Black Buck

“There’s nothing like a Black man on a mission. No, let me revise that. There’s nothing like a Black salesman on a mission. He’s Superman, Spiderman, Batman, and any other supernatural, paranormal, or otherwise godlike combination of blood, flesh, and brains. He can’t die.”

The opening lines of the text introduce the idea that salesmanship, far from being a purely commercial, material endeavor, is a mission-driven, empowering, and transformative undertaking. This passage also introduces the idea that Black salespeople are particularly driven to pursue this calling and that they are uniquely skilled at it. By likening Black salesmen to superheroes with an almost divine power, and even implying their immortality, Askaripour provocatively juxtaposes the liberatory possibilities that salesmanship endows Black individuals with and the realities of racial inequality of opportunity.

“Each and every one of these people was selling something more precious than gold: a vision. A vision for what the world could look like if millions of people were to change their minds—the hardest thing to change.

Askaripour here introduces the idea that “selling” is more than just an economic exchange of money for goods and services. Rather, selling involves rhetoric of persuasion, challenging the seller to use language to change someone’s perspective or intervene in the ideology that grounds their worldview.

“But freedom, true freedom, the kind where you do what you want without fear, comes at a cost […] I can give you the tools to change, but only you can change yourself.”

This quote connects the idea of selling to liberation and self-development. Salesmanship yields more than material success; it brings “freedom.” However, individuals must opt in to achieve the success that Darren claims his teaching can produce. Darren’s rhetoric of salesmanship as a path to freedom aligns him, in some ways, with motivational speakers such as Tony Robbins, most notably, who proclaim that they have a proven path to personal growth and financial success.