Before the 2020 Election, rapper, actor, and sports team owner, Oshay Jackson (better known as Ice Cube), had a meeting with former President Donald Trump and the backlash was swift and harsh. Now he is in contact with the Biden Administration to discuss his Contract with Black America.
The need to address wealth inequality in America is now. Should Ice Cube be the sole conduit to connect the dots between Black America and the change we seek? Real systemic change requires thought leaders, experts and young innovators who represent the pulse of our collective struggle.
The Contract with Black America is not an original concept. Tavis Smiley brought leaders together in 2005 with the same idea. Before him, the Black Panther Party had a list of demands. And before them, Whitney Young, who was the head of the National Urban League and the last person to speak at the 1963 March on Washington, delivered a comprehensive $145 billion social and economic plan for Black Americans, called a “Domestic Marshall Plan.”
Were any of the previous plans incorporated into this latest iteration? There are frameworks from our ancestors and elders who did not have this opportunity to insert themselves as Ice Cube has. Nevertheless, their ideas need to be at the table now. That is how we exact lasting change—with research, facts, historical data and the right intentions.
Does Ice Cube have good intentions? Perhaps. Should he be the one to deliver the plan for the entire Black collective? What do you think?
