A Tale of Two Titles

The two time defending NBA champions Golden State Warriors will have the chance to defend their title against either the Milwaukee Bucks or Toronto Raptors. The good money is on the Bucks, and for the sake of a competitive series against the Warriors, let’s hope it’s the Bucks. The champs managed to beat both the Houston Rockets and Portland Trailblazers… without four-time scoring champ and back to back NBA finals MVP Kevin Durant. Durant is questionable… at best… to play at all during the entire finals. Yes, the Warriors won a title without Kevin Durant, back in 2015. Those Warriors did win; however, they did so by needing six games to beat a Cleveland Cavaliers team who had just LeBron James, some guy named Matthew Dellavedova, and me. Both Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving were injured during the playoffs with Irving being injured during game one of the finals.

That one Kevin Durant-less title does beg the question, how good are the Warriors when all their title runs were against injured depleted teams or only with the current unbeatable version with Kevin Durant?

Well… there are two different truths to that answer.

The first truth. The Warriors built their main core via the draft. How a team drafts is the most honest and telling of true basketball knowledge in a front office. Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green were all drafted. The Warriors can’t help who they face. They can’t help the fact Chris Paul and Blake Griffin never stayed healthy when the Clippers were the team most equal to them. They can’t the help James Harden and his Houston Rockets simply don’t translate their regular season into the playoffs. They can’t even help the fact they got Durant. He was a free agent in the summer of 2016, who could have gone anywhere and any team could have gotten him.

The second truth. The Warriors in 2015 lost against the Cavs. LeBron and the Cav’s loaded up in 2016 and beat the 73 win Warriors in a classic seven-game Finals. In 2017 and 2018 the Warriors had KD. And simply put, when you add a four-time scoring champion like Durant to a team with a perennial defensive player of the year candidate in Draymond Green, a two time NBA MVP in Steph Curry, and one of the greatest shooters in the game in Klay Thompson… no one is beating that team. No one. Not Russell’s Celtics, Bird’s Celtics, Magic’s Lakers, Mike’s Bulls, or Lebron’s Cavs… no one.

Which makes this title run the true test.

The Warriors without Kevin Durant going against a fully healthy squad in the Finals is something we haven’t seen since 2016 (when they lost).

Look, the Warriors ruined title competition the past two years with KD. The basketball Gods have balanced the playing field again. Which truth will unfold this time in June? If the Warriors win, their title run goes without question. If they lose, the true mightiness of the Warriors and their place in history will definitely be questioned, and deservingly so.

(Colin Kaepernick) What’s Next?

One of the last songs Tupac Shakur recorded is a little known track entitled What’s Next, in which he questions things in his past and how they’ve impacted others. To no particular entity or without any particular purpose, Pac repeatedly asks, “What’s Next?” In summary, Pac questions the purpose of his past and what is to come in the future.

It’s been exactly two months since Colin Kaepernick settled his collision lawsuit against the National Football League. Prior to the settlement, since the Fall of 2016, Colin Kaepernick and his silent protest of kneeling during the national anthem was a constant topic amongst both sports and general news outlets. Despite not being in the league for the past two seasons, both kneeling during the anthem by other players and the conversation around the awareness of the protest remained strong up until the settlement.

Then… nothing.

We haven’t heard from Colin Kaepernick. We also haven’t heard from Eric Reid, his most vocal and visible NFL player supporter. We haven’t heard anything on news outlets. And this upcoming season, I can bet dollars to doughnuts no one will kneel during the anthem. 

So what’s next?

Like Tupac questioned the purpose of his past and what was to come in the future, we, the supporters of the anthem protest wonder what’s next with player activism. A tactic that, despite backlash, has been a successful tool in beginning the conversations and actions needed to address gross the injustices taking place in this nation.

I’m sure NBA players like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, and countless others will continue to speak on social issues. But what about the NFL? 

The main goal of the kneeling protest was to bring awareness to the injustices within law enforcement and the criminal justice system as a whole against Black people in America.

Mission accomplished.

The protest might have only entrenched the main sides of this issue (pro-police vs Black Lives Matter); however; many in the middle listened and some like Patriots owner Robert Kraft even made steps towards supporting criminal justice reform.

There probably won’t be any more anthem protests, but there’s still a lot of room for the NFL to make an impact and create social change. We, the supporters, just need to know what’s next. 

Hood Owners Association

When a person buys a home, they more than likely become the newest member of their community’s homeowners association. That association has rules and guidelines for residents… rules and guidelines that new residents have little to no say about. 

HOA’s use extreme measures to enforce their rules and often stand by the notion its to “preserve the community for the liking of all residents.” 

Humm… 

If only that mindset could be applied to neighborhoods that are majority Black and Brown.

Nope, Black and Brown people are subject to gentrification instead of preservation. Gentrification… a process I’ll refer to as the grandchild of urban “White flight” post World War II, is possibly the simplest and most forward example of racial division in the United States. 

White flight was when droves of White people moved from within the city limits of most major cities to get away from their Black neighbors.

This continued even until the mid-90s… then a reverse Uno card was placed down on major cities across the country and White people started moving back into major cities.

However, they didn’t move back to major cities with the original residents nor the conditions in which Black and Brown people had to endure. Since the 90s, many White people have been incentivized to move into newly developed and transformed neighborhoods for their pleasure and liking. 

Their homeowners association, the American racism foundation, long neglected the cries of Black and Brown residents. Everyone from real estate developers to elected officials ignored the cry for better recreational centers, places of commerce, and healthy eating options. 

Whole communities from Harlem to Houston have been gutted and transformed with a tag of $2,100 a month rent.

First residents from Cabrini Green of Chicago to downtown Brooklyn were either relocated because of their federal housing status or simply priced out due to higher rents.

Then came the tearing down of aging and dilapidated homes and apartments, followed by swanky new townhomes and condos, then finished off with a new Chipotle, Starbucks, and of course… bike lanes and a pet grooming store.

Black and Brown neighborhoods aren’t even offered fresh food options, yet White residents are given brand new communities before signing their Wells Fargo home loan.

Guess a “hood” owners association should be founded to keep the soul, cost, and originality of communities intact. But we need to act fast! Kroger and CVS are coming soon! 

Similar Read: Returning to Work?

“Presidential Madness”

It’s upon us baby (in my Dick Vitale voice)! We’re right smack in the middle of March Madness with the Sweet Sixteen happening this weekend. Unlike in year’s past, this year’s tournament hasn’t produced many shockers or upsets, but there’s still a lot of basketball left for more buzzer beaters and heartaches.

March Madness is possibly the most intriguing sporting event. A 64-team tournament in which six games decided the difference between going home and being a national champion. The NCAA tournament has the feel of football, with only one game being played to either advance or go back to Sociology class, with a touch of the baseball, hockey, and basketball legendary game seven winner takes all vibe.

March Madness had me thinking of another grand competition set to happen later this year, and that’s the presidential primaries… “presidential madness” …if you will.

Given Trump pretty much will have the Republican Party primary on lock, being he’s an incumbent president (which even in 2019 I have trouble getting used too), most of the madness will come from the Democrat Party primary. Which is a 180-degree difference from the 2016 presidential primaries in which the dram was on the Republican side.

I wish there was true “presidential madness” in which regardless of party, all candidates could be pitted against each other, and each debate would decide if they advanced or not.

And the “presidential madness” wouldn’t even have to be truly presidential candidates or even elected officials. I mean given who the current president is, the days of a good “presidential resume” are over. Trump killed that.

This madness will simply be the 64 top seeded people with political stuff going on. So… with that being said imagine this…

#15 Seed Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez vs #2 Seed Vice President Mike Pence

How happy would Vegas be if that upset took place! Much financial gain and personal happiness I’m sure. 

However, we know American politics are far too boring for anything like that. Yes, the first couple of presidential debates will be fun to watch, 15 people standing up there creating the best material that SNL writers could ever imagine. Then, by March 2020, the actual two candidates are left (UNC and Kentucky) and the eventual boredom of a once promising and exciting tournament ends with Duke (everyone’s safe pick in their bracket) cutting down the nets. Unfortunately, in this case, that would be Trump… again. ? 

Similar Read: Segregated Rosters

Segregated Rosters

This current NFL offseason has been arguably the most eventful in NFL history. The antics of Antonio “big chest” Brown have been the most entertaining. Brown, arguably the best all-around wide receiver in the NFL, showcased his desire to leave the Pittsburgh Steelers. Rarely seen in the NFL are players who publicly demand transactions on their behalf. Unlike in the NBA or Major League Baseball even, players in the NFL have found out all too well that the NFL is NOT a players league and only the very elite players have any leverage.

Some have tried to increase that leverage at their own personal expense.

Look no further than Antonio Brown’s former teammate, Le’Veon Bell. Bell, who sacrificed an entire season of play and salary, did so in an attempt to get running backs, in particular, bigger salaries and more guaranteed money.

His new contract with the Jets doesn’t really reflect any true success on that venture; however; the new collective bargaining between the NFL players association and the 32 owners is near, and I hope his sacrifice doesn’t go in total vain.

That was a good part of the offseason. The bad part is two-fold…

The past few days the NFL has been filled with player transactions. Either via trade or free agent signings, teams have been seen as either wanting to win or not knowing what they’re doing (cough the New York Giants).

It has to be mentioned this offseason saw the firing of five Black head coaches. All were replaced by a White head coach, shocker, except for Brian Flores of the Miami Dolphins.

In conjunction with the firing of Black coaches has been a frenzy of free agent signings and trades.

Specifically, take a look at the Jets and Browns who both have made major moves this off-season. Each netting a top player at key positions. It’s important to note: those same moves and transactions were not made when they had Black head coaches. In other words, Black head coaches were given terrible rosters, yet expected to win. However, their White coaching replacements have been given day one rosters with Pro Bowl talent, which puts them in a much better position to win and be successful immediately. 

Sounds like segregated payrolls to me and possibly a more sinister motive in the making.

The NY Jets General Manager of the past four years, Mike Maccagnan, kept his job. Despite voiding the Jets roster of a true pass rusher, running back, wide receiver, and of course a quarterback. 

The Browns started to give Hue Jackson players this past season, and success soon followed while under his watch. However, nothing compared in what the Browns have recently done this offseason, including getting Odell Beckham Jr.

So what gives?

Why are Black coaches given little to no effort under their respective watch with proper rosters, yet as soon as they’re fired, the front office magically begins constructing a team capable of something.

I’m just waiting for the Dolphins to be as advertised, terrible, and fire Brian Flores sometime January 2020. And then sign Patrick Maholmes, Zeke Elliot, and Julio Jones March 2020, of course beforehand hire some random young White college coach who had coffee with Sean McVay and liked a picture of Baker Mayfield on Instagram. Because you know, that’s the growing credentials these days for NFL head coaches. ? 

Similar Read: What the Giants Trade Says About the Black Athlete

Not Counting Calories (Cohen And Faithful Trumpers)

During the 2016 Presidential campaign, Donald Trump regularly ate McDonald’s and other fast food. Each meal contained nearly a day’s worth of calories and sodium! Almost double the recommended daily dose of saturated fat and two and a half times the sugar he should eat in a day, according to US Dietary Guidelines.

When the National Champion Clemson Tigers visited the White House, the traditional catered meal wasn’t an option due to the government shutdown. Instead, Trump famously paid for their dinner… an all-out fast food buffet extravaganza! Enough food that surely broke the record for calories per person. 

Trumps eating habits would only bother one who actually took their health seriously. And one of the ways you do that is by watching your calorie intake.

Even without the bun, which is how Trump eats his sandwiches, fast food is ridiculously unhealthy. But Trump doesn’t care about that, and you know who else isn’t counting calories… beloved Trump voters just like Trump himself, they don’t care about calories. 

Even though there’s a not so shocking correlation in that the states who voted for Trump are also the most obese states in the nation, I’m not just talking about food. I’m talking about the evidence that continues to pile up against the improprieties of the Donald Trump presidency.

The Cohen interview… hearing… spilling the tea… whatever you want to call it, it’ll have zero effect on Trump voters, despite how damaging it was against the Trump presidency.

Why is this important? 

Because Trump has entrenched a cult, and not based solely on party lines; but of people who believe his acts are on the right side of history. They don’t really believe this, nor do they care. They care that Trump is a president mostly for the preservation and advancement of Whiteness, more so than any president since Reagan.

Though that’s toxic for all, it’s what they know (a White majority thinking nation) and what makes them most comfortable. Just like fast food. You see that golden arch after a long drive or long day, and no matter how much you know it will hurt your stomach and destroy your diet, you begrudgingly pull into the drive-thru line and place your order… a number 2… super-sized… with a Diet Coke, of course. 

Clothes Don’t Fit

I previously wrote an article about the blackface incidents circulating the news. Gucci, the luxury fashion brand; however, deserves additional dialogue for their attempt to sell a blackface sweater.

Let’s be clear, all acts of blackface are egregious and the usual cockamamie excuses for them are equaling as insulting, but the Gucci incident is more costly than the overpriced sweater they tried to sell. 

Simply put, Gucci and most luxury brands, whether it be alcohol, cars, watches, or apparel, have largely become household names due to one group of people… hip hop artists. 

You and I both will never check the time on our Rolex watch flooded with diamonds while jumping into a Maybach in Prada flip flops… spoiler alert… neither will most rappers. Those braggadocious lyrics may not mean much; however, their effect has left an imprint on an entire culture. 

That culture being people fixated on luxurious brands… brands that have put forth little to no effort or appreciation for some of the people buying their products. By people, I mean Black people. 

From Prada to Gucci you rarely find Black models in their ads. They host virtually no community engagements or services at all. Their company is composed primarily of well to do White people and their stores rarely have Black employees. 

I get why the lopsided relationship exists between luxury brands and Black people.

Spoiler alert, they don’t want us buying and promoting their brands!

Remember when Tommy Hilfiger said, “I wish the rappers didn’t wear my stuff?” He received major backlash and immediately Black people stopped wearing Tommy Hilfiger. Tommy Hilfiger was actually saying what most designers were thinking. 

So why do Black folks in particular still buy brands that make every effort to show they have no interest in them or even their dollars???

Well… 

The American economy is a consumer based economy, and the supporting culture is materialism. Black people in this nation have been ostracized from housing loans to draconian drug laws. And if there’s one aspect of American culture where Black people feel like they can briefly escape these oppressions, it’s through fashion, buying the most expensive items… flossing as they say, or at least it seems. 

Whether it’s a new Benz, a very expensive handbag, or the latest designer shoes, such products immediately grant American consumers the attention and praise they crave, for whatever reason… regardless of their race.

Lastly, many luxury fashion brands have no interest in the inclusion of Black people, which is evident by their repeated blunders and cultural mishaps. Yet, many Black people continue to spend their hard earned money on these brands. It’s like the clothes don’t fit, but we continue to try them on in hopes of breaking them in one day.  

Similar Read: Stop Giving Out Black Hall Passes

A Bowl of Soup, Super Bowl Politics

You ever have a good bowl of soup? I mean a really good bowl of soup. Either jumbo, crab soup or Étouffée… well, I don’t think Étouffée is soup but it’s served in a bowl with soup like features… all of which leave mouth watering feels if you don’t eat it that often. That’s because soup is generally blah served via a can and you’re only eating it cause you’re a little under the weather or cold. So when you do get a good bowl of soup, my God, it’s amazing. More amazing than a traditional dish of food sometimes. 

I for one gladly break my plant-based diet during my annual trip to New Orleans to satisfy my desire for some shrimp Étouffée or jumbo. Delicious!

I thought about a bowl of soup while thinking of a Super Bowl recap. Whether you’re a casual football fan or a die-hard fan like myself, it’s hard not to say this Super Bowl lived up to the hype. It was a bowl of disappointment, reminding me of regular soup. The soup we all order at a restaurant that isn’t terrible, but not memorable.

Each football season we look forward to the Super Bowl. It’s an unofficial holiday, and despite never knowing exactly who will be playing, it’s mega get together akin to Thanksgiving and Christmas. We love the Super Bowl, even if our respective clubs aren’t playing.

Last Sunday’s Super Bowl between the Los Angeles Rams and the New England Patriots was exactly that – a bowl of soup on the menu that looked promising, but ended up not being eaten and made you have that awkward talk with the waiter to “try something else” instead.

Outside of Patriots fans, no one had an interest in seeing the Patriots appear in their third straight Super Bowl and their fourth in the last five years. Most knew if the Patriots got in, especially against the Rams, they were going to win. No matter what transpired in the actual game, a super dud in many opinions, the outcome was going to be Tom Brady hosting up the Lombardi trophy. 

The backdrop of the Super Bowl didn’t help the lack of interest either. The conference title games between the Patriots and Chiefs and the Saints and Rams both ended in major controversy. Between a bogus roughing the passer call on Tom Brady, not shocking, to the missed pass interference call against the Rams, many fans felt as if the Patriots and Rams didn’t even belong in the Super Bowl, let alone excited to watch them play. 

To make the situation worse, the game was terrible. Terrible in every sense of the word. It didn’t deliver the same excitement we saw in earlier season games, and it was definitely underwhelming in comparison to last years Super Bowl with the Eagles and Patriots.

The Super Bowl was supposed to be some world famous Wolfgang Puck tortilla soup, but instead, it tasted more like hard strips of stale chips in broth. Yuckers! 

Next year’s presidential election will likely be similar to the stale chips. It’ll pit Trump against a Democrat primary sure to be full of drama and intrigue. While we’re all excited to see the complete list of candidates, we know the eventual primary winner is sure to be common and uninspiring. Obama ’08 was an anomaly, not the norm. 

Every now and then we get a Patriots comeback against the Atlanta Falcons (SB LI – 2017), or the Seattle Seahawks (SB XLIX – 2015) Russell Wilson throwing an interception on the goal line when everyone in the stadium just knew they’d score and take the lead with seconds remaining. Those Super Bowls were anything but common, just like Obama ’08. But, for the most part, Super Bowls have either been blowouts or okay at best. Or should I say, just a regular bowl of soup… and 2020 will be no different.

Stop Giving Out Black Hall Passes

Remember hall passes? I’m probably dating myself, but a hall pass was something needed in grade school to roam the halls during class time. I’m sure today there’s a hall pass tablet or something, but in the ancient days of the 1990s, we had handwritten hall passes which gave proof to any authoritative figure walking around to see we had a legitimate reason to be in the hallway.

A hall pass or a “pass” seems to always be given by Black people to those who have done blatant wrong against them or their people. On the latest episode of Oh That’s Racist, a few incidents have transpired, and as quickly as they became news people were defending the actions of the accused racists.

Stop! Please for the sake of decency and respect, stop defending wrong.

Liam Neeson

The English actor recently confessed that he wanted to seek revenge against ANY Black man after learning that a female friend of his was sexually assaulted. For the simpleton Hollywood crowd and fans of the “Taken” movie series stop defending him! 

His mentality lines up with the same psyche that escapes every other group of people in the world… except White men. And that psyche is to classify an entire group of people based on the acts of one. White men have done everything from running Ponzi schemes to the creation of domestic organizations that have burned homes, churches, and killed thousands of people including children… yet no one attributes that behavior as a cause to kill any White man. White men are judged as individuals, if at all. Never as an entire group of people. So no pass on this. 

Blackface

For the elected officials caught with pictures of themselves in blackface, there’s no such thing as “youthful” mistakes regarding your actions. A youthful mistake is signing up for an 8 AM class during your first semester at college. There’s nothing youthful about blackface. Nothing. There was never a time when blackface was an “innocuous” thing to have fun with. When these elected officials were younger they knew better and didn’t care. Why? See the previous paragraph. No pass again. 

Gucci Blackface

The blackface sweater Gucci attempted to promote and sell is a learning lesson for Black people who overvalue so-called “designer fashion.” First, the fact that an idea of a blackface sweater went from idea to drawing board to presentation to approval to production to promotion to the public, shows at no point in time did anyone with power within Gucci understand the historical context of blackface as highly problematic. That’s VERY telling. Secondly, yet another “designer fashion” brand has little to no respect for Black consumers, nor use for their cultural perspective, only their dollars. I hope this example encourages some Black people to stop placing such high values on material items and brands produced by companies and corporations that literally place no value on them as consumers. 

Class dismissed! 

FUBU

Back in 1998, the most coveted and popular fashion brand was FUBU. FUBU, aka “For Us, By Us”, founded in 1992 by Daymond John, J. Alexander Martin, Keith Perrin and Carlton Brown, went from John (“Shark Tank” guy) mortgaging his home for $100,000, and using that as seed money to lead FUBU to peak revenues of $350 million in annual global sales.

FUBU hasn’t been a popular brand in years, and has only recently come up for air in that “Atlanta” episode; however, it’s still a profitable company. FUBU currently earns roughly $200 million a year – primarily from a global market, but still a shocker right?

If the common person knew those figures their response would probably be of laughter and stating something like, “that many people still buying FUBU.”

Why is that?

Regardless of its popularity, shouldn’t FUBU always be celebrated due to it truly being a major fashion company for us and by us? 

FUBU, led me to think about other Black organizations that are frequently questioned for various reasons. The two institutions that quickly came to mind were historically black colleges and universities aka HBCU’s and Black Greek Organizations. (I’ll expound on HBCU’s in another article.)

First, as a proud member of Kappa Alpha Psi, I want to wish all the January organizations a happy Founders Day. January is home to five of the nine predominantly Black Greek organizations.

January 5th – Kappa Alpha Psi

January 9th – Phi Beta Sigma

January 13th – Delta Sigma Theta

January 15th – Alpha Kappa Alpha

January 16th – Zeta Phi Beta

Alpha Phi Alpha, Omega Psi Phi, Iota Phi Theta, and Sigma Gamma Rho were founded throughout other months in the year.

FUBU was created to have a voice and influence in the fashion industry, an industry that historically did not want to include Black people during the planning and creation phase of fashion, only the (consumer) purchasing part was okay for Black people. Black Greek organizations were created under the same segregating circumstances.

With the focus on being a harbinger for young Black students during their undergraduate years, Black Greek organizations were founded due to being barred from entry by the White fraternities and sororities on their respective college campus.

Socially, they were also formed to keep intact the bond established during Black student collegiate years and post-graduation, thus the creation of alumni chapters.

Though institutional racism isn’t as obvious as it once was, social racism has yet to lose its touch. To date, there are still far too many people in very important positions that simply do not want the inclusion of Black people into their organizations.

While the FUBU brand isn’t a fashion choice of my liking, I will always support their clothing line for the purpose it seeks. Just as FUBU isn’t a brand choice for some, there’s legitimate indignation against Black Greek organizations due to the account of some of its members. Those individual members will never do enough to sully the history and purpose of Black Greek organizations, a history and purpose we all can wear proudly even without wearing the letters.