Kareem & the Harlem Renaissance
Posted by Flea on March 15, 2007, 9:00 p.m. ET

ok.......go lakers..........beat denver tonight beat them crush them
outsmart them and befuddle them

now, something great happened in lakersland (sister country to lapland)

kareem abdul jabbar has released a new book 'standing on the
shoulders of giants'
i just finished reading it and it was an outstanding experience
i learned so much great stuff
and it made me so happy
because it happens to be written about my favorite things,
literature, music, and sports.....
and so many important gaps were filled in for me
it was fun as hell to read
and i am a better person for it

the book is about the harlem renaissance
which was a bold outburst of human creativity in the african american
community that took place in harlem in the 20's and 30's
that laid the foundation for the finest examples of african american
art that exist today
it is an unbelievable time, and a complex time, and a shining moment
for humanity
which kareem has laid out in a way that the pedestrian reader like
myself can understand......
beyond being inspired about all the great art that happened and the
stories of the artists
i learned about the depth and complexities of the movement itself
and what the heat was under the pressure cooker that bought about
this beautiful explosion
though, clearly, this book is about the african american experience
in the united states
it is a story that is an inspiration to all of us.........
the tension and release of humanity
how certain people are able to turn suffering and pain into something
beautiful that uplifts us all
as george clinton said "if there weren't any humps there wouldn't be
any getting over"

kareem is just so cool for staying focused and writing history books
about exciting, monumental, and poignant things
about people who rose up to stunning heights to make history and
create the most beautiful parts of our culture when the odds were
really stacked against them
about people who accomplished complete magic is the face of a
powerful and cunning opposition that was to committed to keeping them
down
and how it all affected him on a deeply personal level, and that is
something we can all relate to

i also, like many of i am sure, could relate to kareem's personal
story, how he felt like an outcast at high school and he found solace
on the basketball court where he could just let go of the world and
do his thing
for me, i also felt like and outcast at school, for different
reasons, but music gave me that place to let go of my
uncomfortableness, a sense of community, and to just be in the
moment and do my thing
for me that letting go is akin to a spiritual practice, something
that puts you completely in the moment, where you do your best to be
in touch with your highest self

even i, as a skinny little white boy, have been affected on a deeply
personal level by the harlem renaissance
as the music that was created at that time
is a music that is so sophisticated, so emotionally and spiritually
profound, and so straight up viscerally ROCKING that it has given me
something to aim for in my life
not to mention countless hours of pleasure, and a soothing of my soul
the jazz music that grew out of that time is the great american art form
and that music soars to the lofty heights of human achievement that i
can only hope to reach one day
as i say, something to aim for

the most exciting part of the book for me was to read about the
literary and activist heros of the time
w.e.b. dubois, who i knew practically nothing about
was an incredible guy, who worked tirelessly to, teach america that
black people were the equal of white people
a simple truth that white america did not want to know about, and he
never sacrificed his integrity while doing it
he wrote books, published magazines, all to showcase the intellectual
part of the african american community
thinking that this would surely make it clear that black people were
the equal of white....an uphill struggle for sure
this guy was a real dynamic character...in his 90's he was still
totally rocking and the u.s. government came down on him because of
his political views
and denied him a passport to go to ghana to do some work there, so he
became citizen in ghana and lived his final days there! never gave in
on his beliefs! in his 90's! cool dude!
after learning about him i am excited to go on out and get his books
and read the magazine he published 'the crisis'
a great part of this book is that kareem was not afraid to show the
faults of the artists of the time also
like the aforementioned w.e.b. dubois (and many of the other black
intellectuals of the time) dismissing jazz music because he said it
did not promote the intellectual image of black people that he wanted
to promote
and putting down zora neale hurston, who is an unbelievably great
writer, because he thought she was lampooning black southern black
people
which was not the case at all
i personally love zora neal hurston and that part made me sad to
learn about because though she never sacrificed her art, the negative
criticism hurt her deeply
he also even wrote about some questionable parts of zora's
history............................................................complex characters one and all!

kareem's book is great
there were only two things that i did not agree with
one is that kareem said that miles davis was the touchstone at the
center of the be bop jazz movement
now i love miles davis like crazy, and he changed the face of jazz 3
times and if i was stranded on a desert island 'kind of blue' is the
record i would want with me
however, charlie parker is the one and only dgr center of be bop, of
this there is no question, and charlie parker is arguably the
virtuoso musician of the century.......
the other is that at one point in the book kareem speaks about the
great writers of the harlem renaissance
and says that his own accomplishments on the basketball court did
nothing to change the world and that they pale in comparison to what
these writers/activists/ thinkers did...
and with that i disagree............ kareem's accomplishments on the
basketball court have been a deep and long lasting inspiration to
untold thousands of people
his greatness at what he did and the dignity with which he has always
carried himself has put as much good energy into the world as anyone
basketball is as beautiful as literature

in this time of our popular culture
we are always hearing our celebrities going on about me me me me
a never ending soap opera of the power and grandiosity of their fame
and their personal lives
and we hear them being lauded for their ability to work the system to
make money............
and here we have kareem, one our most important sports figures
who, since i was aware of who he was, have been told by the media
that he is too aloof, too self involved
that he is unfriendly and selfish with the media
because he does not glad hand like a politician, give snappy little
sound bites, and pose by a turkey each christmas time....
the truth is....
he is not wallowing in his fame
he is the one of the most giving people
he is the one who spends his time and energy focused on giving us
something much more profound
something that will stand the test of time as a document of the
greatness human beings are are capable of
and give kids a sense of self