📍Dyckman Houses, Inwood, Manhattan, New York, NY 10034, USA
1950 – 1965“Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. in Harlem in April 1947, the only child of Cora, a department-store price checker, and Ferdinand Sr., a transit police officer who had studied trombone at the Juilliard School and loved jazz. In 1950 the family moved to the Dyckman Houses, a new public housing project in Inwood, at the northern tip of Manhattan, which he later described as a step up: a clean, integrated, close-knit community where families from many backgrounds lived side by side, near the parks and river. He was a quiet, studious boy who loved books and his father's jazz records, and he was already unusually tall. His Catholic parents sent him to parochial schools, and at Power Memorial Academy, under coach Jack Donohue, he became the most famous high school player in America, leading the team to 71 straight wins and three city championships. He was shy and reserved, and he faced racism even in New York; in the summer of 1964, working in a journalism programme for Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited, he witnessed the Harlem riots, and he began to think deeply about civil rights and Black history. In 1965 he went to UCLA, where he won three national championships, and he later converted to Islam and changed his name. In the NBA he won six championships and became the league's all-time leading scorer, a record he held for nearly four decades. He has written widely about history and race, and he has spoken with affection about growing up in the Dyckman Houses.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
📍 Street view today