Posted on 03/29/2015 6:04:37 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
I was born Lew Alcindor. Now I’m Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
The transition from Lew to Kareem was not merely a change in celebrity brand name — like Sean Combs to Puff Daddy to Diddy to P. Diddy — but a transformation of heart, mind and soul. I used to be Lew Alcindor, the pale reflection of what white America expected of me. Now I’m Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the manifestation of my African history, culture and beliefs.
For most people, converting from one religion to another is a private matter requiring intense scrutiny of one’s conscience. But when you’re famous, it becomes a public spectacle for one and all to debate. And when you convert to an unfamiliar or unpopular religion, it invites criticism of one’s intelligence, patriotism and sanity. I should know. Even though I became a Muslim more than 40 years ago, I’m still defending that choice.
I wasn’t exposed to many black role models. I admired Martin Luther King Jr. for his selfless courage and Shaft for kicking ass and getting the girl. Otherwise, the white public’s consensus seemed to be that blacks weren’t much good.
Much of my early awakening came from reading “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” as a freshman. I was riveted by Malcolm’s story of how he came to realize that he was the victim of institutional racism that had imprisoned him long before he landed in an actual prison. That’s exactly how I felt: imprisoned by an image of who I was supposed to be.
(Excerpt) Read more at america.aljazeera.com ...
... said the co-pilot who ate the fish.
Why I don’t, it is the religion of Satan.
Bruce Lee kicked his butt.
Yo, Ferdinand Junior, I couldn’t care less about your opinions.
And so now if he wants to get into orgy heaven he has to kill Jews and Christians. Evil.
When you take away the identity of being, say, an American, or a Jew or a Christian, people desperately search for a replacement, something that gives them a reference point saying...there I am. Our government and schools have industriously swept away all the old identities, I suppose so we could all be better liberals, since those things are at their core, anti-liberal. But in so sweeping away the road signs they should not be surprised when lost people end up in strange and undesirable places rather than utopia.
Another African who thinks he’s an Arab.
Everything is about race. He could not get past the second paragraph without mentioning skin color.
I'm a victim. I'm a victim. Waaaaaaaaaaaa! Sick of it.
I’ve met him while working. He seems like an OK guy. Not really friendly, but he has so many people swarming all over him every where he goes. It must be a difficult life.
I know he worked for that and he played for the adulation. His outward appearance is a defense against the crowds of people wanting a piece of him.
If his religion gives him peace, fine. I am no a fan of Islam. But in the decades since his conversion he has not chopped off anyone’s head.
And based on his physical appearance, he couldn’t lift a sword anyway.
You converted because you took too many elbows to the head.
Lew/Kareem/Jugdish,
Your Delta Tau Chi name is PRIG.
I’d like to hear him talk about why the formation of South Sudan was necessary.
ahaha SHAFT was one of his heroes
poor Lew “no one understands him but his mother”
Rich man’s blah, blah, blah.......
Cassius Clay converted to Islam, too. Long about the time he was up for the draft.
Meanwhile, who was the icon that took his drafting and did his time? He came back from it bigger than ever.
One of the great con-jobs in history, to get the descendants of slaves to identify with the creators of the international slave trade.
” The failure of the church to use its might and influence to stop slavery and instead to justify it as somehow connected to original sin made me angry. “ ( from the article)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I suppose he never heard about the Wilberforce or the other Christian abolitionists.
Is he aware of the role of Islam in selling slaves both in the past and **TODAY**?
Because Christianity and Judaism are full of white people.
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