OPEN LETTER TO JAY-Z…THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU TO DO SOMETHING REALLY BIG!

*Originally Published on April 23, 2013 on v103.cbslocal.com

OPEN LETTER TO JAY-Z…THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU TO DO SOMETHING REALLY BIG!

By: Mo Ivory

So, you want to be a certified NFL agent?  

That's great.  It seems like there is nothing you can't do.  

I'm proud of you, your progress, your maturity, your overall growth.  I've met you before, I was actually there in the Green Room at HARPO studios when you made your first appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" after she visited you in Brooklyn.  I told you how unbelievably humble you are you thanked me for the support.  

I've been a fan since Reasonable Doubt.  I'm from the Bronx.

These past few weeks, you've been in the news a lot.  The Cuba trip, the Response song, the references to President Obama and Roc Nation Sports.

When I heard that in order to become a certified agent with the NFL, applicants have to not only have a college degree, but also a post graduate degree, I was surprised.  I began to think about it and realized it makes sense.  As an agent, you are negotiating multi-million dollar deals and endorsements, therefore business and negotiation skills are a must.  Obviously, you have those skills after years of being the subject of deals and learning the ins and outs as your manager and lawyers negotiated the fine points.  I know you get involved. 

So, when it comes to you, I think the NFL Players Association should waive the requirement for the post graduate degree since you meet the standard of having "substantial negotiating experience".  This is in within their bylaws to do.  

But what about the college degree?  That's a requirement the NFLPA cannot waive for practical experience.

Jay-Z…you have a real teachable moment here to be an example for millions if not billions of people, you can use your enormous celebrity to change lives, you can cross into a category you have never been in before…COLLEGE GRADUATE.  

JAY-Z…I'M CHALLENGING YOU TO GO BACK TO COLLEGE AND GET YOUR DEGREE!  YOU CAN DO IT!

Imagine what that would do for our community.  

Imagine how inspired black kids would become to get their education.  Any kids.

Imagine how many adults you could inspire to go back and get their degrees.  

Imagine the movement you could start to make getting a college degree cool.  

Imagine walking across the stage to get your degree and throwing your specially Roc-Nation designed graduation cap in the air.  

Imagine telling Blue Ivy the story when she grows up.

Actually, it won't be that hard.  You can do it online so it doesn't affect your tour schedule or your prior commitments.  You can get help from tutors and your college counselor and maybe even finish in less time than it usually takes.  You could write papers the way you spit out lyrics, you already have all the words you need.  Just make sure someone actually writes them down, like you did in your book Decoded.  You're brilliant with words, so this is not going to be hard for you.

Start a movement Jay!  

When you go to college, you should do it big…like you always do.  Encourage other entertainers to get or finish their degrees.  Make an album about the experience, write a book and then make it into a movie…"The Education of Shawn Carter".  It will be a collector's item, a tool for teaching like no other.

I know you have a ton of people that would be willing to help.  Just in case you need one more, I'm really smart and I will help too.  I'm good at college applications and personal statements and getting recommendations letters for your package.  

I work at the radio station V-103 in Atlanta, call me if you want to talk about this.  Just ask for Mo.

Looking forward to speaking with you soon.  

Stop Telling Me I'm Yelling...Just Because You Are Not Listening!

I'm sitting on a plane...in first class. I got upgraded. I'm thankful. I needed a drink.  

I'm mentally, physically and sort of psychologically drained.

Because of Ferguson.
Because of Staten Island.  
Because of Sanford.
Because of Fruitvale Station.
Because of Bensonhurst.
I've been in this state for awhile.

I turned on my headphones to listen to some songs I go to for peace.  Songs by Kirk Franklin, Donnie McClurkin, Alanis Morisette, Shania Twain, Yolanda Adams, Whitney Houston, Notorious B.I.G., Nancy Wilson.  I start silently belting out one of the songs which makes me sit up a bit and probably sway ever so slightly.  I'm aware of the white gentleman sitting next to me that begrudgingly got up to let me to my window seat, who grunted when I said "Hello, how are you?"  

He's avoided any humanly possible contact with me this entire flight.  It's ok, I get it.  He's not listening.  That's why I want to yell...to get his attention, to wake him up.  To remind him I'm allowed to sit here, right next to him...with the same benefits afforded all people sitting in first class.

I really want to ask him if he's been watching the coverage of the situation in Ferguson, Missouri and the killing of Michael Brown. If he has a son? If his teenage son ever shoplifted from a store in their town?  Did the shop owner call him, his Dad, to come get him?  Or the police? I want him to know Michael Brown's life meant something to a whole lot of people, including me.  So did the lives of Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis, Oscar Grant, Yusef Hawkins and countless others.

I do believe that one encounter, one conversation, one mindset change, starts the process.  That process is the process of changing the degree to which institutionalized racism and hate-crime economics affects the mindset of mainstream Americans and allows them to believe the negative perceptions and stereotypes that have become a cultural burden for African-Americans and especially...black men.  

That one conversation may get a white person to take a second view of black suffering, heck for some...a first view.  That conversation could very well be the first time a white person has a candid conversation about race with a black person and vice versa.  I don't mind being the one to start that process.  

Imagine if every white person at some point in their career or job had to have an African-American boss?  Imagine if the richest private school in America had an African-American male headmaster that determined the fate of a 95% white student population?  And he too controlled the institutions finances?  Imagine if there was an African-American President of the United States who could govern and lead without constant objections from those that battle him based merely on the the fact that he exists?  Imagine that.

Stop yelling Mo!  No thanks, I'll keep yelling until images of dead black boys stop flashing across my television day after day, week after week.

Stop yelling Mo!  No thanks, I'll stop yelling when police departments made up of officers that do not reflect, care or concern themselves with the citizens they are to serve...start taking measures to diversify their population, train officers and change their inherent bias attitudes.

Stop yelling Mo!  No thanks, I'll stop yelling when the laws of this country are made for all and enforced equally.

Stop yelling Mo!  No thanks, I'll stop yelling when respect for black life equals the same respect given to white life.

SO, STOP TELLING ME TO STOP YELLING...JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT LISTENING!

Disclaimer:
1. This does not apply to all white people.
2. Black people have to take personal responsibility for themselves.
3. Black on black crime exist, so does white on black crime.
4. This article is not really about yelling, it's just a term.
5. Yelling is relative to who's listening.
6. I've never talked softly.
7. I saw the looting, that's not the issue.