Kareem Abdul Jabbar: My Brother’s Keeper

     AS AN AVIDreader and history buff, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was shocked to pick up a book and stumble upon a chapter about the Buffalo Soldiers. Here was a valiant episode in African-American history about which he knew nothing. “I knew that I had some serious studying to do and the more I learned the more fascinated I became,”says Abdul-Jabbar, also known as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. “That was in 1985, and by the early ’90s, I was going to Wild West shows and buying artifacts.”

     The Buffalo Soldiers, two African-American Calvaryunits established in 1866, were amongst the Army’s most distinguished fighting regiments for 20-plus years. They also explored and mapped vast areas of the Southwest, strung hundreds of miles of telegraph lines, built frontier outposts that bloomed into cities, and protected crews building the railroads. And, notes Abdul-Jabbar, the soldiers earned respect of the Plains Indians they often battled. The basketball legend has amassed a huge collection of Buffalo Soldiers artifacts- including old photos and uniforms- many of which were featured in an exhibit last winter at Harlem’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. “The Buffalo Soldiers played a vital role helping American civilization expand Westward, but too few people know about them,” says Abdul-Jabbar. “School systems need to change the material when students read about American history, so much of which minimizes minority participation.” Abdul’s passion for American history and the proud legacy of black soldiers also lead him to his most recent project, the book Brothers In Arms: The Epic Story of the 761St Tank Battalion, WWll’s Forgotten Heroes. Now as special assistant to the Lakers organization, Kareem often speaks to kids in his free time. He gets their attention with his lanky 7′2″ frame and the fact that he scored 38,387 points in his 20-year career, but then UCLA grad and New York native skips the hoops and lays down the wisdom that “knowledge is power.” “I think young black Americans should understand that this is their country and that’s why I think it’s important for them to understand the contributions of black soldiers in every war this nation has ever fought,”explains Abdul-Jabbar. “A lot of them don’t know how much we’ve sacrificed and bled to make the United States what it is today. If I can bring that home to them, then I’m doing a good job.”