Corporate Social Justice, by Jay-Z

by with No Comment CultureFeatured

We look up to our heroes… our athletes, entertainers, those who make it out. Society has deemed us only worthy of certain achievements, so when one of us reaches a certain level… it’s hard to admit, personally or publicly, when that person has messed up, or even worse, compromised their values for personal gain.

Obama was the first Black president. And because he was the first, he can do no wrong. I’m sure you’ve heard this argument before… from the loyal Obama supporter who’s willing do dismiss all reasonable logic when it comes to his presidency… just because he was the first.

Jay-Z is viewed by many in a similar light. He’s a billionaire. The first hip-hop artist to ever reach that status. He set the Blueprint, literally, for millions of innercity youth throughout the country. He’s loved and respected for it, and like Obama, for many, he can do no wrong.

But so exists the Obama supporter and the Jay-Z fan who can also call BS when they see it. If you’re a true fan, you’ve earned the right to criticize your heroes when they do unheroic shit. 

So when Jay-Z announced a Roc Nation partnership with the NFL to co-produce their halftime shows moving forward with a social justice campaign caveat attached to it, many people applauded the move, but just as many scratched their head and asked why. It’s a legitimate question, and I think the answer rests with his new corporate partner, the National Football League.

Let’s be honest, the NFL has blackballed Colin Kaepernick. It’s no longer about kneeling, because it if was Eric Reid and Kenny Stills who continue to kneel, wouldn’t have a job. This is about principal, and the NFL owners have decided to not sign him and hold firm to that position. While Kaepernick is not without fault, mainly for choosing to settle his collusion case and for signing a lucrative endorsement deal with Nike, you can make the argument that he did what he was sent to do, which was create a movement worthy of discussion and dialogue.

MLK and Malcolm were assassinated for their convictions. Someone inevitably had to pick up the torch to continue their movements. While Kaep is not a traditional Civil Rights leader, nor do I believe he’s striving to be, he’s still alive and well… it’s hard to justify the advancement of his movement without him being a part of it, especially when you’re set up to get a fat check in the process. For many, that’s common sense, and for others, they’re convinced that Jay-Z has a plan and we should give it time to develop. But you see, that’s not how social justice works.

If we appreciate anything about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and true social justice, it should be The Letter from Birmingham Jail he wrote in 1963 in response to eight white religious leaders of the South who questioned his visit to Birmingham, Alabama. If we just trust King’s intuition and grace in a moment of great contention and perceived controversy in America, we quickly realize that the “wait and see” strategy has never worked for oppressed communities.

“For years now I have heard the word “wait.” It rings in the ear of every Negro with a piercing familiarity. This “wait” has almost always meant “never.” We must come to see with the distinguished jurist of yesterday that “justice too long delayed is justice denied.”” – MLK 

So again, why should we wait, continue to wait, and trust that Jay-Z’s social justice campaign will deliver… with not even a blueprint or list of action steps? We shouldn’t.

The NFL wins big with this partnership. They get one of the best entertainers in the world to manage their Super Bowl halftime shows (which frankly have been hit or miss.) And more importantly, this entertainer happens to be Black and perceived to have a lot of leverage within the Black community. What better way to win back the good graces of many of their Black fans than partnering with one of their biggest heroes.

To make things even worse, we find out that Jay has been working on this deal for a year. If this social justice campaign was intended to be impactful, why wouldn’t they at least highlight the objectives of the campaign when they announced the partnership? Are communities of color expected to wait and see what the campaign entails?

Jay chose income over community, personal gain over values, and he’s paying the price for it. A week later and we’re still waiting on any details regarding this social just campaign. We can’t afford to wait… on the NFL, or Jay-Z.

Turning Blind Eye to Corruption in Criminal Justice System

by with No Comment FeaturedGen Z

“Corrupt cop” seems less like an oxymoron and more like the average American law enforcement officer nowadays. Despite 2018 being the year of exposés of sexual predators in Hollywood, music production, and government, it is unlikely for normal people who hold positions of authority to have their unethical behavior exposed, let alone be fired. Sexual offenders are being exposed and condemned left and right, but criminal justice offenders are being given empty warnings and paychecks.

In the criminal justice system, spotlight cases like those of Meek Mill help shine a light on the injustices that can occur when the traditional power structure hasn’t been or isn’t able to be challenged. Meek was arrested by Philadelphia police officer Reginald Graham in 2007 who then testified against him during trial in 2008 convicting the rapper of drug charges. Despite Meek’s arrest and conviction, the credibility of Graham was questioned during the case as he is a resident on a District Attorney’s Office list of “police officers with clouded credibility.” Not only was Graham’s credibility questioned; but two officers, Walker and Gibson, who were operating under Graham at the time of the arrest, were arrested in 2014 for federal corruption charges and in 2015 for robbing a suspect, respectively. 

Whether or not this clouded credibility affected Meek’s arrest leading to his conviction is unclear, but the fact that the District Attorney keeps a list of corrupt cops is insulting to the freedom and fairness that Philadelphians and Americans across the country deserve. Why do we allow incompetent evil people to run our country by their own accord with no repercussions or push back? Acknowledging the unethical behavior of an officer who carries a gun designed to kill anyone who doesn’t comply and can decide the fate of citizen’s lives is shocking. 

Even more shocking, there are hundreds of cases like these that occur under the radar of the media. Infamous tales of those like Chicago cop Ronald Watts have been widely known in small communities where everyone is familiar with the injustice of the criminal justice system as well as the person who brings the injustice. Notwithstanding the common knowledge of corruption in this community in Chicago, it took until 2018 when Watts had already retired for 32 of his convictions to be thrown out. Although this seems like a well-deserved victory for those working on the Exoneration Project, there is still a need for the examination of approximately 500 convictions Watts made from 2004-2012 alone.

Similar to fairy tales and folklore there are always warnings of the bad men to stay away from, but you never hear about betrayal by someone who is supposed to protect and help grow the community they are a part of. Many Americans are fighting back and not letting this be the story that future generations will grow up listening to. There are many opportunities to right the wrongs done in this world by injustice, and it can start with holding people in positions of power accountable for their actions.

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References:

Gonnerman, Jennifer. (2018). How One Woman’s Fight to Save Her Family Helped Lead to a Mass Exoneration. The New Yorker, May 28, 2018 issue.

Mitchell, Max. (2018). Stakes Rise for Meek Mill as Post-Conviction Hearing Is Set to Open. The Legal Intelligencer, June 15, 2018. 

Dreams or Nightmares? It’s on Meek

by with No Comment Sports

Possibly the most impactful disparity in this nation exists in the judicial system. It’s an unfortunate reality black people know well and have to cope with every day. 

After failing to advance to the second round the previous two seasons, prior to the start of the 2007 NBA playoffs, the Houston Rockets star player Tracy McGrady was asked by ESPN commentator Stephen A Smith would they get out of the first round of the playoffs. McGrady responded with a now infamous sentence, “If we don’t get out of the first round, it’s on me!” He repeatedly said the phrase “it’s on me.” Houston would go on to lose another first round playoff series in seven games to end their season. And at his postgame press conference following the Game 7 defeat, McGrady, still visibly emotional from the loss, said, “I tried, man, I tried.” McGrady was never able to lead the Rockets out of the first round in the playoffs. Ironically, after suffering a season-ending injury followed by surgery in 2009, Mc Grady watched the Rockets finally advance to the second round. Damn.

Speaking of NBA playoffs, Meek Mill, the Philadelphia native rapper, attended game five of the Philadelphia 76ers playoff matchup against the Miami Heat (4/24/18). The same Meek Mill Jay-Z and Beyoncé rapped “Free Meek” in their top-down Maybach in their collaboration single Top Off… that Meek Mill? Yes, that Meek Mill, and to quote Pac he’s “free like OJ all day.”

Granted no draconian post bail arrangement was made for Meek Mill like Tupac made with Suge Knight and Death Row records; however, it did take 76ers Co-owner Michael Rubin, Jay-Z, and other notable figures becoming vocal for Meek Mill to obtain an immediate release after serving five months in prison. Meek Mill had been in prison due to a pair of arrests that took place in 2017. He was involved in a fight in St. Louis and got caught recklessly driving his motorbike in New York City. Although both charges were dropped, Judge Genece E. Brinkley, a black female judge, reached her breaking point and sentenced him to two to four years in prison for violating his probation. A probation that spans 10 years, which included arrests from officials reportedly smelling marijuana coming from his vehicle to booking performances outside of Philly without Judge Genece Brinkley’s approval. 

Most would point to Meek Mill and put it all on him like Tracy McGrady was made to be the scapegoat for years of first round playoff exits. (McGrady really did try – he averaged over 27 points per a game with Houston during those first round exits.) And yes, Meek Mill has been arrested several times; however, the crimes were never on the same level as say… Ethan Couch. You remember him, right? In 2013, Ethan Couch, at 16 years old, with a group of friends stole beer from a store and had a party at his parents’ house before going for a drive. He then struck and killed four people on the side of a road near Fort Worth, Texas, and paralyzed a passenger in his car who now suffers from brain damage. Despite defying prosecutors who sought a 20-year prison sentence, Couch would only serve a 720-day sentence. Did I mention he’s rich and white? I know, spoiler alert. He gained fame by being dubbed the “affluenza teen.” This label was given after a psychologist suggested during his trial that growing up with money might have left him with psychological afflictions, too rich to tell right from wrong. You read that correctly… too rich to know right and wrong.

Back to Meek – I know there are historical cases in which rich black people got off due to their fame and fortune. The operative word is historical, for we can only name a few of them, whereas daily black people are disproportionally punished for the same offenses as white people. The disproportions for black people regarding punishment is felt at every level… from being given more suspensions in grade school, to receiving harsher and longer punishments for the same offenses, from traffic court to even receiving worst punishments than their white soldier counterparts in military court proceedings.

What this means for the likes of Meek Mill is understanding the fine line him and other men of color must walk regarding law and order. This is not a call for respectability politics – the theory if one looked and acted right they would never get into trouble. There isn’t anything to combat the mindset of a biased police officer, a vengeful judge, or a merciless prosecutor. Meek Mill and others must understand like Tracy McGrady said, it’s on them, whether they place the target on themselves or not. Tracy McGrady stated he would carry his team to victory and the opposition exposed that statement. Meek Mill knows he’s a target, and they’re literally waiting to see if and when he acts up again. A slip up where he can only blame himself. 

Meek Mill was all smiles during the playoff game as the cameras caught him sitting beside comedian Kevin Hart. It’s on him, and only him to never again have those same cameras catch him walking up the steps of a courthouse. 

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