The public intellectual is hardly about the “who,’ but defined by the impact and content of the discussion they catalyze. I don’t see it as an identity, but more of a role that one can embody when it feels authentic to their thoughts and opinions. We as leaders and as a society over-qualify and criticize contributors to public discourse, just as we equally overvalue them. If content consumers spent less time obsessing over the qualification and identity of a self-proclaimed public intellectual and “instead [were] more concerned with the work public intellectuals must do,” they would enjoy and partake in discourse in a much healthier way (Mack August 2012). Because of this overqualification and interpretation of public intellectual as an “identity,” many people who contribute originally to public discourse are often neglected by supposed “intellectual” discussions. For the purpose of this paper, I intend to explore how athletes are commonly left out of these discussions, and how basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar serves as a leader, trailblazer, and inspiration for other athletes interested in using their voice and becoming involved in public discourse.
In 2019, Abdul-Jabbar wrote an article entitled, “The Way Americans Regard Sports Heroes Versus Intellectuals Speaks Volumes.” This article criticizes the superiority complex of conversation deemed “intellectual,” while mainly stating that The US has a problem with fallacy and consumption of untrue or irrelevant media. Abdul-Jabbar continues to explain the value in glorifying poets, historians, and philosophers in the same light as athletes and reality stars in order to develop and enrich public discourse. On the same token, he discusses the dangers of fallacy, and encourages people to remain inclusive and respectful of non-traditional mediums as insightful and intellectual. This article perfectly introduces Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's contribution to the world of public intellectualism and highlights his eclectic mindset about the world.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was born in New York City in 1947 and played 20 extremely successful seasons in the NBA. Many regard him as the best basketball player of all time, but anyone who has played or watched the sport certainly puts him in a “greatest of all time” category. Aside from his on-the-court success—4 championships, 6 MVPs, and 19 all-star appearances—he also has been known to use his voice and writing to spark discussion and share his original ideas on an array of topics including religion, race, sports, medicine and politics. He personally has awarded and recognized for his contributions in his best-selling books, magazine columns (Time), and talk show appearances. These recognitions include being awarded the 2016 Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama, a Double Helix Medal for his contribution to cancer research, and has been nominated for an Emmy as a narrator of the documentary, Black Patriots: Heroes of The Revolution. While his achievements paint a picture of success and respect as an intellectual, many athletes face harsh and even dismissive criticism when using their voice and/or embodying the role of public intellectual.
Abdul-Jabbar's published writing began with fiction after retiring, but he had been speaking about activism and even spearheaded the campaign for black college athletes to boycott the Olympics in 1968 (while he was still in college). He spent his long and successful career speaking his eloquent truths about racism and politics in the United States and after decades of triggering discourse and being disrespected and disregarded by politicians and “intellectuals,” he finally left such critics no choice but to hear and discuss his thoughts with respect. Upon and after retiring, he published other books including Giant Steps, Black Profiles in Courage, A Season on the Reservation, and Brothers in Arms, which were non-fiction texts mostly discussing his autobiography as well as black history. Finally, Kareem has columns in many notable magazine publications including Time Magazine, Jacobin, Huffington Post, The Guardian, The Hollywood Reporter, and more.
While all these examples display how Kareem is a wonderfully multi-talented and faceted individual who seems to excel in the many realms he enters, the evidence of his extensive work is not necessarily proof of his embodiment of public intellectual: the outcome of his work is. Abdul-Jabbar fits the profile of a public intellectual under Professor Mack as well as my own definition that was highlighted earlier, as he has sparked robust and dynamic discussion and discourse with many of his pieces of writing and speech. This is due to his challenging of many ideas that have been relevant for decades as well as some more modern controversial phenomena and his clear and compelling presentation of such ideas.
The first way that Kareem inspired discourse was with his outspoken voice and presence as a college and newly professional athlete about racial justice and issues of white supremacy. While this can be categorized as activism and not necessarily traditional public intellectualism, his leadership was original in not just projecting an existing campaign and message, but sharing his own. This began as he told a story about his decision to leave the protest over the death of James Powell in the Bronx. He explained his feeling as a target by police due to his size and embodiment of a racially-motivated perceived threat, and how he turned around to go home due to being in danger of this misuse of police power. After entering college, he maintained a spotlight due to his talent, but also used his voice unapologetically. The second example of young Abdul-Jabbar (Alcindor at the time) speaking originally was his words on the racial motivation of the NCAA temporarily banning the dunk due to his dominance over his (white) opponents. This sparked discussion far beyond the realm of sports and the discourse would only continue as Kareem continued to navigate his voice and power. Throughout his career, he aligned with other powerful black athletes such as Muhammad Ali, Bill Russel, and Jim Brown. His role as a public intellectual was not just limited to his words, but his actions, and converting to Islam was a perfect example. This transition symbolized his consistent commitment to being himself. While he was inspired by the writings and impact of Malcolm X, he also developed his own ideas about Islam, Black Power, and justice in the United States, while echoing the thoughts of others as well.
More recently Kareem has written some compelling and disruptive work on police brutality protests, George Floyd, anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim hatred and sentiment (especially in politics), and NCAA athletes getting paid, all of which have sparked a great deal of conversation, agreeability, and criticism. His stance on these issues has especially resulted in criticism from the right and right-wing news media. His name is also often used in discussions about athletes’ abilities and responsibilities to speak up about social issues after comments were made such as “shut up and dribble.” Because of the outrageous and polar responses to any social justice movement today, these issues certainly raised critique, but more importantly, they sparked conversation. For example, there are many scholarly, peer-edited articles that use some of Kareem’s work as inspiration for discourse, especially about politics.
Ultimately Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's work challenges social norms with originality and persuasive writing and speech. He challenges political binaries with his articles on political correctness and religious freedom and initiated conversations about paying college athletes almost a decade ago.
Obviously, one cannot deny that Kareem’s impact and voice was initiated through his athletic talents, but his traction and impact in different mediums speak for themselves and have gained traction for much more than the likeness of his name. When people think of him, they think of more than his athletic contributions to the world—which says a lot considering his contributions in basketball were potentially the most significant in history. This feat has and continues to inspire athletes—especially black athletes—in many sports to explore their voices, power, and potential to spark conversation and truly invigorate change.
His impact continues to be a model and portrayal of how athlete’s minds and spirits determine their contributions, even if they are mistakenly valued solely by their physical talents. He should serve as a reminder the most elite and talented athletes bring so much more to the world and the discussion than their bodily strengths (though this should seem obvious it has proven not to be).
To come full circle to Mack’s, “Are Public Intellectuals a thing of the Past,” not only are they a 'thing' of the future, but as we broaden our inclusion and qualification of the intellectual beyond that of the white-washed, heteronormative, Christian, jargon-heavy “intellect,” we will begin to notice that this is a role that anyone can embody with the right combination intention and impact. It takes courage and a little bit of popularity to become a public intellect, as someone's ideas can only be considered “public” if enough people engage and respond with them. However, the intellectual hat can be put on and taken off, and does not necessarily have to maintain a central hold on one’s being or identity. Diverse contributions to public discourse will only enrich discussion and make us all more intelligent (or intellectual) people, as we naturally form our own opinions as someone else shares theirs. As Mack said, “all participants in self-government are duty-bound to prod, poke, and pester the powerful institutions that would shape their lives,” and as citizens/leaders we are duty bound to encourage this poking and prodding.
The problem and threat of closeminded and gatekept intellectualism is homogeneity, lack of progression, and perpetual polarity which can be corrected as we broaden the conversation and allow for people to temporary wear their public intellectual hats. However, with this encouragement of people as potential public intellects, we must also simultaneously encourage the consumption of literature, fact, history, and data, to ensure we are not spreading fallacy or discourse for discourse sake. Divergence and convergence of ideas is the ultimate goal of this communication, as it's “not about whether people are listening, but whether they’re hearing things worth talking about.” This was the theme of Abdul-Jabbar's Guardian article mentioned above and must continue to serve as a thread through the expansion of the public discourse dinner table.
By Kimberly Friedman
9/18/2021
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