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Novelist Walter Mosley recently lamented
the void in black leadership in America, saying "millions
dying in Africa while your leaders argued about the references
and jokes in the movie Barbershop?"
It is much worse than that.
Millions of the poor around the world that got jobs producing
sneakers and apparel for America's youth got nothing but scorn
or betrayal from African-Americans, when they desperately sought
assistance.
Anyone remember what Temple's Coach John Chaney said to Philly
Daily News about Michael?
[from Village Voice]: The great
Jordan famously promised to investigate Nike's factories when
sweatshop conditions made headlines in 1996. He has not been
heard from on the issue since, and Temple basketball coach John
Chaney may have spoken for many in the sports world when he was
asked about Jordan's silence: "Why should he stick his neck
out and risk his endorsement deals? You got a fucking problem
with Michael making money? Michael should pick up every fucking
dollar possible."
What about Rev. Jesse Jackson?
I was sitting in his church with a fired Indonesian Nike worker
& the rev was IN INDONESIA, doing the "CNN photo-op
prayer service" outside a locked (to keep him out) Nike
factory; didn't I think we were gonna drain the swamp! But JJ
started collecting Nike contributions almost as soon as he touched
down in the USA & talked about a boycott. A couple of years
later, he gave the Rainbow Coalition's "Leadership in Sports"
award to Nike's chief of public relations, Vada Manager.
Spike Lee? I caught him coming out of the opening of Niketown,
NYC years ago (he saw the sizeable protest picketline that we
had). All he'd say was "I'll look at your flyer", then,
woosh. (or should I say Swoosh?)
John Thompson was a Nike board member when the issue was hot
-- he flew to Indonesia for the Nike guided tour (similar to
what Andy Young got paid handsomely for) & JT addressed the
Nike shareholders that year, saying everything was all right
out there in Asia.
The only African-American on the Nike payroll that spoke up was
the late, great Reggie White (just before he made that bizarre
speech to the Wisc. legislature). Gene Upshaw of the NFL players
UNION would not answer my importunings.
I hated to be in Salt Lake
City on Dita Sari's behalf and see no recognition whatsoever
about the plight of sweatshop workers. Instead, headline: "Tutu
delights Reebok crowd". While Desmond Tutu danced a jig
to "delight" Reebok's overwhelmingly white crowd in
Salt Lake City, he took no notice of the fact that a principled
young Indonesian woman had just torn up Reebok's $50,000 check
and thrown it back into their piggish faces. (see: Take
This Prize & Shove It)
Reebok just sold itself to
adidas-Solomon, did you hear? $800 million for that Human Rights
phoney Paul Firemen who wooed the bishop to SLC.
It would have been interesting if Malcolm X had been around to
give them some grief, eh?
HE understood about linking poor peoples' struggles -- he even
wrote about the Bandung Conf. in 1955.
Tell youth this story, Mr. Mosley, and some of them might
actually respond.
Jeffrey Ballinger is director of Press for Change. He
can be reached at: Jeffreyd@mindspring.com
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