Becoming Kareem: Growing Up On and Off the Court

by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

The Aztecs had made peanut butter in the 1400s, and the patent for peanut butter in the United States was given to a Canadian pharmacist in 1884, twelve years before Carver began his tenure as head of the agriculture department at Tuskegee Institute.

Claude McKay

Then, through the physical rigors of basketball and the mental discipline of reading, I had stood tall and stepped out of the shadows into the bright sunlight of finding myself.

Emmett Till.

Who was Emett Till?

“The paradox of education is precisely this—that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated.”

hated to disappoint people.

“I ain’t got nothing against no Viet Cong; no Viet Cong ever called me nigger.”

He taught me that personal success without community involvement was hollow and meaningless.

“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.”

That’s why Coach hated to see showboating during practice.

Pretty soon, though, we all realized Ali was not going to change his mind. For two hours, he lectured us on Islam and black pride and his religious conviction that the Vietnam War was wrong.

Failing to articulate a position clearly and convincingly could affect people’s lives.

tore the cover off and pasted it on my locker to remind me to practice harder, longer, and with more intensity.

“I fear not the man who has practiced ten thousand kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick ten thousand times.” For me, my hook shot was the one kick practiced ten thousand times.

The Book of Five Rings - Miyamoto Musashi

There were so many that I had to examine each one to figure out which ones were what I wanted.

Elridge Cleaver’s Soul on Ice William Barrets Irrational Man : A study in Existential Philosophy The Autobioigraphy of Malcolm X

“Well,” I said, “it’s not that simple. Like they say, God is in the details.”