Building the Beach: Interest Convergence, (Black) Capitalism, and Air Jordans

This paper uses water waves as a metaphor to critically examine Black athlete activism and Derrick Bell’s interest-convergence principle as an analytical lens for understanding how Black Athletes leveraged the capitalist system of sport to build power through wealth. Specifically, we focus on how the convergence of interest between Michael Jordan, Nike, and the National Basketball Association “built the beach” on which the current wave of Black athlete activists stand. While Jordan has been noted for his lack of activism related to race-related issues in the United States, Jordan’s ability to accumulate billions of dollars in generational wealth through interest-convergence, he did lay the foundation for current Black athlete activists including Steph Curry and Lebron James. As such, Black athlete activists like James and Curry have the ability to speak up and speak out when they deem it is necessary without the fear of financial ruin or loss of livelihood.