https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue By: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar en-us 2018-12-03 18:07:02 UTC 2019-01-22 19:12:07 UTC hello@padlet.com romanari000 https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/311660738 Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem. Becoming Kareem: Growing up on and off the Court. Little, Brown and Company, 2018.

]]> 2018-12-06 02:33:01 UTC https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/311660738 romanari000 https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/311662599 After being voted Finals MVP Lewis Alcindor decides to change his name, and the whole world is in shock. He decides to change his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. "Everything was going perfectly. The fans were cheering my name, Lew and sports journalists were writing about how bright my future would be. I was the height of the success I had worked so hard my whole life to achieve. Which is why it came as such a shock when the day after winning the national championship, I announced to the world that I was no longer Lew Alcindor, but Kareem Abdul-Jabbar which means "noble servant of God." According to page viii of the introduction http://www.nba.com/history/players/abduljabbar_bio.html]]> 2018-12-06 02:47:51 UTC https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/311662599 romanari000 https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/316767481 Kareem found out he was black when he was in the third grade, he was also living in the predominantly black community of Harlem in 1947. His neighbors consisted of Russians, Scandinavians, Jews, Irish, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans. He was exposed to a variety of languages, foods, accents, and cultures.Not everyone got along, especially the kids. There were bullies, but since he was taller than most people no one challenged him.  "To be exposed to so many different cultures and languages----- and foods!--- was so much more interesting to a curious little boy than everyone looking, and talking the same. Page 4 https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kareem-Abdul-Jabbar]]> 2018-12-28 01:06:24 UTC https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/316767481 romanari000 https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/316767725 Kareem's first coaches were his mom and his dad. They would always teach him. Kareem was a good child he liked reading and was usually above most students. If his parents to do something he would do it. He was an excellent student with great report cards. He was the child other kids had to worry about. But being the only child, his parents only focused on him to work extra hard. "I enjoyed reading and was always ahead of most other students at school." Page 11. ]]> 2018-12-28 01:15:46 UTC https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/316767725 romanari000 https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/316769019 Kareem's dad (Big Al) would try to spend time with him by getting Kareem into the things that he liked such as music. He infected Kareem with music and he even wanted to play the sax. His father friend offered free lessons but his dad never spoke of it and Kareem drifted away from the idea, Then they realized sports is one of the best bonding experiences for fathers and sons. One day Big Al decided to play basketball with Kareem. His father was harsh when playing ball, he threw elbows and treated Kareem like a tackling dummy. Kareem hoped he'd patiently help him improve but that did not happen. Then they never played again. "We never played again." Page 16 https://www.biography.com/people/kareem-abdul-jabbar-9174053]]> 2018-12-28 02:09:28 UTC https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/316769019 romanari000 https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/316769275 After being sent to a boarding school Kareem is unsure why his parents decided to send him there. He is at a school with other black children that don't like him because he is smart and he is an oreo (Black person who acts like a white person). There was also a school bully named Sylvester. One day Sylvester was planning on starting trouble and Kareem told on him. Sylvester got punished, but he punished Kareem much worse by beating him up. "They punished Sylvester, but he punished me much worse." Page 26. ]]> 2018-12-28 02:21:17 UTC https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/316769275 romanari000 https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/316824346 Kareem didn't feel like he fit in school. But he felt like he didn't fit in anywhere. He learned to cope with it though. He was exceeding in school but he was keeping to himself. Silence was his camouflage. He found a place where he could hide in safety. A basketball court. Since he was the second tallest kid, he was forced onto the basketball team. During one of the games Kareem came up with his signature move , the sky hook. "The ball arced high over everyone and curved toward the basket." Page 29. ]]> 2018-12-29 05:22:56 UTC https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/316824346 romanari000 https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/316824910 After coming back from boarding school Kareem decided to join the little league again. But sometimes he was mistreated because he was black, when going and leaving practice he had to ride his bike through white neighborhoods. "So when they saw me biking through their neighborhood in uniform with my baseball glove, they would chase after me." Page 34]]> 2018-12-29 05:57:45 UTC https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/316824910 romanari000 https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/317123686 After being back from boarding for a while he hung out with his best friend Johnny. One day when they went to the swimming pool Kareem saved Johnny' s sisters life, and Johnny was very grateful, Kareem was sure their friendship would last forever. But in the sixth grade they started to drift apart. Johnny would always hang out with his white friends. Every time Kareem would try to talk to him he always had to be somewhere and obviously trying to avoid Kareem. They even got into a fight that got them both in trouble. "If he didn' t want to be my friend, then fine." Page 37]]> 2019-01-02 20:37:52 UTC https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/317123686 romanari000 https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/317126621 Throughout the years Kareem kept getting better at basketball. Although he wasn' t a starter in 5th and 6th grade he kept working hard. In the 8th grade he finally started and he started practicing a move that was new at the time which was the slam dunk. At the time players would take getting dunked on personally so they would try to run into the players legs while they were in the air so the player would hit the floor hard and get severely injured. So Kareem had to be careful.One time during a game Kareem finally had the opportunity to finally show of his new move, and the crowd all jumped up screaming  and clapping. "The sixty or so spectators jumped to their feet, screaming and clapping." https://youtu.be/uxm88cFu6UM
Page 44]]> 2019-01-02 21:06:42 UTC https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/317126621 romanari000 https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/317352979 Kareem has been getting recruited by many high schools since he was in the 7th grade, because he was six-foot five. But there was one offer that caught his eye. the Power Memorial Academy. He wanted to go there because his friend got recruited there too. It also had a great academic reputation so Kareem's parents would be pleased. When Kareem was in the 8th grade he finally met the basketball coach. They bonded very well and even talked about basketball just like fans who the game. He also gave him tickets to watch the Knicks game. "It had a great academic reputation so I knew my parents would be pleased." ]]> 2019-01-04 00:08:56 UTC https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/317352979 romanari000 https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/317551620 While the Civil Rights movement was going on Kareem had other problems too. He was going to the same school as his friends from St. Jude who betrayed him. He'd get a very angry feeling ever time he saw them. " I noticed my old classmates from St. Jude, the ones who had turned their backs on me and we continued our policy of actively ignoring one another." Page 51 https://www.biography.com/peole/kareem-abdul-jabbar-9174053

]]> 2019-01-05 00:40:54 UTC https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/317551620 romanari000 https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/317563809 Later on in the day Kareem encounters his friends talking about why black people are complaining so much. He doesn' t understand. Kareem becomes very frustrated with him and makes a very solid point and he helps change his mind about his own opinion. "Yet I could tell by looking at his face that not only hadn' t changed his mind, but by angering him I might have hardened his opinion." Page 55]]> 2019-01-05 07:20:50 UTC https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/317563809 romanari000 https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/317563995 Kareem' s normal day would consist of waking up early, going to school, an exhausting basketball practice until five o' clock, go home, do homework, zone out in front of the TV, and go to bed. Despite having a busy day every week, Kareem could look forward to the weekend, where he would hang out with his closest friend Norbert in his room. They would play chess, and talk about their future. "I was going to be an architect and create futuristic buildings like the ones we saw on the TV on The Jetsons." Page 60 ]]> 2019-01-05 07:28:44 UTC https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/317563995 romanari000 https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/322428063 Kareem met one of the greatest players to ever to play basketball, and he knows about him. He also admires his legs. According to page 77, "You've got good legs.]]> 2019-01-19 20:46:57 UTC https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/322428063 romanari000 https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/322428908 While school was out for the year, Kareem spent time playing basketball in the city. The courts he played on were asphalt, and one wrong move could lead to loss of skin and blood. Games were intense and there were no referee's so no fouls or violations. According to page 91, " We had no referees, so no fouls and other violations were called by the players. ]]> 2019-01-19 20:58:47 UTC https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/322428908 romanari000 https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/322429279 Going into his junior year wasn't a good start. He wasn't thinking of winning championships, or fans yelling his name. According to page 95, "On September 15, 1963, about a week after class started, whatever hope Dr. King's "I Have A Dream" speech in front of two hundred thousand people at the Lincoln Memorial had given me and other black Americans eighteen days earlier kicked aside by the bombing of the sixteenth street baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama, which killed four black girls just as they were preparing for a sermon. ]]> 2019-01-19 21:03:53 UTC https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/322429279 romanari000 https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/322430189 During that year Kareem did not feel safe around white people, he stayed among black people. He also started to become more interested in politics, because he knew there was injustice. According to page 97, "That year I stayed mostly around Harlem, among other black people." ]]> 2019-01-19 21:17:08 UTC https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/322430189 romanari000 https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/322432112 Since Catholic High School was one of the best schools in basketball, they were only up six at halftime and coach was furious. Even says something very disgusting of him. According to page 101, "You're acting like a n-word!" This made traumatized Kareem. ]]> 2019-01-19 21:45:25 UTC https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/322432112 romanari000 https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/322436953 After the incident at halftime. Kareem didn't know if he wanted to return to the team. He later on told his parents and they were furious. According to page 104, "  Im done," I told them. "I can't go back to Power." ]]> 2019-01-19 23:17:10 UTC https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/322436953 romanari000 https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/322861611 As much as Kareem wanted to transfer, his parents didn't feel the same way. They didn't want anything to get in the way of Kareem going to college. According to page 105, "My parents were sympathetic to my feelings, but they didn't want anything to get in the way of my going to college as soon as possible." ]]> 2019-01-22 07:29:46 UTC https://padlet.com/romanari000/rp8mx1yhk5ue/wish/322861611