One thing you won’t say about him is that he doesn’t go for what he wants. Deion Sanders has been getting what he wants since the beginning of his existence and not really giving a damn about what other people think about it so why would this situation be any different. Deion Sanders one of the most electrifying athlete turned coach is raising eyebrows in the black community for his decision to leave Jackson State University after having so much publicity and bringing so much attention to the team and the struggles they have been facing.
A lot of people see him as a sellout and a many others feel like he just did what’s best for his financial outlook. I see it a tiny bit differently. I see a man that is following his purpose and making money doing it. I think the disillusionment of many comes from the fact that they thought is purpose was tied to the black community. But what I see is that Deion has a passion from bringing nothing to something. Started from the bottom now i’m here if you well. He likes to take trash and bring it to treasure. Then top that off with a desire to see young men reach their dreams of reaching the NFL; in Deion you have a man that is finding his groove with his switch from JSU to Colorado.
Now having said that for those of us who do have a purpose tied to the black community I think the first item up for bid should be changing the narrative of the way we define success in our community. What I have learned is that we continue you see success as changing from black to white… being able to cross over and to access the funds of the masses. Less we forget that the masses with the funds are white. Who throughout history have masterfully and systematically made it that way. So if we want people to stay in and invest in our community we have to start defining success for us in more ways than just financial.
The problem with limiting success to just financial is that it inherently comes with the white gaze. Since whites have the money to get, to the money you have to be successful based on the standards of those who have the money and power. We have always seen predominantly white institutions and establishments as the holy grail for ultimate achievement. But then we get there we ultimately realize somethings a bit off. What’s off? We are. We are missing all of the things that we need to make us feel fulfilled.
It is my assessment that success must be defined by purpose, community and money, in that order. Money is still very important but our folly is that we tend to make this the only or the main factor. And this decision has lead to us turning our back on ourselves over and over again. If we make moves based on money we will always be at the bottom of the totem pole because we don’t have it. (See masterful and systematic plan mentioned above.) And then we overlook the things we do have or we devalue them. Culture and sense of community are our two biggest assets that continually discount. We should promote these and have the money come to us instead of us chasing it. Let’s be us and be with us and monetize that.
So when we finally decide to see ourselves as successfully outside of the white gaze. We will start to see plenty of Deion Sanders that decide to stay at HBCUs and won’t even flinch with 5 times his salary is offered because he will know that money is not the only factor. Let’s be real, Deion isn’t in it for the money he has be financially successful for a long time and so he doesn’t have to make decisions based on money anymore. But if he does that’s his business. The bigger and more pressing question is how are making your decisions?