Athletes Giving Back: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
 Throughout his illustrious career, Kareem has devoted countless hours to numerous charities. For over a decade, he has been a national spokesperson for Athletes and Entertainers For Kids with supermodel Kathy Ireland and former NFL great Howie Long. They work together to brighten the lives of disadvantaged youth in Southern California. A.E.F.K. established "Kareem's Kids" in 1989 with the goal of motivating youth to stay in school and out of gangs. The program stresses self-esteem as well as the importance of school and reading, personal hygiene, safety and saying no to gangs and drugs. Kareem has also worked with RP International, various literacy groups and C.A.R.E.
Jabbar traveled to Israel a year ago this past July to help promote the 1997 Adidas Streetball Challenge, which was sponsored locally by the Jerusalem Municipality. Needless to say, the NBA great was given a hero's welcome by mobs of adoring fans everywhere he went. Jabbar has also conducted clinics and made personal appearances in Turkey, Australia, Taiwan, Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia and Trinidad & Tobago.
Regarding the motivations and objectives driving his various philanthropic projects, Kareem focuses on the potential of the world's youth:
"Children need to live a balanced life. They should be involved in a physical sport to balance them mentally, physically and spiritually. Children also need to work together to become responsible, as well as to establish leadership skills and to learn to communicate more effectively."
Kareem comments that a "backlog of ignorance in poor America" is responsible for the "glorification of underachievement, an issue that we must go out of our way to address."  Looking to the future, Kareem stresses that "education will be a key for change in every disadvantaged community in this nation, regardless of ethnicity or socio-economic background. When people get a grasp on this and what that's all about, we will see change."
Recently, Kareem has been speaking at colleges and universities across the nation to promote his book BLACK PROFILES IN COURAGE. During the months of March and April, he has spoken at Louisana State University, Clemson University and West Virginia.
"I wanted to emphasize the importance of developing a moral center and character, and the fact that we are all connected to each other in this community and that we should be busy reaffirming our connections, not our differences."
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar www.kareem.com
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