Black Cop's Kid
An Essay
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Black Cop's Kid
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Narrated by:
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JD Jackson
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Written by:
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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
About this listen
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s deeply personal essay explores racial conflict through the prism of his childhood and the influence of his father, a police officer who walked the beat between two worlds.
Growing up in New York City in the 1950s and 1960s, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar listened to jazz, watched Jackie Robinson at Ebbets Field, and saw a Black pop-culture icon in a TV western. It kick-started Kareem’s interest in a rich history erased by white educators. It also sparked his activism. During these years, as Kareem struggled with racism, visibility, and justice, his father’s presence loomed large with purpose. He was a Black cop weathering a complicated conflict of loyalties during the most tumultuous civil rights upheaval the country had ever been through. Now, at a time when his powerful voice is needed the most, Kareem shares his unique perspective from the front lines of sixty years of social change, not just as an activist, but as a son, an athlete, a writer, and a Black man in America.
©2021 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. (P)2021 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.What the critics say
“Narrator JD Jackson gives listeners a talented portrayal of the preteen Kareem, who doesn't understand his father's friendly persona at work because at home he is quiet and he wants quiet around him.... Listeners hear disappointment and confusion vibrate in every word Jackson delivers. The brevity of this piece would make it difficult for any narrator without Jackson's skills to give listeners a full performance, complete with character portrayals. Jackson's superb presentation succeeds in doing just that.” (AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award winner)
“In Black Cop’s Kid, [Abdul-Jabbar] eloquently explores the contrasts of learning about his father’s experiences as an officer and being a curious Black child during an era of widespread unrest....” (Blavity)