Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Discusses Athletes Speaking on Social Issues on 'The Arena'
Basketball Hall of Famer, activist and writer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar delivered a monologue on TNT's The Arena Tuesday praising professional and amateur athletes who have spoken out for social justice.
Abdul-Jabbar referenced athletes such as United States women's soccer captain Megan Rapinoe, former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and former United States men's sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos in his remarks.
The six-time NBA champion has been fighting for social justice since the 1960s.
Per Johnny Smith of The Undefeated, Abdul-Jabbar wrote for the Harlem Youth Action Project newspaper in the summer of 1964 as a 17-year-old. Four years later, the best collegiate men's basketball player in perhaps the game's history sat out the 1968 Olympics. He discussed why in his book, Coach Wooden and Me, per OlympicTalk, with an excerpt below:
"But the idea of going to Mexico to have fun seemed so selfish in light of the racial violence that was facing the country. The previous summer had seen two major riots, one in Newark that had lasted five days, and one in Detroit that had lasted eight days. And on April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., had been assassinated. White America seemed ready to do anything necessary to stop the progress of civil rights, and I thought that going to Mexico would seem like I was either fleeing the issue or more interested in my career than in justice."
Abdul-Jabbar's writing and activism have continued over the decades, to the point where former President Barack Obama recognized his efforts with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.
Numerous athletes have protested for social justice in recent years and most notably in 2020 after the police killings of George Floyd and other Black men and women.
