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Either because I was an athlete or because I was black - probably both - there seemed to be a clear assumption that I wouldn't be up to the work.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Age: 77
Born: 1947
Born: April 16
Actor
Author
Basketball Coach
Basketball Player
Film Producer
Screenwriter
Television Actor
New York City
New York
Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor
Jr.
Lew Alcindor
Clear
Black
Assumption
Work
Athlete
Seemed
Basketball
Wouldn
Probably
Either

More quotes by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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I don't really care who's doing drugs in the NBA as long as the scene isn't adversely affecting my team and teammates. I've known enough drug users-going as far back as grade school and the streets of New York-not to view them as pariahs or lost souls. I've certainly smoked more than my quota of weed.
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I got all A's and was hated for it I spoke correctly and was called a punk.
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For me, the bold jazz of John Coltrane and Miles Davis reflected the bold attitude in African-Americans finding their political identity and voice.
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I was latching on to something that was part of my heritage, because many of the slaves who were brought here were Moslems.
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Justice should be blind especially color-blind and able to fairly deal with the very real need for honest law enforcement.
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My grandfather and my uncle both died from colorectal cancer, my dad almost died from it and I have the gene for it.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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There are a lot of authors in the world, so it's difficult to find a unique niche to present your take on things. That is always a challenge for any author.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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The '80s made up for all the abuse I took during the '70s. I outlived all my critics. By the time I retired, everybody saw me as a venerable institution. Things do change.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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Yoga is somewhat hard to quantify in terms of benefits because you see them in all the injuries you don't get.
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I have to say I have an incredible musical education because of my father.
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Reporters used to ask me the same inane questions year-in and year-out, city-to-city, and it would drive me crazy.
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I think a lot of people, if they get the opportunity to do some acting, they think, 'I might be a star.'
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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We can learn from mistakes of others, whether they're kings or our parents. When we do learn those lessons, we're better equipped to make our own dreams come true.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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The constant expansion has diluted the talent. Other than that, it's still the same game.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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I would suggest that teachers show their students concrete examples of the negative effects of the actions that gangsta rappers glorify.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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If they took the idea that they could escape poverty through education, I think it would make a more basic and long-lasting change in the way things happen. What we need are positive, realistic goals and the willingness to work. Hard work and practical goals.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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Good thoughts are no better than good dreams, unless they are executed.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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I hope to be involved in a successful movie script.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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But all was not sunshine and Marvin Gaye songs. [UCLA] also recruited black students as part of a High Potential Program that was meant to bring diversity to the campus. Two of the students that were part of that program were Alprentice Bunchy Carter and John Huggins, Jr., both members of the Black Panther Party's Southern California Chapter.
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Each story, novel, poem and play presents a vision of the world that illuminates the dark cave of life we stumble through. We can see better where we're going, what sudden drop to avoid, where the cool water is running.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar