February 21, 2018 The Skanner Page 7
A Talkative Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Reflects on
Becoming Himself
Retired NBA player, historian,
activist and author to tour with
one-man stage show this fall
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — Ka-
reem Abdul-Jabbar has been a
best-selling author, civil-rights
activist, actor, historian and one
of the greatest basketball players
who ever lived.
One thing Abdul-Jabbar has
never been — at least not in pub-
lic — is chatty.
“I’m not known for being a
blabbermouth, you know?” the
soft-spoken Abdul-Jabbar con-
cedes with a smile, something else
he was never particularly known
for during his playing days. But,
he adds, still smiling, his public
can expect to see that change —
and soon.
This fall Abdul-Jabbar will em-
bark on a cross-country tour
as part of “Becoming Kareem,”
a stage show in which he’ll dis-
cuss his life, answer audience
questions and talk about the
key mentors he says helped him
achieve his goals. Among them:
civil rights heroes Malcolm X
and Martin Luther King, his leg-
endary college coach and lifelong
friend John Wooden, and fellow
superstar athletes Muhammad
Ali and Wilt Chamberlain.
The tour was inspired by the
2017 best-seller “Becoming Ka-
reem,” a memoir of his years from
childhood to age 24.
Inspirational, poignant, funny
and occasionally heartbreaking,
it recounts the coming of age of a
bright and hardworking but pain-
fully introverted kid, one who
was always the tallest in class.
And although he didn’t realize
it until look-
ing closely at
a class photo
taken in the
third grade,
he was often
the only black
kid in class, a In this Feb. 12 photo, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar poses in his office, in
circumstance Newport Beach, Calif. Abdul-Jabbar has been a best-selling author,
that in later civil-rights activist, actor, historian and one of the greatest basketball
years would players who ever lived. This fall Abdul-Jabbar will embark on a cross-
expose him country tour as part of “Becoming Kareem,” a stage show in which
to repeated he’ll discuss his life, answer audience questions and talk about the
episodes of key mentors in his life he says helped him achieve his goals along
ugly racism, the way.
no matter his
fame or suc-
broadcaster Roy Firestone, a
cess, that would leave deep emo- longtime friend, suggested he
tional scars that sometimes took share those experiences directly
decades to heal.
with live audiences, telling him
So he kept his game face on, his words would not only reso-
both on and off the court, and nate with young people today but
persevered through setbacks and provide a chance for Abdul-Jab-
successes.
bar to clear up some lingering
misconceptions dating to his
playing days. The clipped, seem-
ingly curt answers he often gave
during postgame interviews, for
example, frequently came across
not as shy but as surly, especially
coming from someone who stood
“I did the book because I an intimidatingly tall 7 feet, 2
thought that the process that I inches.
went through could be very use-
“And that was very unfortu-
ful for young people right now,” nate,” Abdul-Jabbar says softly
Abdul-Jabbar told The Associat- now. “I think it kept me from a
ed Press during a wide-ranging head coaching job and commer-
interview this week at the offices cials and stuff because people
of the Skyhook Foundation, the wanted to assume the worst.”
charitable nonprofit he creat-
Not that he hasn’t had a storied
ed several years ago to provide life and career before and after
educational opportunities for basketball.
elementary school children, the
Abdul-Jabbar played on six
same group he targeted his book NBA championship teams, was
for.
After its publication, sports
See KAREEM on page 10
AP PHOTO/MARK J. TERRILL
By JOHN ROGERS
Associated Press
Arts & Entertainment
FILM REVIEW: Chadwick
Boseman Rises to the
Occasion as ‘Black
Panther’
“
I’m not known
for being a blab-
bermouth, you
know?
‘Black Panther’
By Kam Williams
For The Skanner News
C
hadwick Boseman
has already made
quite a career out
of portraying a
variety of prominent
African
Americans,
from football star Floyd
Little (“The Express”),
to baseball great Jack-
ie Robinson (“’42”), to
Godfather of Soul James
Brown (“Get on Up”) to
U.S. Supreme Court Jus-
tice Thurgood Marshall
(“Marshall”). The versa-
tile actor’s efforts have
been appreciated by the
NAACP which has seen
fit to nominate him for
five Image Awards.
Although
Black
Panther is a fictional
character, the role is
ostensibly of no less sig-
nificance than the his-
torical figures Chadwick
has played in the past.
That’s because black
kids have rarely had a
superhero that looks like
them to root for, even in
Africa, where the Lord of
the Jungle, Tarzan, was
white, too.
Consequently, advance
ticket sales for this Afro-
centric origins tale have
been through the roof,
and I’m happy to report
that audiences will not
be disappointed. For, the
film not only features
a dignified protagonist
and a socially-relevant
plotline, but it’s also a
worthy addition to the
Marvel Cinematic Uni-
verse franchise.
The picture was di-
rected by Ryan Coogler
(“Creed”) who made the
most of his $200 million
budget, between visu-
ally-captivating special
effects and an A-list cast
which includes Acade-
my Award-winners For-
est Whitaker (for The
Last King of Scotland)
and Lupita Nyong’o (for
12 Years a Slave), Os-
car-nominee Angela Bas-
sett (for What’s Love Got
to Do with It), as well as
Michael B. Jordan, Daniel
Kaluuya and Sterling K.
Brown.
At the point of depar-
ture, we learn that in an-
cient times the five tribes
of Africa went to war
over vibranium, a mete-
orite which imbues its
holder with superhuman
powers.
Fast-forward
to the present and we
find T’Challa (Boseman)
being summoned home
to the fictional nation
of Wakanda to assume
the reins of power in the
wake of the passing of
his father, King T’Chaka
(John Kani).
Complicating matters
is the fact that a number
of other warriors cov-
et the throne and that
a South African arms
smuggler (Andy Serkis)
is trying to get his hands
on some vibranium. Not
to worry. T’Challa has a
capable CIA agent (Mar-
tin Freeman) and a trio
of loyal females on his
side in his 16 year-old sis-
ter (Letitia Wright), his
ex-girlfriend (Nyong’o)
and a two-fisted body-
guard (Danai Gurira).
What ensues is an
edge of the seat roller
coaster ride every bit
as entertaining as any
“Spider-Man,” “Wonder
Woman” or other super-
hero adventure. Simply
‘Marvel’-ous!
Excellent HHHH
Rated PG-13 for per-
vasive violent action
sequences and a rude
gesture
Running time: 134 min-
utes
Production Studios:
Marvel Studios / Walt
Disney Pictures
Distributor: Walt Disney
Studios Motion Pictures
View movie trailers at
TheSkanner.com