kareem Abdul - Jabar   Giant  Steps

kareem abdul jabar was born in 1947 his parents were living in harlem,new york housing was scarce in new york after world war 2 when his father ferdinand lewis al alcindor got out the army he joined his mother cora in something called rooming .harlem back then was by no means paradise but it wasnt the warzone it is today when he was growing up everyone around him had a job to be on welfare back then was an embarrasment his mother would take him to play in central park with no fear him and his parents moved to the dyckman street projects in the inwood section of manhatten in 1950 it was city-owned middle income housing and although the city housing authority offered us another apartment on the lower east side his mother waited a year and a half while the projects were being built so they could be in there first he loved summers in the city st.judes ran a day camp and each year he would swim and playsoftball and romp around with his friends the summer after third grade he won the award for best athlete he could run faster than anyone his age and swim as well and hit a softball farther but he had gotten to nasty and had too much street in hisself he went to powere memorial academy an all-boys school run by brothers  a stolid brick building it had once been a hospital but now looked more like a b-movie prison or a munitions factory his classroom use to be a morgue the first day he got there sharp as he could get in his three suit his homeroom teacher was mr. kuhnert a genuinely caring adult who if you were polite and respectful toward him could be the nicest man in the world at power they took their catholicism seriously he went to he went confessionbecause that was you were supposed to do he had been altar boy and had sung in the choir just like his mother had wanted he made the honor roll first semester did his homework asked no questions told no lies tryouts for basketball were held in late october he had come to power with no great reputation notable for being enormous not particularly good when he showe