Javier Enrique P\u00e9rez de Cu\u00e9llar, a citation for the tireless and courageous work in favor of human equality and inclusion. That was the culmination of his pilgrimage and apostolate for serving the world, through sports and boxing.<\/p>\n

It was in 1999, in Johannesburg, South Africa, when Nelson Mandela attended the inaugural session of the annual World Boxing Council Convention.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>As President of that country, and in the company of the world boxing community, Nelson Mandela lifted aloft his Green and Gold belt, when he was named world champion of equality and peace. A clear and resounding recognition of Don Jose`s courageous pioneering stance in the era of Apartheid. \u00a0This is how we celebrate a unique moment championed by Don Jos\u00e9. It forms an integral part of his extraordinary and magnificent legacy.<\/p>\n

A few days ago, my Dad was posthumously honored in the name of all the boxers, who are\u00a0world\u00b4s most extraordinary and humble athletes. A\u00a0great tribute, when naming the surf school in Tofo, Mozambique, in Africa after him.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Jos\u00e9 Sulaim\u00e1n School, through its Scholas Ocurrentes Foundation, and on the recommendation of its World Presidents: Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda del Corral and Enrique Palmeyro, being the only installation of the hundreds that exist, with a proper name in recognition of the contribution, to caring, service, inclusion and peace.<\/p>\n

Thank you very much and I welcome any comments, ideas or recommendations at contact@wbcboxing.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Round 12: Don Jose Sulaiman, an Inspiration and Champion of Equality BY MAURICIO SULAIM\u00c1N One glorious day in 1985, at the United Nations General Assembly, Jose [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":21884,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[121,120],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-main-news","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wbcboxing.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wbcboxing.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wbcboxing.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wbcboxing.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wbcboxing.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wbcboxing.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wbcboxing.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wbcboxing.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wbcboxing.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wbcboxing.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}