Interview Segment Only: Jaylen Brown is building Black Wall Street in Boston.

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Stephen A. Smith Show – Interview with Jaylen Brown on Building Black Wall Street in Boston

Release Date: October 23, 2024

In this compelling episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show, host Stephen A. Smith sits down with NBA star Jaylen Brown to delve into Brown's ambitious initiative to build Black Wall Street in Boston. The conversation spans various critical topics, including racial wealth disparities, educational programming, community engagement, and Brown's personal inspirations. Below is a detailed summary of their discussion, enriched with notable quotes and timestamps for reference.

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1. Introduction to Black Wall Street Initiative

The episode kicks off with Stephen A. Smith acknowledging Jaylen Brown's recent achievements, including his lucrative five-year, $300+ million deal and his role in securing a championship (01:06). Smith invites Brown to elaborate on his mission to establish Black Wall Street in Boston.

Notable Quote:

Stephen A. Smith [01:06]: "Black Wall Street here in Boston, on the day that you signed your five-year, 300 plus million dollar deal, which, by the way, nobody refuted, we all knew you deserved..."

2. Addressing the Racial Wealth Gap

Jaylen Brown highlights the persistent racial wealth gap in Boston, referencing a 2016 report by The Boston Globe which noted that the median household income for Black families was approximately $80,000 compared to triple digits for white families (01:54).

Notable Quotes:

Jaylen Brown [01:30]: "It's all about my commitment, my platform to the community. I've been here in Boston for nine years now. And one of the things that I noticed is that the racial wealth gap is, is involatile, basically."

Stephen A. Smith [01:54]: "Heard that wealth gap, if you look at the median household for black families, it's like $80,000 compared to, you know, triple digits for white families in America. Is that true?"

Brown emphasizes that Boston has consistently ranked among the top five cities with significant wealth disparities over the past several decades (02:07).

3. Introducing the Juice Foundation and the Boston Exchange

Brown explains that his foundation, Juice (pronounced "Juice"), focuses on addressing wealth disparity through educational programming. He also introduces the Boston Exchange, inspired by historical Black economic hubs like the Black Panther movement and 1920s Tulsa's Black Wall Street.

Notable Quote:

Jaylen Brown [02:21]: "Long time. And that issues from systemic inequality that has just, you know, digressed through time. So the Boston Exchange, which is a, you know, a spin-off version of what kind of Black Panther. I mean, Black Wall Street. And also 1920s Tulsa, Oklahoma..."

4. Designing the Bridge Program at MIT

A significant portion of the discussion centers on Brown's role in designing a bridge program at MIT aimed at underrepresented youth. This program integrates STEM and STEAM education, including space exploration and artificial intelligence, to foster social mobility.

Notable Quotes:

Jaylen Brown [03:13]: "Another foundation that is more so Boston Exchange is wealth disparity. The Juice foundation, they deal with a lot of the programming... I design a curriculum over at MIT... science, STEM, STEAM based, but it includes space exploration, includes artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, etc."

Jaylen Brown [05:10]: "Yes, sir."

Stephen A. Smith [05:08]: "You said you designed the curriculum?"

Jaylen Brown [05:17]: "All of the above come up with the courses... We include leadership seminars which I lead, we include some yoga... interactive, you got to be action-based learning..."

Brown details how the program not only provides academic knowledge but also integrates activities like yoga and leadership seminars to create a comfortable and inclusive environment for the participants (05:10 - 06:51).

5. Engaging the Business Community

When questioned about the business community's reception to his initiatives, Brown expresses optimism but also acknowledges the challenges in securing support and resources.

Notable Quotes:

Stephen A. Smith [06:51]: "How receptive is the business community to your agenda, your objective..."

Jaylen Brown [07:03]: "Honestly, I think it should and could be more, but I think people are kind of waiting to see what the next leading steps are... We're gonna keep moving, we're gonna keep pushing forward..."

6. Navigating Corporate America with Principles

Smith probes into whether Brown’s steadfast principles might hinder corporate support. Brown counters by highlighting the evolving landscape of corporate culture, emphasizing authenticity and adaptability over traditional norms.

Notable Quotes:

Stephen A. Smith [07:48]: "Could it be that it's a challenge because of what you stand on and how principled you are..."

Jaylen Brown [08:25]: "It's 2024, right? Like it's a different game than it was in 1985... the game is changing... you could be yourself, you could dress casually... if you're good at your craft."

Brown advocates for a modern approach to corporate engagement, where diversity and individuality are increasingly valued (08:23 - 09:44).

7. Inspirations and Role Models in Sports

The conversation shifts to Brown’s inspirations within the NBA and beyond. He mentions influential figures like Andre Iguodala and Kobe Bryant, citing Bryant's entrepreneurial spirit as a significant motivator for his own ventures.

Notable Quotes:

Jaylen Brown [10:06]: "Andre was my mentor... A lot I pulled from Kobe Bryant as well. I know Kobe didn't do a lot of talking either."

Jaylen Brown [11:02]: "The reason why I started this shoe company is because I read an article around 2019 or so that Kobe was doing the same thing before he passed... allowing them to invest into the company as it grows."

Brown shares how Kobe Bryant’s initiatives inspired him to create a shoe company that provides athletes with better investment opportunities, reflecting Bryant's legacy (11:18 - 12:20).

8. Symbolism in Brown’s Shoe Design

In a lighter yet meaningful exchange, Stephen A. Smith inquires about the symbolism behind the numbers on Brown’s sneaker. Brown confirms their significance, representing values like spiritual awakening, hard work, and creativity.

Notable Quotes:

Stephen A. Smith [12:21]: "The number seven represents spiritual awakening, wisdom, and understanding... Did I do my homework?"

Jaylen Brown [12:43]: "Yeah, I got it."

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Conclusion

Jaylen Brown's efforts to build Black Wall Street in Boston underscore his dedication to addressing systemic inequality through education and community initiatives. By leveraging his platform in sports and entrepreneurship, Brown aims to create lasting change and inspire future generations. This episode offers insightful perspectives on the intersection of sports, business, and social justice, highlighting Brown's multifaceted approach to community empowerment.

For listeners seeking inspiration and a deeper understanding of how athletes can influence societal change, this interview provides a comprehensive and motivating narrative.

Transcript

[Greg Rosenthal]

What's up, everyone? It's Greg Rosenthal and I'm teaming up with the king of spring, Daniel Jeremiah. He requires me to say that we're going to be bringing you 40s and free agents, the only podcast you'll need this NFL draft season. From DJs mock drafts to my top 101, free agents will have it covered for you with all new episodes every Thursday keeping you up to date as we head to the NFL Draft. Listen to 40s and free agents starting on March 6th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Julie Swerbinks]

What's up, everyone? Julie Swerbinks here along with former NHL player Nate Thompson.

[Nate Thompson]

We're doing a new podcast together. Here we go.

[Julie Swerbinks]

The name Energy Line with Nate and jsb.

[Nate Thompson]

Each week we'll get together and talk about hockey life. All topics are fair game, right?

[Julie Swerbinks]

Exactly. And you'll never know who will drop by to join us.

[Nate Thompson]

Julia's pretty well connected. She has text threads going that you wouldn't believe.

[Julie Swerbinks]

Listen to Energy Line with Nate and JSP on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Black Wall street here in Boston, on the day that you signed your five year, 300 plus million dollar deal, which, by the way, nobody refuted, we all knew you deserved, and that was before you won the DAG on championship. Okay. With all of that being said, talk to everybody about what you're trying to accomplish and what that specific project is all about and what it means to you.

[Jaylen Brown]

It's all about my commitment, my platform to the community. I've been here in Boston for nine years now. And one of the things that I noticed is that the racial wealth gap is, is involatile, basically. You know, is it true that I.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Heard that wealth gap, if you look at the median household for black families, it's like $8 compared to, you know, triple digits for white families in America. Is that, is that true? They said something along those lines. Is that the numbers that you have.

[Jaylen Brown]

The Boston Globe reported that in like 2016. And that's not probably where it is now. Boston is still top five in wealth disparity. And they've been that for the last 20, 40, 50.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Right.

[Jaylen Brown]

Long time. And that issues from systemic inequality that has just, you know, digressed through time. So the Boston Exchange, which is a, you know, a spin off version of what kind of Black Panther. I mean, black Wall street. And also 1920s Tulsa, Oklahoma.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yeah.

[Jaylen Brown]

And also the Rainbow Coalition, of course, that took place in Chicago From Fred Hampton, like maybe I pulled from those two. But be able to use a platform through sports to bring people together and throw everything that we got at trying to improve that wealth disparity.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You also have a foundation called Juice. It's the number seven U, I, C, E, but it's the pronounced Juice. Talk about that for a second, what its mission is.

[Jaylen Brown]

Another foundation that is more so Boston Exchange is wealth disparity. The Juice foundation, they deal with a lot of the programming, which is through education, which is like the bridge program people in Boston are familiar with is where when I signed my deal, I had a bunch of kids around me that were behind me. Those were my students. Okay. In my bridge program, I design a curriculum over at mit, okay, pretty much every summer. And it is science, stem, STEAM based, but it includes space exploration, includes artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, etc. And I take kids from Dorchester, from Roxbury, from under underrepresented communities and build the bridge for them at mit. I think that's important because they get the exposure from these STEM and STEAM based curriculums that can also help shape their social mobility. So just by putting this environment, allowing them to get internships, allowing them to sign up for different programs, allowing them to be in a space where they see they self being successful instead of seeing they self being in a place that, you know, it's not too many opportunities, I think that's what the bridge program is about and that's what Juice foundation has funded. And we are in our fourth annual year this summer and you know, we track the kids and push the kids to sign up for internships so they can just build their resumes and experience. And you know, I design the curriculum, but hopefully it builds for them to have a more impacted and a different kind of trajectory than what systemically is laid out for them.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You said you designed the curriculum?

[Jaylen Brown]

Yes, sir.

[Stephen A. Smith]

All right, what is explain, what does that mean exactly? You come up with the classes, you come up with the courses. What exactly does that mean?

[Jaylen Brown]

All of the above come up with the courses. Also, when you bring kids into a counter space like mit, especially coming from an underrepresented community, you want to make sure that they're comfortable. So you know, you don't want to make, you want it to come off pretentious, you don't want it to come off as like above or anything like that. So when you build the curriculum, you also need to include things to level the space. So we include leadership, you know, seminars which I lead, we include, you know, some yoga, depending on we include some activities just to make the kids feel integrated into the space. And we build that on top of like interviewing the professors. Mit, shout out to mit, shout out to Dava, Dava Newman. She's the chairman for the MIT Media Lab. She'll send suggestions of professors who we think that would be great. First we have conversations with them about what they want to communicate and how they want to communicate. And kids don't want to be sitting there listening to no lectures. You got to be interactive, you got to be action based learning. So we combine all of those things together and come up with a four day camp or so. And some kids are, they're thinking they about to, you know, they come into Jaylen Brown, they think they're about to play some basketball, but now we got them in class at mit.

[Stephen A. Smith]

How receptive is the business community to your agenda, your objective, and how much do they facilitate you being able to accomplish what you're aiming to accomplish?

[Jaylen Brown]

The business community? Honestly, I think it should and could be more, but I think people are kind of waiting to see kind of what is the next leading steps. But I thought more people would be reaching out. I think they, you know, they post about it on social media and they talk about it, you know, online. But people don't always put, you know, their resources into something. They, and, but then they complain as well when they, when there's something missing. So we're gonna keep moving, we're gonna keep pushing forward and I'm hopeful and I'm up to optimistic that, you know, the right people are going to align as well.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Now, you know, I asked you the question because look at all you're doing, look at what your objective is. Who wouldn't want to support that? Nevertheless, you just articulated it's a challenge.

[Jaylen Brown]

Yes.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Could it be that it's a challenge because of what you stand on and how principled you are and you're not somebody that, dare we say, is going to play the game that corporate America might want you to play. You ever thought about that?

[Jaylen Brown]

I hate the term play the game.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I know a lot of us do.

[Jaylen Brown]

It's 2024, right? Like it's a different game than it was in 1985. Okay, similar people that are moving to pieces, but the game, I think that this generation has the pro west to be able to do a lot different things that maybe the generation that came before wasn't able to. Through the power of social media, through the lens of like just the media in general. Multiple people are starting platforms, multiple people are entrepreneurs and Working for theyself. So before, like the social norms of like corporate America is like, man, you gotta dress a certain way, speak a certain way, you know, be a certain way. You gotta have a college degree to be successful. This is what I view as playing the game 2024. I think that still exists, but we've seen that game change where now you could be yourself, you could dress casually, or however you feel comfortable, could have red, blue, yellow, green hair and people will still accept you if you're good at your craft.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Right.

[Jaylen Brown]

I think that game is changing. Maybe it hasn't changed completely yet, but that's what I want people to recognize as well, that the game is changing. It is not the same. And it's, it's our responsibility that the next 20 to 50 years looks different than it looks right now.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Is there an NBA player that you look up to more than others?

[Jaylen Brown]

Currently or currently?

[Stephen A. Smith]

I can imagine anybody. You looking up to anybody more than you looked up to Bill Russell? God rest yourself.

[Jaylen Brown]

Yeah.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Can't imagine that.

[Jaylen Brown]

No. What's the example?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Right? But a modern day, present day player.

[Jaylen Brown]

Like any sport or just any sport, doesn't matter.

[Stephen A. Smith]

But I'm also gonna ask about the NBA too, because you're in it for sure.

[Jaylen Brown]

So one of my good friends is Vinnie Jr. The soccer player, and he don't speak English as well, but this summer I got to go to, to Brazil to get to experience it with, with his culture and what it's like being him. You know, he plays in Madrid, in Spain, and he has a lot of the same issues that go on in America around, you know, race and things like that. And him coming from Brazil, from the area that he come from, and being able to represent not only his country, but South America as well. And I think he's doing it class and I've been able to, to just be a fly on the wall in his journey.

[Stephen A. Smith]

NBA player.

[Jaylen Brown]

NBA player. Yes, I would say. I mean, Andre just retired, but that would be. Andre was my mentor. Andre Iguodala, good brother. I pulled a lot from Kobe Bryant as well. I know Kobe didn't do a lot of talking either.

[Stephen A. Smith]

He acted a lot.

[Jaylen Brown]

He acted a lot, and I followed a lot of his moves. A lot of the reason why I started this shoe company is because I read an article around 2019 or so that Kobe was doing the same thing before he passed. You know, he. I read that he had partnered with like the CEO of Uber or whatnot, and he wanted to give athletes better percentages and better deals and allow them to be able to invest into the company as it grows. And I thought this was unique. You know, I remember, like, seeing this, and they had a picture of the shoe as well. And I remember, like, man, how cool would it be if I could be one of those athletes? And I never got to meet Kobe, you know, and he passed. Never got to shake his hand. Never got to build with him. But, you know, some of the stuff that's left behind, I like to. To walk in because I think Kobe was one of the reasons I picked up a basketball in the first place.741.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That's the sneaker right here.

[Jaylen Brown]

Yes, sir.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Want to make sure I'm accurate here? The number seven represents spiritual awakening, wisdom, and understanding. Correct. Number four symbolizes hard work, stability, and practicality. Number one stands for new beginnings, creativity, and independence. Did I do my homework?

[Jaylen Brown]

Yeah, I got it. Yeah. Yeah.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That's a lot. It's worthy. Ain't nothing. I'm not throwing any shade on it whatsoever, but that's a lot. That. That. That's typical of you.

[Greg Rosenthal]

What's up, everyone? It's Greg Rosenthal, and I'm teaming up with the king of spring, Daniel Jeremiah. He requires me that. We're going to be bringing you 40s and free agents, the only podcast you'll need this NFL draft season. From DJs mock drafts to my top 101 free agents, we'll have it covered for you with all new episodes every Thursday, keeping you up to date as we head to the NFL Draft. Listen to 40s and free agents starting on March 6th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Julie Swerbinks]

What's up, everyone? Julie Swerbinks here along with former NHL player Nate Thompson.

[Nate Thompson]

We're doing a new podcast together. Here we go.

[Julie Swerbinks]

The name Energy Line with Nate and jsb.

[Nate Thompson]

Each week, we'll get together and talk about hockey life. All topics are fair game, right?

[Julie Swerbinks]

Exactly. And you'll never know who will drop by to join us.

[Nate Thompson]

Julie is pretty well connected. She has text threads going that you wouldn't believe.

[Julie Swerbinks]

Listen to Energy Line with Nate and jsb on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.