AKRON, OH. — On Monday NBA superstar LeBron James opened the “I Promise” School in his hometown of Akron, Ohio and people were still hating. As I watched all of the social media commentary coming through I was disappointed in most human beings and especially many of our black brothers and sisters.
For so long in this country we’ve been told that we weren’t worthy of being respected and loved. Therefore, many of us continue to self-hate and self sabotage each other and we can’t get out of our own way. This man is one of the greatest basketball players to ever lace them up, if not the greatest, and he’s being hated even while doing great things in the community. He has a platform with all of the fame and wealth he possesses to literally affect change and he’s attempting to do it on a daily basis.
LeBron speaks out on social and racial issues where the average black person in America would not be heard. He’s spent millions of dollars of his own money to help build an entire school in his own community. He’s used his power of influence and connections to partner with the University of Akron to send more than 1200 of the students in his program to college tuition free starting in 2021 and that’s still not good enough to satisfy the haters. Why because you think Michael Jordan is a better player? Really?
From free uniforms and transportation to college tuition guaranteed for all graduates. LeBron James takes @DonLemon on an exclusive tour of his new 'I Promise' school https://t.co/2HXF5tXQTA pic.twitter.com/mWiCBt3Fdc
— CNN Tonight (@CNNTonight) July 31, 2018
Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! We were brought to this country in the bottoms of slave ships starting in 1619 and held until 1865. Yeah, I know that the Emancipation Proclamation was signed on January 1, 1863 but all the slaves weren’t notified until June 19, 1865. Talk about still being taken advantage of.
We were forced to build this country while being beaten and tortured. Our women were raped to produce even more slaves and our families were torn apart by being sold off to other plantations though out that era.
It was illegal for any of us to learn how to read and write. If caught trying to educate ourselves we could be sold away from our families and even killed. In a country where we’ve had to fight, protest and die for even the smallest of rights and privileges we still have black folks hating on a man that stands for everything great that we’re taught to become. He’s a loving husband to one wife, a father to three children by the SAME woman and he goes to work every day. Oh yeah, he still has the time to give back to his community to help someone else’s child become something too.
However, we refuse to celebrate him because of self-hate. Instead, we’d rather celebrate the man with 7 kids by 6 different women that doesn’t pay a dime in child support. We’d rather celebrate the drug dealer posing on Instagram with $50K in illegal profits from destroying our communities. We’d rather celebrate the felon coming home from prison for the fifth time in 20 years. We’d rather pay homage to men distroying our communities than those building it up.
Our ancestors died trying to get the opportunities that this young man has the power to provide our kids. My parents couldn’t go to integrated schools. They grew up in the segregated south and were forced to go to all black schools that only had used books but had powerful influencers. They were college educated they couldn’t attend the predominately white institutions with all of the resources of the day but they succeeded anyway.
They obtained college degrees from Texas Southern University an historically black college that provided the love, nurturing and the education they needed and longed for. It was schools made by us, provided by us that gave us the foundation to move forward as a race and these schools are still doing the same thing today. My wife is a product of Jackson State and my son is in his senior year there now. HBCU’s have been the cornerstone of our greatness as a people and LeBron is doing the same type of work.
He’s simply passing that torch forward using his wealth, power and influence and so many of our people are still filled with so much self-hate that they can’t recognize that he’s planting the most powerful seed anyone could ever plant. He giving our kids an opportunity to learn and be nurtured for greatness.
This is bigger than basketball. Earlier this year Fox’s Laura Ingraham told LeBron to shut up and dribble in a rebuke for talking politics in an interview. If he’d only concerned himself with playing basketball we wouldn’t have the I Promise School and the beckon of light it’s shining on these children walking through the doors at his school this morning. He’s allowed basketball to affect change and I wish more of our rich and powerful would follow his lead. Stop me when I start lyin’!
Playas Thesaurus:
Nothing needed today. This was serious business!
The caption under the photo is real talk today!