(ThyBlackMan.com) Tuesday, July 25, 2023 was a major day for sports news across a variety of different sports and in different ways. USC Trojan freshman basketball player Bronny James, son of LeBron, collapsed during a workout when he suddenly suffered cardiac arrest and was taken to ICU and both Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert and Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown agreed to jaw-dropping contract extensions with their respective teams that set records in their respective sports leagues.
Jaylen Brown agreed to a reported five-year, $304 million supermax extension with the Boston Celtics, the richest deal in NBA history. At the press conference to announce the extension, Brown discussed some of his financial plans following the extension saying, “I want to launch a project to bring Black Wall Street here to Boston. I want to attack the wealth disparity here. I think there’s analytics that supports that stimulating the wealth gap could actually be something that could be betterment for the entire economy.” It is not everyday during a professional athlete’s press conference in which they have signed for millions and millions of dollars that “Black Wall Street” is brought up by that athlete but it isn’t surprising from Jaylen Brown.
Brown isn’t even 30 years old but already has built a reputation for being not only an impact NBA player but also being opinionated and active relating to social issues. Back in 2020, he was among the numerous athletes and people marching in the streets due to the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and was even against the NBA resuming playing prior to the NBA restarting that season in the Orlando “bubble”. He also showed some political immaturity by appearing to endorse a group that was protesting the controversial Kyrie Irving’s NBA suspension during last season. Brown as also been unafraid to publicly critique some Boston fans that do “not want to see athletes use their platform”.
When Jaylen Brown wants to “bring Black Wall Street” to Boston and take on the wealth disparity, he appears to want to challenge the “Black/white” wealth disparity in Boston that could mirror that of the U.S. Interestingly, during the press conference Brown refused to say “Black/white” in front of the phrase wealth disparity that he mentioned a couple times in his press conference as it can be an uncomfortable topic in front of a multiracial crowd like he was in front of.
Black Wall Street has become romanticized among many in the African/Black community as a prime example of “Black excellence and Black self-sufficiency prior to being destroyed due to racism”. It is important that Brown understands an important myth of Black Wall Street as explained by Professor of Communication and Africana Studies at Morgan State University, Dr. Jared Ball. Regarding Black Wall Street, Dr. Ball noted that, “What really happened was a handful of Black people doing well in the business district, probably no more than five percent of the population, were Black bourgeoisie business owners who were benefiting from the wealth of white oil owners in surrounding Oklahoma. They were able to drive relationships and employ Black people… but ultimately only benefitted a handful of Black elites.” It wasn’t as if all Black people living in that district at that time were economically stable.
A lot of African/Black professional athletes come from “humble” beginnings or impoverished backgrounds so they feel a special connection to give back financially and resource-wise to the area they grew up in. It is great that once they obtain their generational wealth in their professional sports salaries that they want to change the fortunes of people in their communities or communities like those they grew up in as those areas have been under systematic oppression. However, professional athletes like Brown need to understand and learn from African/Black freedom fighters like Malcolm X to look at disparities and more importantly, oppression, from an international perspective.
Staff Writer; Mark Hines