Politics

NFL Draft Week: How Does it Impact Black Chicago?

Published

10 years ago

May 5, 2015

Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans cheer after the Buccaneers selects Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston as the first pick in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft, Thursday, April 30, 2015, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

by Mary L. Datcher
Special to the NNPA from the Chicago Defender

The prospect of a child developing his or her talent and potential is the dream of most parents. It is the glue that can hold not only a household together, but also a community. In African-American history, the dreams of many young Black youth center on athletics and entertainment. The goals of achieving fame in athletics or entertainment often overshadows dreams about other important professions such as becoming a teacher, an attorney, a physician, an engineer or a sports agent. Many of these professions lay the foundation for building a solid base.

The estimated revenue of the NFL Players’ Association is $327 million; however, in real numbers, overall among the 32 league teams, the combined total is an estimated $10 billion dollars. Players’ salaries can range from the minimum of $400,000 to over $22 million driving the league to produce much more revenue than the other professional athletic associations. Often, young men become overnight millionaires, catapulting their careers and lifestyles in a world that is inaccessible to their peers.

This week, Chicago will host for the NFL Draft week festivities. The city hasn’t had this honor since the 1964 draft was held here. Back in the day, the draft was a simple 24-hour process between rival team owners selecting collegiate stars for their team rosters. Now, it has become a major week-long production that rivals the same media production as Super Bowl but without the quirky, high priced commercials and half-time fanfare. How does the local economy benefit outside of the hospitality industry centralized in the immediate downtown and Michigan Avenue shopping district? The better question is how does the business economy benefit in the same communities that some of the Black athletes are from?

This major task of solidifying the tourism and attraction business is led by Choose Chicago, the nonprofit organization that is responsible for raising funds and private donations under the close management of the City of Chicago. Chicago Defender reached out to Choose Chicago to request an estimated dollar amount that is projected from the NFL Draft week festivities going to local businesses and the hospitality industry, but the request has gone unanswered. Since the Defender couldn’t nail down any projections on ROI (return of investment) from them, the next concern is how does this event benefit the young Black student players from the inner-city community?

In negotiation with the NFL Association, one of the main attractions was the city’s eagerness to offer up parkland to build ‘Draft Town’ – the beautifully decorated tent housing situated on prime property in Grant Park. This location is a wonderful way for the public to connect to the activities surrounding draft week and it’s free for those who attend. There are youth clinics that have invited key youth football programs and their top young players to participate, but how many of these camps are based in the inner-city versus suburban area camps?

Chicago Jokers Football Camp is a program that has groomed young players from ages 8-14 years old for the past 14 years on the West Side. The program is run by Eric McClendon, affectionately known as Coach Mac, who utilizes the St. Lutheran Church gym every Saturday for the Spring and Summer camp schedule. With close to 100 students in the football camp, he makes sure his players are treated with just as much respect and priority as more high profile youth football camps.

“You have your suburban Blacks and you have Black people based in the city. The majority of the professional athletes are from the suburbs. They really won’t go to the city areas or the agents won’t allow them to pursue the inner city programs. If there is someone who can reach out to the professional athletes or to the NFL to let the players know about the inner city kids, it would benefit players and the parents. Even though the kids are from the inner city, they do look up to the professional ball players,” said McClendon.

There hasn’t been much of an outreach initiative from the NFL Association or the City of Chicago to involve inner city football camps such as the Chicago Jokers. With basketball being the focus and direction to help curve some of the violence that has plagued Black communities, football can sometimes take a backseat. Coach McClendon feels that some of the city’s best young high school basketball players had their initial athletic beginnings playing in youth football camps.

Coach McClendon explains, “A lot of our kids play basketball when they move on to high school. The number one high school basketball player last year was Cliff Alexander from Curie High School. He was one of our lineman on offense and defense when he played for us.”

Demetrius Lewis, a parent and athletic director of a South Suburban program, takes a similar approach to working with the players in his program. He started out coaching his son’s team when his son was four years old and took a committed role for the next eight years. Now his son attends Mt. Carmel High School, ranks as one of the top high school football players in Illinois and recently was inducted in the National Honor Society with a 4.0 GPA. Although, he feels the high schools and camps are there for young players, it is ultimately the responsibility of the parents to assist their talented kids with the challenges of facing key business decisions because those decisions will follow them into the hustle of the NFL.

“The role models have to be in the household and we need to educate ourselves– especially in the Black communities. A lot of minorities are behind the eight ball because we really don’t know. Outstanding athletes have scholarship offers all day, but their ACT scores are barely 15 or 16. They don’t know how important it is. They don’t realize they can take the test more than once. They have ACT prep programs out there, but instead they are buying Air Jordans. They can put the monies into an ACT prep program for the same price,” said Lewis.

Many in the business feel that although the NFL draft makes up a high percentage of African American collegiate athletes, it is the responsibility of the NFL Association and the City of Chicago to coordinate community outreach to the football youth camps and inner city programs. Many of the draft hopefuls will be in town from all of over the country for a few days and after a short break, they will soon be adjusting to their new home teams.

No one understands this process better than sports agent Tory Dandy of Relativity Sports which represents both professional and collegiate draft picks. One of his professional clients includes Chicago Bears wide receiver Alshon Jeffrey.

“I hold myself accountable in regards to doing the business with not only the client but anybody who is considered in his inner circle – that is knowledgeable about the NFL draft process. Knowledgeable about the business side of the NFL, the financial side and the blessings of what it brings. I believe in reaching further in-depth about being aware of what’s going on,” explains Dandy.

Dandy has steadily become one of the leading NFL sports agents representing seven NFL draftees in this week’s ceremonies, including #7 ranked Kevin White (West Virginia), #27 ranked Eddie Goldman (Florida State), #30 ranked Ronald Darby (Florida State), #34 ranked Nelson Agholor (Southern California), #84 ranked Paul Dawson (Texas Christian University), #116 ranked Jamison Crowder and #121 ranked Mike Davis (South Carolina); according to CBS Sports the latest draft prospects.

Being one of the few African American agents in the field, Dandy makes no secret that his mentors include sports agent veteran, Eugene Parker.

Dandy adds, “We want to empower them, we want to give them the information and resources to truly make informed business decisions. Our philosophy is a lot different from others in this industry.”

The lives of the young collegiate players that Dandy represents will change before they depart Chicago with the weight on their shoulders to do their best for their new team and for those they are depending on to make them successful. Many of them will not know that approximately 1.5 miles west of the NFL “Draft Town” and 2.5 miles west of the structure are African American communities that will not have the opportunity to celebrate in their achievements.

The City of Chicago and Choose Chicago won’t reveal the amount of expenses involved in bringing the NFL Draft to town or how it will impact the revenue streams. Choose Chicago and the Chicago Sports Commission had to raise between $3 to 4 million to complete commitments to covering the demands that the league has requested. They have made assurances that Chicago taxpayers will not be burdened with the week-long production.

The Mayor’s efforts to secure high profile events such as the NFL Draft week for the beautiful City of Chicago are to be commended, but Black communities and other neighboring communities would also like to feel the unique economic benefits that downtown businesses will experience. When the opportunity arises to secure the NFL Association for the following year’s Draft Week, the “ROI or return on investment” should also include the African American communities from which many of the young players have come.

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Activism

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries Speaks on Democracy at Commonwealth Club

Based on his first speech as House minority leader, “The ABCs of Democracy” by Grand Central Publishing is an illustrated children’s book for people of all ages. Each letter contrasts what democracy is and isn’t, as in: “American Values over Autocracy”, “Benevolence over Bigotry” and “The Constitution over the Cult.”

Published

11 hours ago

December 22, 2024

Oakland Post

: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries at the Commonwealth Club World Affairs Council on Dec. 2. Photo by Johnnie Burrell. Book cover: "The ABCs of Democracy" by Hakeem Jeffries.

By Linda Parker Pennington
Special to The Post

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries addressed an enthusiastic overflow audience on Monday at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club, launching his first book, “The ABCs of Democracy.”

Based on his first speech as House minority leader, “The ABCs of Democracy” by Grand Central Publishing is an illustrated children’s book for people of all ages.

Each letter contrasts what democracy is and isn’t, as in: “American Values over Autocracy”, “Benevolence over Bigotry” and “The Constitution over the Cult.”

Less than a month after the election that will return Donald Trump to the White House, Rep. Jeffries also gave a sobering assessment of what the Democrats learned.

“Our message just wasn’t connecting with the real struggles of the American people,” Jeffries said. “The party in power is the one that will always pay the price.”

On dealing with Trump, Jeffries warned, “We can’t fall into the trap of being outraged every day at what Trump does. That’s just part of his strategy. Remaining calm in the face of turmoil is a choice.”

He pointed out that the razor-thin margin that Republicans now hold in the House is the lowest since the Civil War.

Asked what the public can do, Jeffries spoke about the importance of being “appropriately engaged. Democracy is not on autopilot. It takes a citizenry to hold politicians accountable and a new generation of young people to come forward and serve in public office.”

With a Republican-led White House, Senate, House and Supreme Court, Democrats must “work to find bi-partisan common ground and push back against far-right extremism.”

He also described how he is shaping his own leadership style while his mentor, Speaker-Emeritus Nancy Pelosi, continues to represent San Francisco in Congress. “She says she is not hanging around to be like the mother-in-law in the kitchen, saying ‘my son likes his spaghetti sauce this way, not that way.’”

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MacArthur Fellow Dorothy Roberts’ Advocates Restructure of Child Welfare System

Roberts’s early work focused on Black women’s reproductive rights and their fight for reproductive justice. In “Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty 1997)”, she analyzes historical and contemporary policies and practices that denied agency to Black women and sought to control their childbearing—from forced procreation during slavery, to coercive sterilization and welfare reform—and advocates for an expanded understanding of reproductive freedom.

Published

12 hours ago

December 22, 2024

Oakland Post

Dorothy Roberts. Photo courtesy of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Special to The Post

When grants were announced Oct. 1, it was noted that eight of the 22 MacArthur Fellows were African American. Among the recipients of the so-called ‘genius grants’ are scholars, visual and media artists a poet/writer, historian, and dancer/choreographer who each receive $800,000 over a five-year period to spend as they see fit.

Their names are Ruha Benjamin, Jericho Brown, Tony Cokes, Jennifer L. Morgan, Ebony G. Patterson, Shamel Pitts, Jason Reynolds, and Dorothy Roberts. This is the eighth and last in the series highlighting the Black awardees. The report below on Dorothy Roberts is excerpted from the MacArthur Fellows web site.

A graduate of Yale University with a law degree from Harvard, Dorothy Roberts is a legal scholar and public policy researcher exposing racial inequities embedded within health and social service systems.

Sine 2012, she has been a professor of Law and Sociology, and on the faculty in the department of Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

Roberts’s work encompasses reproductive health, bioethics, and child welfare. She sheds light on systemic inequities, amplifies the voices of those directly affected, and boldly calls for wholesale transformation of existing systems.

This work prompted Roberts to examine the treatment of children of color in the U.S. child welfare system.

After nearly two decades of research and advocacy work alongside parents, social workers, family defense lawyers, and organizations, Roberts has concluded that the current child welfare system is in fact a system of family policing with alarmingly unequal practices and outcomes. Her 2001 book, “Shattered Bonds: The Color of Child Welfare,” details the outsized role that race and class play in determining who is subject to state intervention and the results of those interventions.

Through interviews with Chicago mothers who had interacted with Child Protective Services (CPS), Roberts shows that institutions regularly punish the effects of poverty as neglect.

CPS disproportionately investigates Black and Indigenous families, especially if they are low-income, and children from these families are much more likely than white children to be removed from their families after CPS referral.

In “Torn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families—and How Abolition Can Build a Safer World (2022),” Roberts traces the historical, cultural, and political forces driving the racial and class imbalance in child welfare interventions.

These include stereotypes about Black parents as negligent, devaluation of Black family bonds, and stigmatization of parenting practices that fall outside a narrow set of norms.

She also shows that blaming marginalized individuals for structural problems, while ignoring the historical roots of economic and social inequality, fails families and communities.

Roberts argues that the engrained oppressive features of the current system render it beyond repair. She calls for creating an entirely new approach focused on supporting families rather than punishing them.

Her support for dismantling the current child welfare system is unsettling to some. Still, her provocation inspires many to think more critically about its poor track record and harmful design.

By uncovering the complex forces underlying social systems and institutions, and uplifting the experiences of people caught up in them, Roberts creates opportunities to imagine and build more equitable and responsive ways to ensure child and family safety.