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2014 BET Experience At L.A. LIVE - Genius Talks Presented By RushCard

Source: Jonathan Leibson/BET / Getty

Just boycotting one corporation won’t protect Jemele Hill or anyone else.

This is just how corporate America works: Profits over people.

That’s how we got in this mess in the first place.

Corporations have all the rights of people.

They just don’t answer to the same justice system.

The late Dick Gregory often pointed this out with a simple observation: “I can fly a prostitute around the world first class and if I call her my secretary, it’s a tax write-off.”

Just the same, tobacco execs will never do time for the murders they contracted.

The wolves of Wall Street will never face RICO charges for their conspiracies.

And Harvey Weinstein will never be as contrite with his victims as he was with his board.

They only answer to advertisers and shareholders.

Who answer to the disease of consumerism they work to breed in everyone.

Using the tools in our hands:

The Internet.

Social Media.

Blockchain.

Our brains.

We can protect each other.

Financially, emotionally, even physically.

But Jemele, or you or me will not be safe to speak truth to power until all of our power is concentrated.

The solution for 45’s madness is focus and sanity.

Two years ago next month, students at the University of Missouri fired the president and still had time to graduate.

But they didn’t have the juice to get it done until one student almost starved himself to death.

And until the school’s football team threw their weight behind the right cause.

But this cause goes deeper than the NFL or NBA.

At this point, you have as much power as Hov, Bey or LeBron.

They’re watching you.

What are you consuming?

And what’s it making you shit out?

Who are you supporting?

And how are they directing the energy you give them?

Don’t get fired unless you can afford the fallout.

But you can start scouting the exits.

More than anything else, investing in your own escape plan will give Jemele the leverage to continue doing the right thing.

So don’t just turn off ESPN or the NFL because of this.

Turn it off because there’s better options out there.

Or because you have better shit to do.

If Jemele is Kaepernicked out of ESPN and forced to launch an indie platform, will you have time for it?

The way Michael Smith had time to skip last night’s SportsCenter?

And concerned student 1950 had time to check a racist institution in a state that was split during the Civil War;

The same state where Mike Brown was murdered by Darren Wilson a year earlier;

And they had finals coming up.

Protect Jemele by investing in yourself.

Not only for wealth, but health and love and happiness.

Make your friends and family members your new favs and followers.

Build a network that meets a basic need in your community.

Learn or re-master a skill that will make you useful in a world where we’re all working for each other.

Then teach it to everyone you can reach.

Woke is not the word.

Nobody can sleep through this current shit show.

Stay active.

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