A personal account by the basketball star traces his childhood in Harlem and the influence of the Harlem Renaissance on black culture in the United States, featuring interviews with Magic Johnson, Quincy Jones, Spike Lee, and Denzel Washington.

"An autobiography about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and his life growing up in New York, becoming the basketball star he's known to be, and getting involved in the world around him as an activist for social change"--

When eighth-grader Chris's older brother, Jax, is caught betting on the pick-up basketball games that Chris and his friends play, Chris becomes involved in the police investigation.

While twins Ella and Herbie help the handyman Mr. Midal work on their new home, he tells them about such inventors as Granville Woods, Dr. Henry T. Sampson, and James West, giving them a new view of their heritage as African-Americans.

"In On the Shoulders of Giants, indomitable basketball star and bestselling author and historian Kareem Abdul-Jabbar invites the reader on an extraordinarily personal journey back to his birthplace, through one of the greatest political, cultural, literary, and artistic movements in our history, revealing the tremendous impact the Harlem Renaissance had on both American culture and his own life. Beginning with the rise of the Harlem Rens as pioneers...