Kwame J.A. Agyemang

An exploratory study of black male college athletes’ perceptions on race and athlete activism

This qualitative pilot case study focuses on black male athletes at a major university in the United States of America (USA) and utilizes critical race theory (CRT) to understand their perspectives on race and athlete activism in the context of American society and sport. Our interviews with this important stakeholder group uncovered four themes related to their perceptions of race and athlete activism: 1) race is still an important issue in American society and sport; 2) knowledge about the activism of black athletes from the past is important; 3) differences in the mindset and attitude toward activism between current and past black athletes exist; and 4) black athletes have a responsibility to speak on social issues and causes today. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for theory, research, and practice. In addition, future research directions are offered for scholars who are interested in diversity and social justice in the context of American higher education and college sport.

Black male athlete activism and the link to Michael Jordan: A transformational leadership and social cognitive theory analysis

Have you ever thought about the potentialities coming about if Michael Jordan chose to emulate previous figures such as Muhammad Ali, John Carlos, and Tommie Smith regarding social activism? Michael Jordan has often been criticized for his failure to speak on social matters. Like Jordan, contemporary Black male athletes’ engagement in social activism has been minimal, unmatched to that of their predecessors of decades ago. The article employs transformational leadership principles and social cognitive theory (SCT) to analyze the link between Michael Jordan and the lack of Black male athlete activism in the current era. Implications for current and future generations of Black male athletes are discussed. Future research directions are also presented for scholars interested in Jordan’s impact on Black male athlete activism.

Toward a framework of “athlete citizenship” in professional sport through authentic community stakeholder engagement

Purpose – While there is extant research regarding corporate citizenship, the literature negates the micro level of analysis as it only concentrates on macro and/or meso levels. Utilizing sport as a context, more specifically, professional athletes, the purpose of this paper is to introduce a concept termed athlete citizenship. The author defines athlete citizenship as the manner in which a professional athlete conducts himself or herself (on and away from competition) and makes a positive impact on society. The author centralizes community stakeholder engagement as one method of exemplifying athlete citizenship qualities. In doing so, the author attempts to provide professional athletes and their managers with a framework to engage community stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach – Given the scope of what is asked of professional athletes in the current age, the author adopts Sequeira and Warners (2007) framework on how organizations can engage community stakeholders and applies it to professional at...

Toward a framework for understanding Black male athlete social responsibility (BMASR) in big-time American sports.

Stemming from their commodification as a means for growing sport into a commercial entity, multi-million dollar professional contracts with teams and sponsors, and sometimes, socially (un)acceptable acts, current Black male professional athletes in big-time American sports face not only the pressure to perform athletically, but also to conduct themselves in a socially responsible manner. Given the above mentioned factors, this paper sees today’s Black male athlete as a business, therefore necessitating them to engage in socially responsible acts as a means of management, just as scholars have encouraged CSR initiatives, among many strategies, to manage a corporation. Answering the call of sport management scholars to further analyse and expand CSR principles in sport, the purpose of this paper is to illuminate on Black male athlete social responsibility (BMASR) as a management strategy with the intention of moving toward a framework for understanding this concept.

Different From the Rest: An Interview With Nic Harris of the Carolina Panthers

Athlete transgressions have become quite the norm in professional sports as athletes are performing acts which are surely a detriment to their career. This is especially true of some Black male athletes in professional sports (e.g., Michael Vick, Derrick Coleman, Barry Bonds, and Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones). In light of this, this interview with Nic Harris of the Carolina Panthers illustrates how he has attempted to shun these negative associations among Black male athletes. Secondarily, given the scant attention as to how professional athletes go about managing their careers, the interview gives insight as to what goes into managing a professional career.

Managing celebrity via impression management on social network sites: An exploratory study of NBA celebrity athletes

Purpose Central to the celebrity creation process is mass media communication and impression management (IM) behaviors of social actors. The emergence of social network sites (SNSs) such as Twitter offers a platform for social actors to engage both of these means in efforts to manage their celebrity. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of how celebrity athletes manage their celebrity status by investigating IM tactics employed by National Basketball Association (NBA) celebrities on Twitter. Design/methodology/approach A content analytic design was employed to examine the Twitter posts of the top ten most popular and influential NBA celebrity athletes (past and present) at the time of tweet acquisition. Findings The findings revealed the celebrity athletes used a variety of IM tactics to manage their celebrity. Defensive IM tactics (i.e. reactive measures taken) were used sparingly when compared to offensive IM tactics (i.e. proactive measures taken). Also, consistent with extant IM literature, the celebrity athletes utilized IM tactics in isolation as well as in combination. Practical implications The extant literature suggests that celebrities cultivate their relationships with the various media outlets with the potential to create (or even damage) one’s celebrity. This study offers celebrity athletes and their managers with useful insight on celebrity management. Originality/value This study is the first to examine IM in a sport business context, particularly the use of IM of athletes on SNSs.