№ 01
“Coates is a worthy successor to Malcolm X and James Baldwin, an original voice.” source
NBA Hall of Famer and author
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a Basketball Hall of Famer who spent his post-playing decades as a working writer. He publishes a regular column and Substack, has written novels and histories, and often points to books that shaped his views on race and history. Picks below come from his Substack.
7
Recommendations
2021
Most recent list
Non-Fiction
Most-recommended
On the record
All Kareem Abdul-Jabbar book recommendations.
№ 02
“I remember comparing Holden Caulfield's experiences with my own. High school was an ordeal.” source
№ 03
“Hawk is intellectual but he's also a tough guy. So there's stuff there that you kind of get into with having those macho moments.” source
№ 04
“This book captures the zeitgeist of the black awakening of the 1960s. By detailing his own transformation from small time crook to big time civil rights leader, he reveals the depths of the effects of historical racism on the country.” source
№ 05
“The sheer audacity of Paine publishing his reasons for America declaring independence from Great Britain is enough of a reason to read what was the biggest bestseller of its time.” source
№ 06
“Zinn catalogues the darker side of our history to reveal a pattern of abuse and exploitation that is contrary to what the country stands for. I don't look at it as an indictment so much as an articulation of our collective conscience so that we can do better.” source
№ 07
“I am more interested in expressing powerful truths with depth and elegance, which I learned from James Baldwin, Alex Haley, Malcolm X, and Ta-Nehisi Coates.” source
Readers with overlapping taste
