Curtis “50-Cent” Jackson: Shreveport’s New Oligarch
Curtis "50-Cent" Jackson wish to position himself as "top dog" in Shreveport's political and economic life. Will he live up to the hype he built around himself.
Curtis “50-cent” Jackson is now the second largest property owner in downtown Shreveport, with him owning about 10 properties. The largest property is the almost million square foot compound situated on Douglas Street. Curtis “50-cent” Jackson also aims to buy more properties and “help low to moderate income families obtain mortgages”. The stated goal of the famous rapper is to “turn Shreveport into a new Los Vegas”.
The spending splurge of the multimillionaire has been met with much fanfare by local working-class Shreveport residence, specifically black working-class residence of Shreveport, and the Shreveport political elite. The republican Mayor of Shreveport Tom Arceneaux, who was elected in 2022, has been a big supporter of the investment by 50-cents along with ex-mayor Cedric Glover and many local community activists of the black liberal/”pro-black” type. Some opposition has been brewing , most notably by local Shreveport talent such as Hurricane Chris over 50-cent’s seeming disrespect of the cities label as “Ratchet City” in a July 20th Instagram post and his seeming disregard for local artist at his “Humor and Harmony” festival.
Curtis “50-cents” Jackson’s goals are quite clear. He wishes to position himself at “top dog” in a medium size city. With his recent investments downtown, he will hold tremendous sway in the direction of local policy and politics, like Tyler Perry in Atlanta with his recording compound. Shreveport is a large area that has been relatively ignored except for condemnation by most big entertainment industry. Shreveport’s domestic political and economic elite, who are starved for investment, do not have to be convinced to allow investment by the multi-millionaire. The size and relative obscurity of the city makes it an easy move for the native New Yorker, who would have dealt with staunch competition in his hometown.
Curtis Jackson’s greatest move was the “Humor and Harmony Festival”, attracting tens of thousands of local and national visitors to downtown Shreveport. Curtis will have gained the respect of thousands of residents, small/medium sized businesses and political leaders and much political/social capital to support any moves he makes in Shreveport. The moves he make with this capital are unknown, but the end results will become clear in the next city council and mayoral elections. Any political figure that doesn’t mesh with the interest of Curtis Jackson will not have a chance in the next election. There will be few policies passed that aren’t in the interest of the new local oligarch. 50 cent will of course want to make money off his investments, moving up the income ladder from a small oligarch to a medium sized one like the 1.4 billionaire Tyler Perry. We at the Akata-Tribune predict he may even run for office as either Mayor or Governor in the medium to long term given the connection between economic power and political power in this country and the small size of Shreveport/Louisiana.
Of course, the interest of the Gangster-rapper turned born-again Christian/Right winger is not the same as the interest of working people like you and me. He will push for policies like what the right-wing of the Democratic party/Republican party push, i.e. the erosion of workers’ rights and easing the flow of capital. One only must look at his critique of Los Angeles no cash bail reform his backward/reactionary views. It would be quite stupid to believe that his interests are the same as most of the black population in Shreveport/Louisiana, most are who are poor and working class. Hopefully many of our black activists in Shreveport will become wise to that fact!
References:
(1) https://afrotech.com/50-cent-is-reportedly-second-largest-property-owner-downtown-shreveport-la
(3) https://www.instagram.com/50cent/reel/C9pYXjEu8S9/?hl=en
(4) https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12283549/50-Cent-reminded-criminal-past-saying-LA-finished-zero-bail-policy.html