Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to give Q&A with Wooster community

Allie Deyhle
Staff Writer

On Tuesday, Sept. 19 at 7:30 p.m. in the Scot Center’s Timken Gymnasium, renowned NBA star and speaker on various social issues, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, will be addressing The College of Wooster at the Annual Mortensen Lecture.

The community-wide conversation with Abdul-Jabbar will be guided by selected questions submitted by students under the hashtag #WOOasks, and moderated by both students and teachers. Questions about his social influence and especially his book “Writings on the Wall — Searching for a New Equality Beyond Black and White” will dominate the discussion. The book details his life not only as a man in the spotlight, but also as someone with experience with intersectional identities as a person of color and a Muslim. He provides authentic guidance in an effort to mend our country’s many inequalities.

While first-year students will be receiving tickets from their first-year seminar classes, other students and staff can obtain a limited number of tickets from The Wilson Bookstore. Tickets will likely sell out quickly, due to Abdul-Jabbar’s national presence as a key political and cultural commentator. Abdul-Jabbar is a nationally recognized -speaker and contributer to The Washington Post, Time Magazine and The Hollywood Reporter. He is also a New York Times best-selling author. Abdul- Jabbar’s transcendence of the stereotype of “just a jock” and use of his national platform set an important example for how celebrities and athletes should utilize their platforms to pioneer change.

As many of us are politically active and/or young voters, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s significance includes influence on the political platform through his national spotlight. In light of the 2016 presidential election and America’s deeply polarized political parties, the famed athlete and commentator crafted his best selling book “Writings on the Wall.” All the more significant was Abdul- Jabbar’s appointment as a U.S cultural ambassador by former Secretary of State and Presidential Nominee Hillary Clinton, and his acceptance of the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Former President Barack Obama. Another impressive role he has assumed is the chairman for a nonprofit, The Skyhook Foundation, which, according to their website, seeks to bring “educational opportunities into under-served communities through innovative literacy programs.” If Abdul-Jabbar’s 38,387 points scored over a 20 year career in the NBA are not enough motivation to come see him speak, then surely his national influence is.

Abdul-Jabbar will also be available for book signings in Wilson’s Governance Room of the Scot Center fol