Boston, Massachusetts, is known for its sports rivalries, New England accents, and large Irish-American population. It is not known for having a Black economic epicenter similar to Black Wall Street in the Greenwood section of Tulsa, Oklahoma. However, Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown believes he can change that now that he received the richest contract in NBA history.
Brown has agreed to a five-year, $304 million supermax extension with the Boston Celticsper reports. The deal is fully guaranteed.
Black Wall Street In Boston
“I want to launch a project to bring Black Wall Street here in 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 better meant for the entire economy,” Brown announced at a news conference held at the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
“With the biggest financial deal in NBA history, it makes sense to talk about one-year investment in the community, but the wealth disparity here that nobody wants to talk about is top five in the US (and) is something that we can all improve on it. It’s unsettling.”
Boston has Black neighborhood pockets like Roxbury, where the R&B group New Edition grew up, Mattapan, and Dorchester. But these are just that, smaller blighted pockets.
Given the history of Boston, which was even cruel to one of his prevailing stars, Bill Russell, while he lived there and delivered championships to the city, Brown’s revelation might not be welcome. Also, when other athletes like LeBron James and Kyrie Irving decided to shift the narrative from athlete to activist, many who only wanted to be entertained by them did not receive it well.
Man On A Mission
“I think through my platform, through influential partners, through selected leaders, government officials, a lot who are in this room, that we can come together and create new jobs, new resources, new businesses, new ideas that could highlight minorities but also stimulate the economy and the wealth gap at the same time,” Brown continued.
“Boston could be a fully integrated self-sufficient hub. I think Boston could be the pilot, not just for wealth disparity here in the US, but also for around the world.”
The news conference occurred at his “7uice Foundation’s Bridge” program, not a team facility.
“This is the day it fell on and I knew I was going to be here spending most of my time, so I thought it was fitting. For it to be here, I think was just divine timing and now as we are putting the pen to paper, we got a lot of work to do. I think we’re all in that same journey to make this place, this community that we all live in, better and we all have that responsibility.”
Brown is now officially the face of the team based on the financial commitment that eclipses Denver’s Nikola Jokić contract of $276 million signed in 2022.
Black Wall Street in Boston is a very ambitious move, and announcing it is risky given that most of the fan base residing in Massachusetts does not reflect the population he seeks to serve. However, using a platform unselfishly to shine a light on philanthropic, cultural, and community-based efforts is admirable. Brown is letting it known he is not just here to shut up and dribble.
