Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Speak At King Commemoration At UB

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a member of the National Basketball Association Hall of Fame and six-time winner of the NBA's Most Valuable Player Award, will discuss some of the most important and courageous figures in black history during the University at Buffalo's 21st annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration, to be held at 7:30 p.m.. on Thursday, Feb. 20, in the Mainstage theater in the Center for the Arts on the UB North (Amherst) Campus.

Kareem's presentation will feature readings from a book he co-authored on extraordinarily courageous African-American men and women who typify the virtues of integrity, discipline and self-respect.

Among the profiles included in "Black Profiles in Courage," co-authored with Alan Steinberg, are those on Peter Salem, a slave, blacksmith and volunteer soldier who turned the tide at the Battle of Bunker Hill; Harriet Tubman, the most famous conductor of the Underground Railroad who also served as a spy and scout for the Union Army during the Civil War; Rosa Parks, who refused to sit in "the back of the bus" and became a living symbol for the modern Civil Rights movement, and Lewis Latimer, the son of slaves whose scientific work was integral to the achievements of Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas A. Edison.

Kareem is involved in a variety of activities, including "Kareem's Kids,'! aimed at motivating children to stay in school and understand the value of higher education.

Sponsored by UB, the annual commemoration is free of charge, but tickets must be reserved by calling 645-ARTS.

Contributing sponsors are WKBW Newschannel 7, the Amherst Chamber of Commerce, Makin' Copies, the Buffalo Marriott and the Division of Athletics, Sesquicentennial Planning Committee, Undergraduate Student Association, Office of Student Multicultural Affairs, Division of Public Service and Urban Affairs, and the Office of Conferences and Special Events, all at UB.