First, I gotta say that I'm partial to Mr. Brown.  He not only played for my hometown team, the Cleveland Browns, but he's one of very few pro-athletes who has dedicated his life to economic empowerment activism in African American communities and he is the founder of Amer-I-can, a "life management skills organization that operates in inner cities and prisons."

[Photo courtesy of Wordpress blog Urban Sports Talk]

So, yeah, Jim Brown is the man.

Brown has recently served as an advisor for the new film The Express, a heroic sports story about Brown's Syracuse teammate Ernie Davis, the first African American athlete to take home the Heisman Trophy.

See movie trailer below.

It's hard to conceive that at seventy-two years young, Brown is still active in various communities.  He's certainly built a legacy that will continue to inspire activist-athletes for decades to come.

[Jim Brown: An Agent of Social Change]

Brown is speaking out again, and this time he's taking on today's pro-athletes, stating in the Los Angeles Times; "They don't study and read. If they understood history, they would never shake their butts in the end zone."

Can I get a witness?!

I mean, it's cool to see some butts shaking in the in-zone once in a while, but I *get* Brown's overall point.  In a post a few days ago about David Zirin’s new book A People History of Sports in the United States, I mentioned the stark difference between activist-athletes of the past and athletes nowadays who think that giving back to the community means showing up at a charity dinner and taking a few photographs.

Not so according to Brown.

"Athletes need to represent more than just getting a big contract and lots of endorsements," he says. "Take Michael Jordan. To me, he's full of bull. He's hiding his true self. All he cares about is getting ahead, being popular and enjoying the wealth of this country. Same with Kobe Bryant. For them, it's all about making money and doing all the commercials."

He-ll-o!

Brown recognizes the profound impact sports can on the rest of the world, but he also acknowledges how the sports industry and its athletes can negatively influence culture.

"Sports is detrimental to the development of culture if all you're willing to do is enjoy the fruits of this country," he says. "You've got to reinvest in the culture, not just exploit it. Today people just want non-combative heroes, who smile and say all the right things."

I quote Brown at length because he's articulating a point that I hold dear as both a former athlete and as a social activist.  I think some of our athletes miss the boat (whether intentionally or not).  You can be an athlete and an activist at the same time – there's no rule against that.  Far too many times athletes, and just people in general, get caught up in the "haves" of culture and thusly casting a blind eye to the "have nots."

Believe me, I want to report on athletes who are doing good in their communities, not just because it's my job to find these stories for YouthNoise, but because I know that athletes can change the world one fan at a time, if they want to.  No, it's not necessarily their obligation to want to change the world, but given their cultural platforms it's certainly a privilege – one in which I would embrace if I were in their Nike basketball shoes.


Okay, I just had to post this YouTube video of homegirl interviewing Jim Brown.  It is incredibly awkward, and if this is any indication of the type of "reporters" the Houston Chronicle is sending out to interview legends, then I need to rent a Penske right now, move back to H-town, bust into the Houston Chronicle's main office, and DEMAND that they hire me as a field reporter.

See clip below.

[blank stare]