CHARLES BARKLEY & AMERICAN RACE
Not too often do you get to write and present a rant to Sir Charles. In his style. On the phone. And then get a round of drinks from him for “that voice on the phone” when you see him in person a couple of months later. Yeah, that was an experience; to make Sir Charles listen to you rather than the other way round.
So anyway, Chuck wanted to do a 2.0 version of "Who's Afraid Of A Large Black Man" — his controversial and best-selling book that was intended to promote conversations about America's historical discomfort: Race.
"The book's got my conversations with Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Jesse Jackson, Samuel L Jackson, Morgan Freeman, Ice Cube, Marian Wright Edelman, Tiger Woods, Peter Guber and Robert Johnson — so why not do a digital version of it?", he asked. "Why not, but why just that?", we asked.
Ironically and unintentionally enough, a team with different shades of immigration was put together, including yours truly. That started months of head scratching, lunch sandwiches, whiteboarding, screw you's, hell yeah's and that sort of lovely stuff which somehow resulted in an original content platform with CHARLES BARKLEY called the AMERICAN RACE.
Like everything in the modern world of hyperactive media, this project will forever be in beta. This ‘race thing’ is not going away anytime soon. Charles knows it. We know it. But hopefully, somewhere down the line, maybe, perhaps, it will make a little difference, however tiny.
Charles Barkley, the Pied Piper of the American Race, ignites the effort with a MANIFESTO rant to attract partners, sponsors, ex colleagues, co-celebrities and participants.
SCREEN SHOTS from the TRAILER on TNT.
The INDEX on the TNT APP. Provocative episodes with local celebrities of different color and ethnicities.
The TRAILER on TNT.
One from a series of TOWN HALL EVENTS.
CONVERSATIONS in NEWS MEDIA CHANNELS.
The simple, single page BLUEPRINT of the core BIG PLATFORM IDEA.
CHARLES BARKLEY PRODUCTIONS fanning conversations through MUSIC, SPORT, ART, COMEDY, FASHION, FOOD, TRAVEL and EDUCATION.
Imagine EMINEM taking on JAY Z live or CHAPELLE sparring with SEINFELD. Both sides having at go at each other while touching on a contentious issue through music and humor.
Imagine Charles visiting troubled places in the world with BOURDAIN (sigh!) on Parts Unknown (sigh!) breaking bread with Jews and Arabs at the same table, eating the same food.
Imagine Charles skyping with school kids from a deep red state in an effort to have an open conversation, erase misconceptions and break stereotypes. Imagine one of the kids innocently asking Charles if he eats fried chicken every day, and Charles going into fits of laughter.
The STRATEGY DECK that laid the genesis, intent and vision of where the conversations can be channeled, how they can engage and who and how we can collaborate with.
The GENESIS of it all; when Charles' daughter asked him an uncomfortable question. “Am I white like mom or black like you?”
The BOOK that was written to find the answers.
The CURATION of a universe with the topic of race at its epicenter.
