NFL PLAYERS, TEAM OWNERS, FANS, SPONSORS, MILITARY AND POLICE… IT’S TIME TO COME TOGETHER
The NFL has a problem. It has become the focal point of America’s race problem. There are a lot of people pointing fingers, taking sides and dishing out harsh opinions. There are also a lot of people starting to offer solutions. The league itself has even offered tens of millions of dollars. The trouble is, this isn't a problem that you can just throw money at and make it go away. So far, none of the solutions I’ve seen offer a comprehensive plan to get to the heart of the matter. America has a race problem and we need reconciliation.
Here are a few examples of how America’s race problems are affecting those affiliated with the NFL:
- Detroit Lions owner Martha Ford reportedly offered to donate money to social justice efforts if her players stopped taking a knee. Throwing money at a problem doesn’t make the problem go away, it merely masks the symptoms. That gesture might have come from her heart, but many saw it as hush money. It was an offer that would help solve her problem, but it wasn't clear how it was going to solve "the" problem.
- During an investor call, Papa John’s founder and CEO John Schnatter blamed the NFL for the company's drop in sales because of the ongoing player protests. Within two weeks of that call, a white supremacist website declared Papa Johns “the official pizza of the alt-right” and the company’s shares dropped 12%. The backlash has been fierce. The company issued an apology and has stated that it is "working with the players and league" to figure out a way in which they can protest inequality and honor the anthem at the same time.”
- Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has been outspoken on the subject of players taking a knee, saying at one point that he would bench anyone who didn’t stand. On November 17, 2017, he apologized for a comment he made four years earlier. According to The Afro Newspaper, a White man asked Jones if he would tape a message for his fiancée. Jones appeared to be joking when he said, “Hey, Jennifer, congratulations on the wedding. Now, you know he’s with a Black girl tonight, don’t you?”
So, Mrs. Ford, Mr. Jones and other team owners, NFL players & retired players, Mr. Schnatter and other sponsors, fans, elected officials, law enforcement, active duty military, my fellow veterans, and concerned citizens everywhere, I offer this suggestion: Let’s talk it out. Wow, revolutionary! Martin Luther King Jr. said “People hate each other because they fear each other. They fear each other because they don’t know each other, and they don’t know each other because they don’t communicate with each other, and they don’t communicate with each other because they are separated from each other.” Like ingredients before a great pizza is made, we are separated from each other. So let’s come together.
I offer a simple 3-step process to get to the heart of the matter.
- EDUCATION: Everyone mentioned above, gather at safe community spaces like schools and churches to watch my film, “WALKING WHILE BLACK: L.O.V.E. Is The Answer.” It was made for this. The film deals with the problem very effectively and it’s balanced. It's so balanced that civil rights groups like NAACP chapters and law enforcement organizations like Law Enforcement Action Partnership and National Organization of Retired State Troopers love the film. It also offers a solution: L.O.V.E. That acronym stands for LEARN about the people in your community, OPEN your heart to their needs, VOLUNTEER yourself to be part of the solution in their life, and EMPOWER others to do the same. The film is receiving praise from police as well as social justice activists — a rare point of agreement between those two groups. I recommend that these be community-based screenings, not mega-large gatherings with thousands of people in stadiums. No, that’s too big and impersonal. 200 to 500 people at a time with 20-30 events taking place within 20-30 miles of each NFL stadium over a period of several months, plus additional screenings in additional NFL TV markets.
- DIALOGUE: Immediately after each screening, there should be a brief Q&A and a 90-minute workshop where small groups of people comprised of all of the people groups mentioned above gather over pizza to discuss the film and work through their feelings and offer solutions. It will be important to have lots of young people at these events -- after all, they are the proverbial future and they are an important part of the solution. Each small group should include at least one current or former NFL player and at least one peace officer from the local community. Each small group selects an action step they are willing to work on together to help solve the problems in their community. Each group will share their action step with the entire gathering at the end.
- ACTION STEP: Each small group selects a teen or young adult (ages13-23) and a peace officer to co-direct/produce a 5-minute film by their group that will be created in the month to follow. The theme of the 5-minute film created by that group will be based on the L.O.V.E. Is The Answer principles in the film. The purpose of the film will be to put L.O.V.E. into action in their community. The video should include the NFL player, the peace officer, young people and others working together to lead their community down a path of reconciliation. Each of the 5-minute films will be entered into our national L.O.V.E. Is The Answer 5-Minute Film competition for consideration for monthly prizes and national recognition at a celebration in Santa Monica in the Spring of 2019. We hope that one film will be chosen by each NFL team to be shown during halftime of a game in the fall of 2018.
Total time of each gathering is 4 hours — about the amount of time it takes to go to an NFL game. That time, along with the additional time group members spend with each other to produce their 5-minute films will lead to barriers breaking down, relationships being built and communities being strengthened.
These three steps will move people into a space of sharing an educational experience together, talking and working through issues together, and finally, putting solutions into action together.
We, the filmmakers, cast of the film, and our partners, are trained and prepared to organize and attend these events nationwide to lead the discussions and activities so that all of us can reconcile our differences and celebrate the diversity of our nation.
Think of it in pizza terms. Cheese pizza might be good but when you add different ingredients, it can be so much better. And keep in mind that even cheese pizza is made of at least three ingredients, the dough, the sauce and the cheese. Each ingredient is good, but they don’t become great until they are together. The dough is no better than the sauce, the cheese is no better than the pepperoni, and the sausage is no better than the green pepper. They are all different, not better or worse than the other. Separate, they are good. Together, however, they can be great.
Let’s choose to be great together.
Peace & L.O.V.E.,
A.J. Ali
Director & Producer, “WALKING WHILE BLACK: L.O.V.E. Is The Answer" documentary film
Founder, L.O.V.E. Is The Answer Movement
CONTACT ME to organize screenings in your city or to become a sponsor of this reconciliation movement!
SEE THE FILM NOW at www.walkingwhileblackthemovie.com
SEE DETAILS OF THE L.O.V.E. IS THE ANSWER 5-MINUTE FILM CONTEST AND JOIN THE L.O.V.E. IS THE ANSWER MOVEMENT at www.loveistheanswermovement.com