Kareem Abdul-Jabbar writes about protests and meets MLK with 17

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar worked to change the world long before the 7-foot 2-inch center became one of the biggest NBA players of all time and one of the most politically pronounced NBA players.

In his 20th book “We all want to change the world: my journey through social justice movements from the 1960s to the present day” ($ 30, now from the crown), the productive author and a unique time magazine columnist look back on America’s protest movements from speech and civil rights to the national protests after the murder of George Floyd.

At the age of 78, the NBA Hall of Famer saw them all, often first -hand.

His personal journey begins effectively in the turbulent summer of 1964 when he took part in a journalism program sponsored by Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited (Haryou). When Martin Luther King Jr. announced a Harlem press conference in June, the son of a jazz -loving transit pop accumulated his hand to report the inspiring guide.

Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. (Abdul-Jabbar changed his name in 1971 after it was converted to Islam).

“I showed the stocky men at the door my press cards and hiked into it, feared that someone grabbed me on my arm at every minute and dragged me out and screamed: ‘Who is this punk kid that pretends to be a journalist?” Abdul-Jabbar writes. “I was at least one foot larger than everyone else in this room, so I would be easy to find.”

Abdul-Jabbar posted a relapse photo of the meeting for Martin Luther King Day on his Instagram page. He never forgot the king’s eloquent answer to his standard press conference question, even though he fully focused on not going to pass out when his smiling hero pointed out his answer to him.

Abdul-Jabbar cites the encounter as the beginning of his civil rights activism and leaves the meeting with “a new loyalty to Dr. King’s optimism about the innate quality of mankind,” he writes.

This feeling didn’t last long. In July he made a spontaneous decision to cover a Harlem rally that protested against the death of a 15-year-old African American, James Powell, through a white police officer. When the student journalist emerged from the U -Bahn, “the city was already in chaos.”

“I’ve never experienced a turmoil and I was afraid,” Abdul-Jabbar writes. “I did what I did best: I ran as soon as possible. The knowledge was the knowledge that I was a pretty big goal and that I didn’t know whether a ball that was beating would come from a rioter or a police officer.”

The Harlem uprising of 1964, of which he observed, had anger and confusion about the effectiveness of the king’s message.

Abdul-Jabbar never stopped looking for answers or using his superstar status to protest against injustices. As an emerging star at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1967, NFL Browns Football star Jim Brown personally invited him to take part in the Cleveland Summit. Brown gathered prominent African -American voices, mainly Star -athlete to discuss and ultimately support and support the draft Vietnam war a month earlier.

The press conference photo shows him at the table with his personal hero Boston Celtics Legend Bill Russell, Ali and Brown. Even as one of the serious men who have a serious suit, Abdul-Jabbar, the recent invitation, writes that he “never felt out of my depth”.

“But I was selected to join the team and I would definitely not give less than mine,” he writes.

Abdul-Jabbar never stopped doing his best or believing in the importance of protests. For the critics, he often quotes the national roots of Dissens, starting with the Boston Tea Party from 1773, which is “celebrated in schoolbooks as a political protest that has contributed to the foundation of the United States”.

The author still wonders whether his work or new book will make a noticeable difference in the arch of history.

“Whether it is not the question or not. Rather, the question that we are all confronted is, ‘at least I tried to make this country a better, more humane, more compassionate, freelance?'” “Abdul-Jabbar. “I think I have.”

(Tagstotranslate) Kareem

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar writes about protests and meets MLK with 17

ByAmelia Journalton

By Amelia Journalton

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