Becoming Kareem: Growing Up On and Off the Court

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses racial discrimination.

In his memoir, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar reveals how he drew on myriad influences to understand his racial identity and embrace his individuality. As he grew into his own unique identity, he developed a sense of pride in his heritage, converted to Islam, and adopted a Muslim name.

Through his personal story, Abdul-Jabbar illuminates the challenges of navigating racial identity as well as his journey toward proudly embracing his identity as a Black American. Growing up in a diverse neighborhood in New York, he was exposed to the richness of his heritage as well as to the harsh realities of racial discrimination. As a young boy, his former best friend (who was white) turned on him and publicly mocked Abdul-Jabbar’s race, which scarred Abdul-Jabbar and made him mistrustful of white people. As a high schooler, Abdul-Jabbar was very invested in the civil rights movement, but he saw that his white classmates and teachers were openly hostile to the movement or nonchalant about it at best. These experiences frustrated him and planted the seeds for his activism, since he wanted to do his part to change these racist attitudes.