African Americans contributed to American history by not giving up when they were told no and achieving their goals. In the month of February, African Americans get the chance to be celebrated for all their accomplishments and achievements. On April 16th, two men were born that helped contribute to the African American history, basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and comedian/actor Martin Lawrence.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a famous basketball player. He was born on April 16th, 1947 in New York City. His parents, Lewis Sr Alcindor and Cora Alcindor, first named him Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor but he later changed it to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. All his life he was tall; when Kareem was born he was 22 inches. Kareem did not have any siblings. Growing up he was Catholic but he later converted to muslim. That was when he changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. When he got older, Kareem wanted to join the military but he was told that he was too tall. Kareem grew up like any other African American child.…show more content… He started out going to St. Jude’s Elementary school where he then changed and started to attend parochial type of schools. He later transferred in the fourth grade to Holy Providence Boarding Schools. On scholarship, Kareem attended Power Memorial High School. While he was there he joined the basketball team and set the record for most points scored and most rebounds by a high school player. He also led his team to win two championships. After high school Kareem was recruited to play at the University California, Los Angeles. While he was there he aided his team to win three national titles. During his college career he was named college player for the year twice, in 1967 and in
