We All Want to Change the World: My Journey Through Social Justice Movements from the 1960s to Today

Basketball legend and activist Abdul-Jabbar (On the Shoulders of Giants) provides an inspiring survey of the protest movements of the 1960s and ’70s. Rejecting the notion that protests are “relics,” Abdul-Jabbar shows how protesting has been continuously important since that era and draws parallels between past and present by also spotlighting later, less studied movements and protests like the 1997 Million Woman March, which “encouraged Black women to seek self-fulfillment.” The book is best when focused on Abdul-Jabbar’s own vivid reminisces. These include the two events that kick-started his political awakening in 1964—“meeting Dr. King in person and being inadvertently caught up in the Harlem riot”—and his participation in the 1967 Cleveland Summit, “a gathering of mostly Black athletes... tasked with choosing whether to support Muhammad Ali’s defiance of the draft,” which he calls a “defining experience.” His humor, even in the face of death threats (“I’ve become an all-you-can-hate buffet”), and honesty, including about when his advocacy fell short (“I was... a passive sexist accepting the inequality of women as inevitable”), are refreshing. Throughout, Abul-Jabbar makes a persuasive case for protest’s long-term efficacy, even when change is not immediate (“To protest is to play the long game”). The result is a powerful exhortation to take to the streets. (May)