Voice of Reason: LZ Granderson Lets Readers Have Their Internet and Learn Something, Too

There are many who believe that the world is going to end this year, perhaps even more people than usual (yet, surprisingly, New Year’s resolutions to “lose weight” remain at an all-time high).

With apocalyptic predictions and numerous signs that seemingly point towards man-kinds intellectual demise, it’s imperative that we point out the individuals who motivate us to THINK, not to simply REACT. Given that I am an avid blogger, I can be as guilty as anyone of trying to perpetuate a reaction, especially in an age where Huffington Post, TMZ, and basically anything on Yahoo! are referred to as the canon of internet information and are “the competition.”

But there is a columnist named LZ Granderson who I’ve been paying a lot of attention to, and if you are an aspiring writer or someone that is tired of reading articles that are driven by their headlines and not their content, I would recommend following his columns as well.

Granderson’s story of how he’s become one of the most impactful writers on the internet began where many writers first find themselves: acting and modeling.

After growing tired of rejection and being used as a glorified prop, he transitioned into the sports world, one he believes he was always destined to cover growing up an avid sports fan in inner-city Detroit. But Granderson had to deal with the “reality” of being an openly gay man covering the world of sports:

“It…is a profession that is dominated by straight, white males. So again, I don’t want to make excuses, but certainly being a gay, black male in a straight, white male environment can be seen as an obstacle for some people who have pre-conceived notions about people who are different.

I remember applying for a job to help cover the Pistons…You talk about someone who knew the history and knew the Pistons and had known them for a number of years and I remember applying for the job to cover the Pistons, and the sports editor at the time looked at me and said, “What does a gay guy know about the Pistons?”

That didn’t stop Granderson from eventually becoming the Senior Columnist for ESPN the Magazine and a frequent contributor to CNN, where he covers topics that affect every lifestyle, a considerable portion which falls outside the world of sports:

How Girls Should Stop Dressing Like Tramps…

Why He’s Raising His Son to be a Geek (Not a Jock)

What is the difference between love and marriage?

“My goal whenever I write is to try not to go over 800 words when I’m writing a column. Every now and then I go over, but I try. If I can’t say what I need to say in 800 words, then I’m trying to say too much and I need to focus it more.”

In other words, Gradnerson discusses real-world issues and how they affect our culture, and is doing so at a time when our society seems to be perfectly complacent having Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga, and Kanye West as our leaders telling us how to act.

Granderson is a man worth following because he seems to have no other goal than to share his insight, getting his readers to reflect on whether WE believe in what he says, not speaking down at us like everything is pre-determined as correct. Granderson’s writing allows me to not only learn something new about the world, but discover something about myself. It’s a gift few writers on the internet have, and believe me, I’ve read a lot of columns.

Granderson doesn’t opine like Bill O’Reilly or joke like Jon Stewart, he speaks as an observer of how things are, and wonders if we as a society should be okay with that. He’s earned a position at the top of the ranks not because he believes he’s more right than the rest of us, but because he refuses to believe the world ISN’T wrong…and unlike a lot of people, he’s willing to do something about it.

At times, my son gets concerned that his bookish qualities may interfere with his social life. I just remind him that in the heart of hard economic times, 33 of 50 states increased the amount spent on prisons while decreasing dollars spent on K-12 and higher education. So while he’s worrying about being cool, the job market is getting smaller and more competitive and our government is preparing to send more people to jail.

But again, it starts with me. I finally figured out that if I wanted my son to really embrace education, I had to take the lead.

With the distractions surrounding our society, one can’t help but wonder where we’d be if the internet was composed of more authors like Granderson? What would the internet be like if it was less about spreading shocking news and more about reflecting on how things REALLY are? What if the internet wasn’t a taser but was a laser pointer, highlighting what we should be looking at instead of trying to shock us to the point of nearly vomiting (depending on how much YouTube you watch)?

I did my best to keep this to 800 words or less as a tribute to Granderson, and almost came close. Granderson is as accountable as he is honest, and in this day and age, that’s worth a lot more than words; given the millions of sites on the internet, that’s still not very easy to find.

Follow LZ on Facebook and on Twitter.

If you’re a sports guru, I would recommend following his ESPN column, as well.

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