Former all-time leading scorer with the National Basketball Association and Trinidad & Tobago native Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was awarded the Lincoln Medal by Attorney General Eric Holder.
He is a Hall of Fame inductee and one of the most accomplished basketball players in U.S. history.
“I can do more than shoot a ball through a hoop; my greatest asset is my mind,” the legendary ball player said. In addition, he is a committed advocate for teaching history through social studies education.
Recently, the former athlete teamed with Follett Corporation to distribute his teaching materials – books and films — to their global clientele. Renowned for distributing PK-12 classroom materials and library resources in the U.S. and 148 other countries Follett assisted Abdul-Jabbar to introduce materials that focus on forgotten heroes who impacted American history. The event took place at the National Council of Social Studies (NCSS) conference in Washington, D.C.
There, Abdul-Jabbar provided his teaching resource kit from the film “On the Shoulders of Giants.” The film explores the Harlem Renaissance and its cultural and social significance through the lives of people in literature, music and sports who struggled against social injustice and racial intolerance and against all odds emerged victorious. An acclaimed New York Times best-selling author, Abdul-Jabbar has written seven books.
Since retiring from basketball, he has been busy writing books, making films, and speaking around the world about how different cultures can learn from one another. He said he is dedicated to bringing history and social studies to children across the globe, using basketball as the language that unites them.
His latest book is his first children’s book entitled “What Color is My World: How African American Inventors Changed the Way We Live” is set to be released in January 2012.
