Position Paper No.1: Political Pundits

In a world full of opinionated beings, we are getting information, true and untrue from everywhere. Social media has only exacerbated the rate at which everyone can put their opinions on the world wide web. For the eight months or so Americans have been encouraged to stay home, socially distance themselves, and maintain proper cleaning and sanitizing practices. While home Americans took to social media with apps such as the ever so popular TikTok, Instagram and Facebook as a means of entertainment and even serious news. In times of such tragedy, uncertainty and distance people have lots of time on their hands to spend scrolling through social media. I know that I cannot be the only one who has found great new influencers that I enjoy seeing on social media or in their respected fields. Before I introduce the political pundit that I will be analyzing we must find out exactly what it means to be a political pundit and what exactly they do. Merriam Webster defines a pundit as being, “a person who gives opinions in an authoritative manner usually through the mass media”. Meaning that a political pundit is someone who offers their political opinions authoritatively through the mass media for all to see. There is no cookie cutter form that a political pundit must adhere to, hence the reason I have chosen to analyze, “TI” as a political pundit. 

Clifford Joseph Harris, formerly known as TI or Tip Harris is known for being a Grammy award-winning American rapper, actor, and entrepreneur. He was born September 25th, 1980 in Atlanta Georgia. He has been married to Tameka Cottle for the past decade and is a father of six children. He has been in the music industry for over twenty years. Meaning he has acquired quite the following and fanbase from his music alone. He has also acted in quite a few films, his most popular film being Atlanta. Just last year the Georgia Senate awarded him with an award for the role that he played in his community. The award was for the positive impact that he has on the city of Atlanta. He is a man who has feed the homeless, offered guidance to the youth as well as providing scholarships for those seeking to further their educations. I am aware that TI Harris is a rather obscure choice for a political pundit, but this is the world that we live in. He has been quite an activist for his community. His story is that of an overcomer which I believe makes him even more relatable to everyday people. He is a man he makes mistakes and because he is a celebrity, we can see fix those mistakes. Not once has he said that he was perfect and always urges people to work toward being the best versions of themselves. His acts of service show how his fans and viewers can make change in their neighborhoods.

In the fall of 2017 as protests were taking place in Atlanta, Georgia against a popular restaurant by the name of Houston's. The restaurant was frequented by many people within the music industry as well as minorities patrons. Ernestine Johnson, a millionaire business mogul in Atlanta, and her party attempted to dine in the restaurant with a party of seven, but was denied service according to new supposed policies, despite others groups of patrons of  other races were allowed service with the same large parties. The group of intellectuals later went back to boycott the establishment for the racial discrimination that they encountered. TI came out to the protests to support as a someone who had previously visited the restaurant but was no longer willing to do so after hearing of the discrimination accusations. TI used this situation to show people how peaceful protest and determination can work effectively, to bring about change. This location has since been closed, based on various factors. In an interview done for Billboard Music Charts website TI is quoted as saying, "This is the kind of activity that we will not accept in our community, as a culture, and with us having buying power in this city."

During the 2018 Georgia election for Governor we saw TI on the front lines encouraging people to get and vote. TI was among many celebrities that supported Stacy Abrams, the democratic nominee, and urged people to vote so that they could see change in Georgia. Despite the fact she did not win the election, he continued to make strides for improving his community. A year later TI joined the Atlanta City Task Force, along with 24 other individuals who are looking for positive ways to utilize the city jail facility to meet the needs of the community. Harris has been able to turn his life around and bring it full circle, after all the convicted felon is now working on a task force for the city's jail. TI has always been an advocate for individuals that look like him. Over the last decade as we have seen police brutality in the most blatant of forms in this country. He has stood one the front lines of protests but will also provide hot meals to various police stations because he understands that not all law enforce officers are bad people. To paraphrase one of his other interviews, he talked about how the point isn't to make cops look like bad people, but to ensure that all of them who do wrong are held responsible for their heinous crimes. 

TI does not clearly identify with the republican or democratic party but considers himself to be bipartisan. However, while on the television show The View he said, "For me it's anyone but Trump 2020." Later in the interview when asked about who he felt could possibly beat Trump he predicted Bernie Sanders as the man for the job. He said, "I think that Bernie's base is more passionate and I think, that he is the complete antithesis of what Trump represents," this was after one of the co-hosts pointed out the fact that Joe Biden actually had better numbers than Sanders. I appreciate how TI was able to look that the issues with both perspectives in mind. He acknowledged that people were concerned about Bernie's age and health complications and how they could possibly affect his leadership as president of the United States. He said that Bernie Sanders would need a strong vice president to help relieve some of the stress that Americans may have. For TI in particular there are not many formal political predictions that he has made, but rather he plays the role of political pundit to finds his own creative way to get political information to the masses in ways that they can actually understand. I am excited to see how TI Harris will continue to work as a political pundit for his fans and supporters.

WORKS CITED

https://atlanta.eater.com/2017/10/9/16442644/houstons-atlanta-discrimination-racism-ti-rick-ross

https://www.theatlantavoice.com/articles/an-unlike-partnership-stacey-abrams-t-i-discuss-business-politics-and-criminal-justice/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpBiEn_M0TA