Cultural Ambassador
In January 2012 US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced that Abdul-Jabbar had accepted a position as a cultural ambassador for the United States. During the announcement press conference, Abdul-Jabbar commented on the historical legacy of African-Americans as representatives of US culture: "I remember when Louis Armstrong first did it back for President Kennedy, one of my heroes. So it’s nice to be following in his footsteps."
Read more about this topic: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Famous quotes containing the words cultural and/or ambassador:
“The primary function of myth is to validate an existing social order. Myth enshrines conservative social values, raising tradition on a pedestal. It expresses and confirms, rather than explains or questions, the sources of cultural attitudes and values.... Because myth anchors the present in the past it is a sociological charter for a future society which is an exact replica of the present one.”
—Ann Oakley (b. 1944)
“An ambassador is not simply an agent; he is also a spectacle.”
—Walter Bagehot (1826–1877)