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 ...
You beat me to posting this very fact and it is worth repeating.
I'm sure "white America" didn't think twice about Lew Alcindor's life, but to him, he and his people are at the center of white America's minds. I read some time ago where a survey showed that to whites the topic of race occupies their thoughts about 5% of the time, where as race occupies about 95% of blacks' thoughts. (I don't really recall the exact percentages, but it's along those lines).
You hit the mark.
He’d rather follow the religion of a sadistic murderer, war lord and slave owner than be associated with white people who died by the thousands to end that slavery.
............’an now I’M da cool beard like them udder headchopper folks!
Actress and blaxploitation star Pam Grier was his live in girlfriend during his conversion to islam.
She says in her auto-biography that she found herself going from his equal partner to being treated like a second class citizen. When they had guests over at their home, he expected her to make sandwiches and refreshments, and then make herself scarce. And not enter the room where kareem and his guests were having their little party.
She complained about this unequal treatment of her, but all he did was lecture her about the proper way a girlfriend or a wife of a muslim man is supposed to act around their men, especially when they have guests. He would assure her that she could be herself when they were alone and after they marry, things would be just fine between them.
She dumped him.
Somewhere along the way KAJ must have stopped studying the teachings of this deathcult.
No, they haven’t changed. Entire academic careers, established curricula and departments have been established because of it.
No rational person would convert to the cult of death.
“Now I’m Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the manifestation of my African history, culture and beliefs.”
Good then we will expect him to move to the continent of his
dreams and not let the door hit him on the ass on the way
out. Sits there and whines “the pale reflection of what white America expected”
and made millions out of it.
If he feels so intimidated by America then he needs to leave.
Incidentally, he did rebel. He converted to the most non-American thing he could find. Which, actually, only resulted in more rules. Clearly, his comfort level.
It is a similar story with these types from that era. See Obama's mother. Grow up hating America and gravitate to anything foreign, exotic or counter to American values.
Now, it is all so commonplace. To rebel, this generation and the next will have to have 2.4 kids, be heterosexual and live conventional family life.
We really don’t care. This falls into the category of “Why I used to believe Islam was a religion of peace.” category. Publishing or republishing this stuff should be punishable to imprisonment. Anything he says again has no credibility.
Won’t even read the article. For him to adopt a anti-American, anti-Semetic last name is disgusting. He’ll be Lou Alcindor forever as long as I need to identify him with a name.
Blacks are (generally) easier to convert to islam because they (generally) already hate America and what it (generally) stands for.
“Now I’m Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the manifestation of my African history, culture and beliefs.”
Just a corner of Africa, actually...that being Egypt. They’re the only serious Arab country north of the Sahara, at least when he was converting. Most of Africa is black, and is south of the Sahara...details, details.
To his credit, he did play some serious ball, and Islam hadn’t nearly developed the reputation that it now (legitimately) has in the West, back when he converted. Back then you could make fun of it, such as I Dream of Jeannie...without worrying about getting your head lopped off.
islime is a demonic infection. lucifer thanks him.
How do you know he didn’t pee the seat? LOL
I don’t care or want to know why he converted. As far as I am concerned, he can go over there and stay.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: We Need to Stamp Out Misogyny in Sports
One of my friends, an o-loving sports writer, was emphatic that sports was infected by misogyny. When I asked her to identify the perps, she shut up. Don't you love liberals?
Seriously, Kareem. STFU and learn something!
Seems like it's been that way for generations, too.
And for this reason, I no longer have a great deal of affection for the boxer formerly known as Cassius Clay.
“Being 7-foot-2 and athletic got me there, not a level playing field of equal opportunity.”
He shouldn’t be so angry. Yes, being 7-2 and extremely talented didn’t hurt, but if the playing field wasn’t level (or at least close), he would have never got past the basketball equivalent of the Negro League (baseball’s top league for blacks, prior to Jackie Robinson breaking into the Majors). Obviously things had opened up in basketball. Yes, since most fans are still white (which makes sense as whites have more spending money and there are many times more whites in the country), there is a tendency to have a token white or two on every team, even if there were better blacks...but that is certainly is not due to racism on the part of the owners - it’s just trying to keep revenue up.
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