In defense of Jordan McGowan: Love & Basketball

When I was a kid, one of my favorite things was going outside and practicing the dribbling that I saw on the AND1 Mixtape Tour. Like many kids, my favorite tour member was Philip Champion, a.k.a Hotsauce. Hotsauce, with his braids and flair, was almost as important as Allen Iverson to young Black boys around the turn of the century from the 1990s to the 2000s. The AND1 Mixtape Tour brought a renewed interest in streetball. Children around the country would go outside and work on their dribbling. We would all try to perform moves like the “Slip & Slide,” the “Downshift,” and the most notable of all, the “OFF the Heezy.” These dribbling moves probably drove any basketball fan over the age of 30 insane, but streetball and the AND1 Mixtape tour were everything for the youth. Over the years, the now named AND1 Live Tour has lost its popularity, but streetball moves and the flair still influence players today. NBA players like Lance Stephenson, Jamal Crawford, and Kyrie Irving still carry a streetball mentality in attacking their opponents off of the dribble. In the 2000s, an NBA player named Rafer Alston, a.k.a. Skip To My Lou, actually got his start on the AND1 Mixtape Tour.

With this information in mind, I am concerned that the use of this move has caused the suspension of a young Black male educator in Sacramento, California. Since his hiring in 2017, Jordan McGowan has served as a History Teacher, the chair of the History and Social Science department, the Boys Basketball coach, the Black Student Union Advisor, and formerly the advisor for the Club live at Rio Terra Jr High school.

Over the last few years, we have been reminded that improving the prospects for Black youth in America’s schools means developing and diversifying the teachers inside the. The classroom must be reimagined and restructured to provide a safe space that recognizes the values of Black lives. That means recruiting, hiring, and retaining Black educators.

According to nearly every metric, Black teachers today support the achievement and well-being of Black children better. It has been found that Black students who have at least one Black teacher during elementary school are more likely to graduate high school and consider college. Black students with Black teachers experience less exclusionary discipline and fewer office visits, a crucial break in the school-to-prison pipeline, a disturbing and prevalent phenomenon where interactions with the school-discipline system lead to involvement with the criminal justice system. The benefits of Black teachers do not just extend to Black students; research has shown that students of color believe Black teachers have higher expectations of them and are more culturally sensitive than white teachers. Particularly now, when Black students are experiencing a new wave of trauma generated by police violence against Black bodies, and schools grapple with the ways in which they often perpetuate racist systems.

This is where the suspension and possible dismissal of Jordan McGowan becomes a failure of epic proportions. By all metrics, Mr. McGowan has been an excellent teacher, confidant, and mentor to his students. Why is Mr. McGowan not being punished severely for one infraction? Mr. McGowan has no previous disciplinary infractions.

Allow me to give you some more information. In November 2021, Rio Terra Jr. High School had basketball tryouts; one student could not make tryouts due to being in detention because of a previous disciplinary infraction. While on the phone with a colleague, the student, and Mr. McGowan had a short exchange. The outcome of that exchange was that that student would have to play Mr. McGowan one on one for his spot on the team. Mr. McGowan allowed the student to pick the parameters of the game. This game is where Mr. McGowan performed the “Off The Heezy” move.

To understand this fully, we need to understand Black culture and the connection Black teachers have to their students. Mr. McGowan could have easily allowed the student to stay in detention; instead, he offered the student an opportunity to 1. Cut his detention short. 2. Make the basketball team, and 3. Learn how to be responsible and respectful to adults. Mr. McGowan took these steps because that’s what Black teachers always do. Black educators have to find ways to educate while ensuring students learn life skills and have fun in a culturally appropriate environment. Mr. McGowan showed love through basketball.

There aren’t enough Black male teachers in the classroom, and now one who has gone above and beyond the call of duty is being forced out of the door on a 1st infraction. I wonder if Mr. McGowan is being punished for his Pan-Afrikan beliefs and his off-duty activities (Mr. McGowan has a nonprofit that feeds the community called the Neighbor program. He is also an activist who fights for his community consistently.).

You can read more about Jordan’s battle and his background here.

Please join me in supporting Mr. McGowan. If you would like to support Mr. McGowan and his case, please send an email to the board, sign the petition, or show up to the Twin Rivers School Board Meeting Tuesday, April 26, 2022, at 6 pm at 5115 Dudley Blvd, Bay A, McClellan, Ca. Please follow Jordan on Twitter, @j_mcgowan_, for updates.