Welcome to First And Pen! Today, January 11th, 2021, is our official launch day and I’m honored to be your host.
“First And Pen” is the sports media vertical from The Khanate Group; a media, tech, and eCommerce company fully committed to supporting and investing in underserved and overlooked communities, individuals, and voices of color. It is the product of vision, effort, belief, passion, upbringing and experience.
Our mission is based upon a combination of the work ethic instilled in me at an early age and what I have witnessed as lacking in the media industry:
“We are first to the field and last to leave it, amplifying local sports stories from voices of color to the national conscience.”
Simply put, we are the destination for local Black and Brown writers to tell national audiences what’s going on in their area’s sports scene. Positive stories. Inspirational stories. Stereotype and false narrative shattering stories. Hard-hitting, fearless, professional, credible, well written, honest, opinionated stories. Stories that represent. Stories that capture the pulse of the community, individuals, athletes, coaches, executives, teams, organizations, conferences, leagues, and what’s really going on inside and outside the fields of play.
I don’t want to produce content based upon generic industry standards. I don’t want to dumb down audiences of color, something we know has persisted for far too long. Nor will I create content to generate clicks while dimming thought and dismissing common sense. We can be funny and serious without being ignorant or disrespectful.
After a media career spanning over 20 years in both sports and start-up ventures, I don’t want to be what has been before.
My father always told me that only a fool knows everything, so we will never claim to be all-knowing. We’ll listen to what’s being said and we’ll definitely listen to you, so don’t be afraid to hit us up at firstandpen@thekhanategroup.com. Let us know what you’re hearing, what you want to discuss or learn more about and we’ll work on it. I want us to be on the pulse of what’s important while simultaneously finding the stories that aren’t in the mainstream’s conscience.
We want to find, develop, and give a platform to the next male and female Jamal Wallaces of the world (nod to “Finding Forrester). In 2020 we witnessed the strength of localization and the power of Black and Brown voices and we want to discover, harness, and unleash this power through our content at “First and Pen”. Our work consists of the content we create and the effort we put into helping our communities. Giving back to pull forward is a big part of who we are and our principals are founded upon quotes from two of the greatest leaders in history:
“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.”– Muhammad Ali
“If we refuse what we have promised and are not generous with the benefits, no one will ever trust us again”– Salah ad-Din Yusuf
We want to be a part of your sports experience on a daily, nightly, weekly, monthly and yearly basis. We hope that you enjoy what we do and keep coming back.
Spread the word about us!
Thank you for your support and I hope you enjoy your “First and Pen” experience.
Keep making it happen!
Yussuf Khan, CEO & Founder, The Khanate Group
January 11th, 2021
