Karim Abdullah and Phillip Hill
Recorded
May 18, 2023
Archived
May 18, 2023
49:17 minutes
0:00 / 0:00
Id:
ddc002606
Description
Karim Abdullah (70) speaks with friend and colleague Phillip Hill (59) about his life growing up in Memphis and his family's history. Karim discusses the independent Black community of Mound Bayou, his experience as a student in a segregated school, and his time studying law while incarcerated.Subject Log / Time Code
Karim (K) remembers his 5th grade teacher Ms. Gaston and her class’s high IQ scores.
K explains that his class remained together throughout high school and were considered a “test tube class.”
K recalls his father explaining to him that they were descendants of the Geechee people.
K speaks about his family members who were slaves on Jefferson Davis’s plantation and who later moved to Mound Bayou— an independent Black community in Mississippi.
K discusses his own trip to Mound Bayou and meeting the mayor.
K talks about the Black Invaders, a Memphis offshoot of the Black Panthers, and discusses MLK’s visit to Memphis.
K shares he had to study law “out of necessity” after being wrongfully charged and incarcerated for 5 years.
K speaks about becoming a Muslim and learning about the Qur'an at a young age.
K explains how he continued to attend a segregated, all-Black school years after the Memphis 13 initiated integration in the city.
K recalls being a part of the first football game against an all-white school.
Participants
- Karim Abdullah
- Phillip Hill