Aaron Joseph Dial is a DISCO Network Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Purdue University. His profile on The Conversation states that his “expertise is in materialist and digital media studies, digital humanities, and cultural studies of technology and race. These areas of expertise inform my research and teaching interests, which, broadly sketched, are Black studies, affective labor, popular culture, urban spaces and temporal flows, and the nexus between sports and science and technology.”

In an April piece for The Conversation titled “In ‘Air,’ Michael Jordan’s silence speaks volumes about the marketing of Black athletes,” Dial argued that the movie “Air” depicts what he deems is the exploitation of the black body by Nike in the creation of the Air Jordan basketball sneaker.

‘“Air”’ becomes the story of how a struggling company created one of the most successful brands in the world on the back of a Black body, a tale as old as the nation itself,” Dial claims.

In the article, he reveals that he is “writing a book that explores the intimate connections between sneakers and Blackness. In it, I argue that the Black body’s long history of objectification and commodification undergirds the branding, mass consumption and culture of sneakers.”

Dial claims that the Air Jordan sneaker is an “extension” of the black body, which the film conveys (in his opinion):

“What ‘Air’ does better than anything else is to unbox a provocative, sobering truth about Jordans’ meteoric rise: They are cast as literal extensions of Black bodies. They represent the literal molding of a Black man’s feet, with their vulcanized rubber, leather and laces encapsulating Black athletic greatness and cool.”

According to Dial, this has been a part of Nike’s business agenda: “[S]ix years after the development of the air midsole, David Falk cracked the code of Nike’s transparent, little black box: Don’t market the technology. Market the body that wears it.”

Dial responded to Peter Moore’s position in the movie, claiming that sneakers have “always existed.” Dial stated, “What Moore cannot know is how right he really is. Deloris Jordan and those five buried generations have always been here.”

He then compared that statement with his idea of the black body and its abuse by the United States historically and currently:

In June, Dial published a piece titled “Ja Morant shows how a ‘good guy with a gun’ can never be Black.” This article is about the recent firearm debacle with NBA player Ja Morant, who has received much censure from within and without the NBA for being caught wielding a gun on camera on two separate occasions.

Dial states, “I’m not looking to defend Morant’s behavior. It was careless, and he could have harmed himself and others. But as a scholar of Black popular culture, I can’t help but wonder what the reaction would have been if Morant were white.”

He claims the gun culture prevalent in the United States has treated Morant with a double standard that a white person would not have been treated with:

“To many politicians and activists in the gun-obsessed U.S., the freedom to own and flaunt firearms is a sacred right. And yet throughout the nation’s history, gun ownership among Black Americans has elicited fear and recrimination. Even when folks who look like Morant innocuously and legally possess a gun, they find themselves too easily typecast as villains.”

Dial laments the “metaphor of guns” that is used to make nicknames, describe athletic actions in sports, or respond to an exciting play:

“The metaphor of guns also saturates the league in ways that reflect the country’s obsession with firearms…The alias of Andrei Kirilenko…was ‘AK- 47.’ Fans anointed Lakers guard Austin Reaves with the nickname “AR-15”… NBA superstar Kevin Durant’s Instagram handle is ‘easymoneysniper.’ Watch Hall of Fame broadcaster Mike Breen announce a game, and you’ll inevitably hear his famous catch phrase, ‘BANG.’”

Published – June 29, 2023

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