Your Reign on the Top was Short Like Leprechauns: First Impressions of Jason Whitlock's The Undefeated

I just read the DeadSpin piece on The Undefeated, ESPN's & Jason Whitlock's upcoming site centered upon sports, popular culture and social commentary from the African American perspective.

While I've never been a huge fan of Jason Whitlock's work, I respect his opinions. I do not subscribe to the notion of the Black Monolith so I was excited to get his perspective on sports, popular culture and social commentary.

Prior to the DeadSpin piece, I read the entirety of the content available at The Undefeated and found it thought provoking but counter to my sensibilities.

Reading the details of the day-to-day operations at The Undefeated troubled me. According to Whitlock, one of the goals of the site is to raise young black journalists.

In essence, The Undefeated is as much as educational institution as it is a journalistic institution. This is where my troubles are centered. A primary tenet of action science research, a leading methodology in the organizational development of educational institutions, is comprehensive collaboration "where each person’s ideas are equally significant as potential resources for creating interpretive categories of analysis, negotiated among the participants.  It strives to avoid the skewing of credibility stemming from the prior status of an idea-holder."

Reading the DeadSpin details about Whitlock's authoritarian rule substantiates my lack of affinity for the site.

What would Google Do? author Jeff Jarvis asserts that Google, and innovative companies, create elegant organizations where like-minded individuals can engage.

The strategy and leadership of the Undefeated counters Google's philosophy. The site is not an elegant organization where African Americans can engage in the discourse of sports, pop culture and social commentary. It's a platform where Whitlock can spout his disdain for anything associated Hip-Hop culture and Black Millennial sensibilities.

I fear, with Whitlock at the helm, The Undefeated will fail as a site and, most unfortunately, fail as a spring board for young black writers!