Professor J
Jan 18, 2025
Lacing up to learn
WHEN I ESTABLISHED SNEAKERTHEORY.ORG IN THE SPRING OF '24, my main objective was to start a movement to use sneakers as an educational tool in America’s public schools.
But before I could promote the idea of giving sneakers a more prominent place in public education, I figured I should first take some sort of sneaker course myself.
So I was elated when I discovered “Sneaker Essentials,” an online, self-paced course offered by the world-renowned Fashion Institute of Technology, or FIT, of NYC.
From the very start, the course provided unique insights into what I describe as the symbiotic relationship between the sneaker industry and elite athletes, particularly young Black athletes from the U.S.
For instance, in the 1930s during Jim Crow, a young Black sprinter named Jesse Owens attracted the attention of two German athletic shoe-making brothers, Adolf and Rudolf Dassler, who wanted to get their shoes on the Ohio State University track star's feet at the 1936 Olympics -- a move that would forever link their shoes with Owens' success. After they convinced Owens to wear their shoes at the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany, Owens went on to win four gold medals, crushing Adolf Hitler's misguided hopes of using the games to prove Aryan superiority.
Afterwards, Adolf and Rudolf Dassler split and went on to form two of the world’s most iconic sneaker brands -- Adidas and Puma, respectively. As told in "Sneaker Wars: The Enemy Brothers Who Founded Adidas and Puma and the Family Feud That Forever Changed the Business of Sports," both brothers owe much of their subsequent success to Owens having worn their shoes at the 1936 Olympics.
Imagine using Jesse Owens' victory and the history behind the formation of Puma and Adidas to teach today's students about Jim Crow and Nazi Germany in a single lesson.
The sneaker course at FIT has also given me a renewed sense of purpose. Which is why, as a Gen Xer in my early 50s, I’m pleased to report that – after a year of study – I’ve finally earned my Sneaker Essentials certificate from the Center for Continuing and Professional Studies at FIT. I guess you could say I'm a FIT alum.
To celebrate the achievement, I did a photo shoot in a new “fit,” if you will, featuring a little FIT swag and the new Nike Zoom Kobe 5 Protro ‘X-Ray’ basketball shoes in royal blue.
No cap and gown
OK, so there was no graduation ceremony for me to attend, and thus no cap and gown. So instead, I copped a FIT T-shirt, a matching old school track jacket, and one of my signature matching bucket hats. I'll be the first to admit I'm a little OCD when it comes to color coordination.
Why I chose the Kobe X-Rays
I chose the Kobe X-Rays because I believe they serve as a prime example of the kind of sneaker that educators can use to teach students about a variety of different subjects. For instance, the shoes lend themselves to a discussion about the intricate architecture of the human foot. They could also be used as a springboard, if you will, for students to explore careers in sports medicine, especially podiatry.
These Kobe skeleton shoes are a literal walking writing prompt. When I asked ChatGPT for essay ideas about the shoes, ChatGPT suggested that students could be asked to interpret the use of the "X-Ray" theme and its connection to basketball or Kobe's career. Nike itself says the skeletal graphic alludes to Kobe's "willingness to power through injury and continue his quest for the ultimate prize: Championships." But there's no way to really talk about injury without discussing the people whose job it is to diagnose and treat injuries: the doctors.
If I were an educator, I'd be inviting a sports doctor from a local professional sports team to give students a glimpse at a career they might not have otherwise considered.
On that note, I'd like to give a shoutout to Dr. Landon Mueller, head team physician at Marymount University and consulting physician for the Washington Capitals Hockey team. Dr. Mueller not only saw me for some early arthritis issues that ironically emerged on the same day I launched Sneaker Theory in spring of 2024, but gave me some encouraging words for my new educational enterprise as well. So did Jared T. Miller, the physical therapist I was paired with after seeing Dr. Mueller.
Reading up on Sneaker Law
Toward the end of the Sneaker Essentials class, we watched a lecture by Kenneth Anand and Jared Goldstein, authors of "Sneaker Law: All You Need to know About the Sneaker Business." They recommended the book, so I bought it at $150.
This book touches on topics that range from what kind of business structure a sneaker entrepreneur should adopt to how to file a copyright and a trademark. It also features dozens of collaborations between various athletes, artists and sneaker companies. The idea is to provide readers with tangible examples of different shoe deals over the years, whether it be between Allen Iverson and Reebok in 1996 or Beyoncé and Adidas in 2020.
I could easily envision a high school class that uses this sneaker law book as a textbook. It would be quite a lively and engaging way to introduce students to various topics and careers within business and law.
Going forward
I believe every public school in America can and should offer students some sort of sneaker course like the one I took at FIT. If a sneaker certificate can get a jaded, old crime reporter like me geeked up about using sneakers as an educational tool, imagine what it could do for young students who don't always see their culture reflected in the curriculum in a positive way. The Kobe X-Rays would be a good way to turn that situation around.
Sneakers draw from so many different subjects and topics that American students should know. Sneakers are art. Sneakers are science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Sneakers are U.S. history. Sneakers are world history. And, thanks to two generations of "Space Jam" movies, in 1996 and 2021, respectively, you might even say sneakers are galactic history -- at least from the standpoint of our collective imagination.
In the coming weeks, months and, quite prayerfully, years, I hope to share more about my journey as a budding sneaker scholar, if you will, and some of the projects I've been working on and the progress I've made since my journey began. Those projects include a children's book and an AI chatbot I developed in collaboration with the University of Florida that teaches students how to design their own sneakers.
In short, my sneaker essentials certificate from FIT isn't the end -- it's the point of departure for another journey. It's a journey in which I believe sneakers can be used to educate students to become much more than mere consumers in the sneaker industry, which is forecasted to generate more than $100 billion in 2026.
Sneakers -- presented thoughtfully -- can be used to educate students to become designers and producers. Or, as shown by the Kobe X-Rays and the sneaker law book I mentioned, they can even be used to inspire students to explore careers in sports medicine or business law.
It's kinda hard to knock using sneakers in education if it could ultimately inspire kids to become society's future doctors and lawyers -- especially for sneaker-loving kids for whom those careers might seem out of reach.
The author, Jamaal Abdul-Alim, goes by Professor J and is an adjunct journalism instructor at the University of Maryland, College Park. He is also a US@250 fellow at New America. US@250 fellows focus on themes of pride, reckoning and aspiration. Professor J can be reached at professorj@sneakertheory.org.