What is the next step for Nate Bargatze?
Erin Jensen of USA TODAY caught up Nate Bargatze on her new book “Big Dumb Eyes” and What’s Next after stand.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar worked to change the world long before the center of 7 feet 2 inches became one of the biggest players in the NBA of all time, and one of the most frank.
In his 20th book, “We all want to change the world: my journey through the social justice movements from the 1960s to today” ($ 30, now from Crown), the prolific author and the columnist of unique magazine returns to American protest movements – freedom of expression and civil rights to national demonstrations after the murder of George Floyd.
At 78, the NBA renowned temple has seen them all, often from the first hand.
His personal journey actually begins in the turbulent summer 1964 when, as a 17 -year -old high school student, he participated 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 transit cop who loves jazz launched his hand to cover the inspiring chief.
Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. (Abdul-Jabbar changed his name in 1971 after converting to Islam) felt in his place among professional journalists, “serious men in serious costume”.
“I showed my press references to strong men at the door and I walked, fearing that at any time, someone grabbed me by the arm and dragged me, shouting:” Who is this punk kid pretending to be a journalist? ” “, Writes Abdul-Jabbar. “I was at least one foot more than everyone in this room, so I would be easy to find.”
Abdul-Jabbar posted a photo of the meeting on his Instagram page for Martin Luther King Day. He has never forgotten King’s eloquent answer to his standard press conference question, even if he was fully “focused on not going through” while his smiling hero directed his response to him.
Abdul-Jabbar quotes the meeting as the beginning of his activism of civil rights, leaving the meeting with “a renewed allegiance to Dr. King’s optimism on the innate goodness of humanity”, he writes.
This feeling did not last long. In July, he made a spontaneous decision to cover a Protestant Harlem rally against the death of a fifteen-year-old African-American, James Powell, by a white police officer in service. When the student journalist came out of the metro, “the city was already in chaos.”
“I had never experienced a riot before, and I was terrified,” wrote Abdul-Jabbar. “I did what I did better: I ran as fast as I could move away from the danger. I pushed myself to know that I was a fairly large target and that I did not know if a ball struck me came from a riot or a cop.”
The 1964 Harlem riot, of which he witnessed a party, left him filled with rage and confusion on the effectiveness of the king’s message.
Abdul-Jabbar has never stopped looking for answers or using his superstar status to protest against injustice. As a rising star at the UCLA in 1967, he was personally invited by the NFL Browns football star Jim Brown, to participate in the Cleveland summit. Brown has gathered eminent African-American voices, mainly athletes star, to discuss and finally support the refusal of the Boxing Champion Muhammad Ali, a month earlier, to enter the draft of the Vietnam War.
The photo of the press conference shows him at the table with his personal hero, the legend of the Celtics of Boston, Bill Russell, Ali and Brown. Even if one of the serious men carrying a serious costume, Abdul-Jabbar, the youngest guest, writes that he “never felt more out of my depth”.
“But I had been chosen to join the team, and there was no way to give it less than my everything,” he wrote.
Abdul-Jabbar has never stopped giving its best or believing in the importance of protests. For criticism, he often quotes the national dissent roots, starting with the Boston Tea Party of 1773, which is “celebrated in the classroom manuals as a political demonstration that has helped establish the United States”.
The author still wonders if his work, or his new book, will make a notable difference in the arc of history.
“Whether it is or not the question. Rather, the question we are all faced with is” have I at least tried to make this country a better, more human, more compassionate and freer place? “”, Writes Abdul-Jabbar. “I think I did it.”
