I felt inspired this morning plus i'm hopped off some good Coffee. I wrote a small essay on this.
I call it: Examining the blueprint
of a corporate con job. Any ideas where I can post this?
This Jay Z/NFL deal has been bugging me for a few days now. I couldn’t quite fully articulate my concerns. so I’ve been listening to different opinions to help crystallize my thoughts on this matter. Some say Jay is a brilliant business man who made a smart strategic business move. Others say Jay is a sell out who sold out Kaep and the movement. Still others, the majority, say let’s take a wait and see approach to this partnership.
After considerable thought, I realized my initial skepticism was warranted. This is a con job on the black community. Let me explain.
This is a deal is by two corporate entities, The NFL and Shawn Carter Inc (I’m a business man) looking out for their own self interests cloaked under the guise of “Social Justice” . From a business perspective, I can’t even hate. The NFL gets a black face to deflect criticism of racism and Jay Z gets closer to his dream of having an ownership stake in an NFL franchise. (Let’s just hope it’s a better deal than the one he did for the the Nets) Hov!!
But let me explain why the promisof social activism in this deal is a straight out con. In capitalism, social activism is not a profitable business. Name one corporate entity in history of that was at the forefront of real social change. I’ll wait. Social activism just ain’t what corporations do.
Corporations are by nature conservative entities. Not in the political sense necessarily, but in the sense of resisting change and desire to maintain the status quo. The status quo after all, is predictable and easy to manage. Corporations exist in all their glory to maximize shareholders wealth and risk is a major hurdle to that end. It must be managed effectively. Whole business disciplines and departments exist to study how to predict avoid and manage risk in the business environment.
So if you really think a multi billion dollar corporate entity, owned by 32 white elderly individual billionaires, many of whom are staunch Trump supporters, is going to sincerely push for politically controversial and racially sensitive social justice issues that introduce unnecessary risk for the NFL and impact shareholder wealth(gasp!!)I have a bridge in Brooklyn that is for sale. (Hov!!)
Despite Jay Z’s attempts at spin and talk of “actionable items”(blah, blah, blah) during the press conference, Curb any expectations you may be harboring that the NFL will take any real action the next time a black man is shot down in the streets. Not when a huge portion of the NFL’s customer base believe police officers are infallible deities incapable of any wrong doing, let alone racially motivated wrong doing.
Expect nothing but symbolic gestures from the NFL when the next tragedy happens. Jay Z will be expected to calm down the negroes and discourage any on field protests and the NFL will provide. Empty Symbolic gestures. Both entities will secure the bag.
Therein lies the con.
