Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: The Khan family reinvigorated me for the fight ahead to defeat Donald Trump

[kpete]

...........
...........I had begun to feel like America was trapped in a nightmarish Alien sequel, with Donald Trump starring as the toothy creature who feeds on America’s insides until bloated with our vital organs, ultimately destroying the host.

Much of my dystopian despair was the result of watching the Republican National Convention. I observed with shock and embarrassment mobs of people rally behind a man who gazes out at America with eyes, as Yeats put it, “as blank and pitiless as the sun.” My anguish wasn’t a left wing-right wing thing or blind loyalty to a particular party. It was a patriotic thing. I liked to believe that these conventions were about groups coming together to create a platform that reflected us striving to be our best selves—our most humane, most “American” selves. We would discuss how we could go forth in the coming four years applying the principles of the U.S. Constitution by choosing a person to champion those principles. Instead, I was standing by watching in HD clarity while reasoned loyalty was being set ablaze by combustive rhetoric, as if it were a witch being burned at the stake.

So when I arrived at the DNC, I worried that this going to be just another exercise in preaching to the choir. The lines had been drawn, the sides already chosen. However, I met so many enthusiastic and hopeful people who were dedicated to bringing about their vision of a diverse and inclusive American society that I couldn’t help but get caught up in their enthusiasm. No one was talking about who we hate, who we should blame, who we should exclude, who we should punish. They were talking about justice, freedom, and opportunity. All of that was well and good, but I couldn’t shake the knowledge that a whole lot of Americans supported the man who contradicted a whole lot of American values.

But all that apprehension fell away as soon as I heard Khizr Khan speak.

Whatever doubts, depression, or disgust I felt before were washed away by Mr. Khan. I realized that Capt. Khan’s sacrifice—as well as the sacrifices made by so many others to protect our Constitution—demanded that we don’t indulge in lazy melancholy or hipster cynicism, but work twice as hard to make sure those sacrifices are not in vain. The day after Mr. Khan’s speech, Trump responded in the typical non-sequitur fashion: “I think I’ve made a lot of sacrifices… I’ve created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs, built great structures. I’ve done, I’ve had tremendous success.”

So, my first time attending the DNC changed me. But the Khan family and other courageous people have rejuvenated and invigorated me for the fight ahead. Because it’s a fight that must be won. No matter the sacrifice.


More:
http://time.com/4435544/kareem-abdul-jabbar-khizr-khan/#_edn7

[LisaM]

1. Ummm....WOW.

I'm really glad he's on our side.

[Princess Turandot]

2. Kareem wrote an earlier essay for Time, which is equally powerful...

It is linked from the OP's article. He ends it with:

One of my favorite poems is “The Second Coming” by W.B. Yeats, in which he describes, in a chillingly obtuse and mystical way, a second coming — not of Christ, but of something much darker and sinister:

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches toward Bethlehem to be born?

When I read the description of the beast, it’s “gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,” I can’t help but think of Trump and his cynical strategy of using misinformation, half-truths and deception in order to gain access to a position that should only be held by those who would be repulsed by that strategy.

Indeed, what rough beast slouches toward Washington to be born?

What Donald Trump and ISIS Have in Common

Thanks for posting.

[stopbush]

3. Wow! I can imagine Trump's response:

"That guy wasn't even at the DNC. It was Michael Jordan. He said so himself!"

[Gothmog]

4. At the DNC, I attended a speech by Congressman John Lewis

Kareem was one of the speakers. My daughter was with me and I asked her if that was Kareem and she said that she could not tell because his back was to her. How many 7 footers are there at a democratic event.

Kareem gave a great presentation. He was also great at the DNC.

[smirkymonkey]

5. K&R

[raven mad]

6. Awesome man. I don't use that word as teen-speak.

I remember his games so well; Alaska didn't have football, but our basketball was to die for! He's one of the most honorable players ever, and his integrity is beyond reproach.

And what I really love is that he's never, ever failed to speak what he feels.