Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar remembers jazz great Louis Armstrong traveling the world as a goodwill ambassador for the U.S. State Department.
Decades later, Abdul-Jabbar will do something similar.
Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appointed Abdul-Jabbar a cultural ambassador on behalf of the department. In the role, he will travel the world and talk "with young people on the importance of education, social and racial tolerance, cultural understanding, and using sports as a means of empowerment," according to the State Department.
His first assignment begins next week in Brazil.
"I'm looking forward to it," Abdul-Jabbar said. "I think it's a great opportunity. I remember when I was a kid and Louis Armstrong got to do somewhat the same thing for President Kennedy. It was a big deal then. Following in his footsteps, one of my heroes, really makes me feel good and I hope I can go out there and do a good job."
The NBA and WNBA have built a relationship with the State Department's Sports Envoy program. Since 2004, more than 40 current and former players, coaches and executives have visited 20 countries.
Abdul-Jabbar met first met Secretary Clinton and President Clinton at a White House jazz event in 1996, and he saw Secretary Clinton in Dubai two years ago.
"She has done a great job and it will be nice working in a department she is part of," Abdul-Jabbar said.
He was also honored by President Obama in June with Lincold Medal for his commitment to education and equality.
It is a busy time for Abdul-Jabbar, who has a children's book due out at end of the month on African-American inventors titled What Color is My World?
"It's certainly long overdue," he said. "All Americans need to know what black Americans have contributed to American life. The earlier they know that the better.
"When I was in grade school, all the books that dealt with black Americans just dealt with the issues of slavery and civil rights. There's so much more to the story. To present the full picture, you're going to have to have books like mine."
Two years ago, Abdul-Jabbar announced he had a rare, but treatable form of leukemia, chronic myeloid leukemia, which affects about 5,150 Americans a year, the American Cancer Society reports.
The prognosis is usually good because of one of the few real breakthroughs in cancer research — Gleevec, a pill approved for use in this country in 2001 that has transformed having this condition from being a death sentence into something manageable to live with. Before Gleevec less than 40% of patients survived. Today about 95% do, according to the American Cancer Society.
"I am doing very well," Abdul-Jabbar said. "I hope to continue doing what I am doing. Being able to manage my disease has enabled me to live my life and do all the things that are important to me."
Posted By: Richard Kigel
Wednesday, January 18th 2012 at 8:06PM
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