On the Shoulders of Giants My Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance PDF
Preview On the Shoulders of Giants My Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance
Also by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar BROTHERS IN ARMS A SEASON ON THE RESERVATION BLACK PROFILES IN COURAGE KAREEM GIANT STEPS SIMON & SCHUSTER Rockefeller Center 1230 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 Copyright © 2007 by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. SIMON & SCHUSTER and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc. Designed by Karolina Harris Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available. ISBN-13: 978-1-4165-4991-8 ISBN-10: 1-4165-4991-9 JACKET PHOTOGRAPHS: Front cover, left side sliver (Striver’s row): © Underwood & Underwood/CORBIS Front cover, right side sliver (Apollo): © AP/Wide World Photos Back cover, lower left (Mamie Smith & Jazzhounds): © Frank Driggs Collection Back cover, lower right (Fats Waller): © Photo by Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Front cover, center (Kareem in suit): © Frank Veronsky Front cover, right side (Avedon photo of young Kareem): Photo by Richard Avedon, © 1963 The Richard Avedon Foundation Front cover, lower right (Savoy): AP/Wide World Photos Strange Fruit written by Lewis Allen All rights for the world excluding the United States controlled by Piedmont Music Company. Strange Fruit by Lewis Allen Copyright © 1939 (Renewed) by Music Sales Corporation (ASCAP) International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted by Permission. “Still I Rise,” copyright © 1978 by Maya Angelou, from AND STILL I RISE by Maya Angelou. Used by permission of Random House, Inc. Copyrights held by Amistad Research Center, Tulane University Administered by Thompson and Thompson, Brooklyn, NY20 “Harlem (2)”, “Dinner Guest: Me”, from THE COLLECTED POEMS OF LANGSTON HUGHES by Langston Hughes, copyright © 1994 by The Estate of Langston Hughes. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc. Visit us on the World Wide Web: http://www.SimonSays.com This book is dedicated to those who had the courage and resolve to participate in the great migration of black people to the cities of North America. The oppressive and often brutal atmosphere of the southern United States and the Caribbean basin motivated these brave Americans to find a place in the world where they could thrive. The promise of America’s founding fathers—to allow people to enjoy “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”—was profoundly challenged by their ambition. Their presence determined whether or not the goals of the founding fathers would ever apply to all Americans. Starting in the 1920s, blacks brought their lives and hopes to the cities of America’s northern tier in their quest to achieve the American dream. It is to these pioneers that this book is dedicated. Their sacrifices have borne fruit. All black Americans owe them in so many ways; and our nation would have been so much less without them. Their spirit marches on. KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR To my wife, Loretta, a brilliant writer and teacher, whose insights and suggestions make me a better writer. And to my children, Max and Harper, who made me want to write this book with the hope that it would provide more shoulders to stand on so they could see farther than I have. RAYMOND OBSTFELD Contents Foreword by Quincy Jones Introduction: Our Future or Our Fate “Some Technicolor Bazaar”: How Harlem Became the Center of the Universe “Mad Medley”: How Harlem Influenced My Life “Master Intellects and Creative Giants”: The “Talented Tenth” Paint the World Black “The Gifts That My Ancestors Gave”: How Harlem Writers Influenced My Life “Fairness Creeps out of the Soul”: Basketball Comes to Harlem “Hoping Against Hope”: How the Rens Basketball Team Influenced My Life “Musical Fireworks”: Jazz Lights Up the Heavens of Harlem “Everything Was Mostly Fun”: How Jazz Influenced My Life Photo Credits Bibliography Acknowledgments Index Foreword: C’mon, Get Happy By Quincy Jones Most people get it wrong. History isn’t about showcasing the differences between us and those who lived before us so that we can feel superior; it’s about revealing the similarities so we can feel gratitude and humility. Look around. See that guy with the ear-buds and iPod jogging by? See that woman driving next to you, her head bobbing to the radio? How about those children on the playground gleefully dancing to the CD their teacher is playing on the boom box? What they have in common with the generations of people who came before them—before there were iPods, or radios, or CDs—is a passion for music. Russian writer Leo Tolstoy (War and Peace) said, “Music is the shorthand of emotion.” I’d go Leo one better and say, “Music is the shortcut to happiness.” A recent poll of Americans about happiness asked what actions they took when trying to improve their mood. In other words, what did they do to get happier? Most said they sought the company of family and friends. But surprisingly, nearly as many said they played music in order to cheer up. In third place was prayer or some form of communication with God. From this we can see that people rely on music for more than just background wallpaper, it is a source of happiness—perhaps even spiritual fulfillment. This happiness isn’t the result of eardrum-busting volume or finger-snapping beats; it’s the articulation of emotions that express clearly what a person is feeling but is unable to put into words. Having those emotions expressed is liberating for a person and therefore makes him or her happier. That desire to be able to express our feelings, and the sense of fulfillment we feel when a song helps us do that, is what we share with the cave-dwellers who pounded on animal hides and danced around a fire, with the bejeweled audiences listening to the swelling sounds of a symphony, and the kid on the stoop improvising a little dance as he listens to the latest tune
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