In sociology, agency is an individual’s capacity to act independently and make their own choices. It’s their ability to think critically about decisions that shape their experiences and act on them.
For example, when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was a 20-year-old sophomore at UCLA, he decided to support Muhammad Ali’s decision to not serve in the military during the Vietnam War, despite the media shunning Ali. His Bruins’ basketball coach, John Wooden, also criticized him.
In 1967, Abdul-Jabbar attended the Cleveland Summit with high-profile Black athletes as they, essentially, put Ali on trial to determine if they were going to support his decision.
The council voted to support Ali, and Abdul-Jabbar was proud to be a part of the fight against social injustice.
But his coach and mentor, Wooden, didn’t like Ali and his decisions.
In Abdul-Jabbar’s memoir, Becoming Kareem, he said that every time the boxer was brought up, Wooden had critical comments.
“While at UCLA, Coach and I never had an extended conversation about Ali, but he would drop comments critical of the boxer now and then. He knew that Ali and I were friends, so his remarks were always in passing. ‘First he’s Cassius Clay, then he’s Muhammad Ali. Hmph.’ ‘It’s a privilege, not an obligation, to fight for your country.’ ‘Can’t he see he’s hurting the country?’” (Pg. 223)
This story illustrates agency because Abdul-Jabbar didn’t let an authority figure (his coach) and a social institution (the media) influence his decisions.
He acted with his own free will when he made his support for Ali public and did what he believed was right for him, his community, and society.
His coach’s comments didn’t alter his beliefs and neither did the media’s false narratives.
This was Abdul-Jabbar’s first mainstream demonstration of activism.
He continued to speak his mind and stood up for what he believed was right throughout his life, regardless of the pressure and backlash.
He had agency and practiced his free will.
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