History Made in Georgia

by with No Comment CultureFeaturedPolitics

Last year, the United States descended into pure chaos. Systemic racism was thriving and it resulted in several untimely deaths. All the while, we were ill-equipped to handle the pandemic that seized the world due to inadequate leadership. So many civil uprisings, rallies, and rioting for change that was long overdue. Now, after the election in November 2021 is looking to be the start of that change.

When Biden and Harris won the election, I sighed with relief. While they might not be my number one pick for president and vice president, I think that they can get the ball rolling for the United States to improve for all of its people.

For some states it was time to elect new Senators, Georgia being one. What is so significant about Georgia is that it is a traditionally red state. It has been for a long time. And yet, for this election, Georgia flipped to blue, directly resulting in the White House, the Senate, and the House being blue.

The two new Senators, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, are not originally politicians. Ossoff was an investigative journalist and documentary film producer and Warnock a senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church. I believe that the more non-political people we elect into positions of power, the more likely legislature will be passed for all people due to the diversification of personal, academic, and professional experiences of the people in power.

Warnock is the first Black Senator of Georgia, and this can only mean great things moving forward for communities of color. He might be the catalyst for even more people of color obtaining positions in state and federal governments. While I’m not from Georgia nor do I live in Georgia, I am excited to see what Warnock will help make happen to address the racism that has been running rampant.

However, I think the short term implications are worth considering. With the diversification of the government, it has exacerbated the tyranny of President Trump and the radical actions of ‘the proud boys’.

On January 6th, an armed mob stormed the U.S. Capitol in retaliation to the federal government turning blue. This was an act of domestic terrorism and yet President Trump did nothing to get the mob to leave. He did nothing to ensure the sanctity of the White House. All he did was condone their actions and allow them the privilege of destroying government property. The only thing on my mind as I watched this on the news is how if this mob was predominantly people of color, they would be shot before they even made it to the lawn.

I saw on the news a few days later that the mob planned to attack not only the U.S. Capitol again, but also all fifty capitols in the United States. CNN also said that if President Trump was impeached before the inauguration on January 20th, they will attack. Of course, there were death threats towards Biden, Harris, and House representative Pelosi.

I don’t know if these threats are still a concern, especially now that the House has impeached President Trump for the second time. Yes, beautiful progress is being made, but I worry about whether there will be a safe transition of power, and about whether President Trump and his ‘proud boys’ will be held accountable for their transgressions.

Similar Read: You Didn’t Vote for Biden, You Voted Against Trump

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AMERICA’S BITCHES BREW

by with No Comment CultureFeatured

Brooklyn Hospital was under siege during the first wave of the coronavirus outbreak in April. I live one block away from the Civil War era hospital. As ambulances raced through the empty streets, I could hear the echo of the sirens reverberate off of the buildings nearby.

The sirens wailed for weeks. To keep my mind occupied I had thrown myself into my work to preserve my sanity. From my brown upholstered chair in the corner of my apartment, I could hear every ambulance that passed by. At the sound of every siren, I could envision the darkness that was about to overtake the nation.

A tsunami of past traumas crashed into my mind as I recalled the lasting impacts of 9/11 on New York City, the country’s abysmal public healthcare system, and America’s world-renown legacy as one of the most viscously racist nations in the history of mankind.

I was defiant in my refusal to be mentally waterboarded by the sensationalism of the American media. Having already experienced NYC during 9/11, I already knew that the city was in dire straits in the years ahead. With the hourly increase in ambulance sirens and the death tally rising on my television screen, I clicked off the news media and turned up the volume of my soulful music collection.

In the weeks ahead, I dove into the business deals that I was working on and leaned heavily on my depression coping mechanisms. I was successfully navigating my way through murky mental waters until May when the recorded murders of two separate unarmed black men were released for the world to consume.

I sat there staring into the nothingness that I was feeling inside. Wondering yet again how America first contracted this disease of ruthless systemic racism. For a moment of relief, I imagined the scene from the television series Game of Thrones where the fictional character, Jorah Mormont, was inflicted with the disfiguring Grayscale skin disease by the exiled Stone Men. The disease of American systematic racism would reveal its hardened gray, scaly, scarred skin to us all in the midst of this devastating public health crisis.

(Silverbacks Note: Greetings from Amsterdam North! Frankly, it’s been difficult for me to write over the last several months. I began to find my stride in beginning to share my personal narrative with you in Music Is Life and Power of Love. I still have more to share on that basketball journey but it’s been tough to write from a negative headspace. As I attempt to find my roar again, I have been busy growing other aspects of the Soulful Silverback brand.

Since I last published a piece, we released the Silverback’s first reading mixtape on American racism titled “Chaining Day” (check out the fire album cover art here), we launched our first paid advertising marketing campaign (Oy! the comment section was divisive), we replenished the t-shirt inventory on the Silverbacks Shop (go cop some merch!) and registered the business as a company in the Netherlands (pretty dope, right?). More on this in the coming months.

It’s often been said that the pen is mightier than the sword. And y’all know I’m damn nice with my pen. This vignette is one of those occasions where I felt that I had to pick up my sword. Warning: parental advisory, colorful language in the words ahead.

Cheers,

P.S. – Click on the section hyperlinks to listen to the tunes.)

BITCHES BREW

I sank deeper into the padding on the chair, deeper into thought, and was stunned by the intersectionality of this mounting crisis. I could taste the bitterness of America’s racist bitches brew hit the bumps on my palate.

It’s all of these nauseating miasmic ills mixing together: this nation’s continued bloodthirsty investment in the military-industrial complex; the amoral marriage of corporate profits to citizens’ healthcare; and the nation’s savage legacy of importing humans and legally classifying them and their offspring as non-persons.

These ingredients are America’s handcrafted recipe, her lasting legacy on the world stage, and her most lethal weapon; her bitches brew if you will. This concoction is so potent that Adolf Hitler was inspired by America’s centuries-long systemic performance that he commissioned the formula to be the foundation for his own deadly race laws.

During the last week in May, my phone began to vibrate as text messages from family, friends, and acquaintances from all over the world.

Big Nev! Just checking in on you. I wanted to make sure you’re good.

Hi my love, I wanted you to know that Mom is praying for you always.

Mate, how are you going? Crazy what’s happening in the States.

My initial feelings of being cared for were quickly switched to dread as I scrolled past a notification that Minneapolis law enforcement had killed an unarmed black man while in police custody. Given the flood of text messages, I instantaneously knew the visuals of the murder were likely to be devastating.

Just weeks before in early May, a cell phone recording was released of armed white men hunting and shooting a Black runner, Ahmuad Arbery, in the southern State of Georgia. In the chilling video, you can see Ahmad fleeing his attackers only to be cornered and shot dead in the street. His lifeless Black body lying facedown on the pavement in the southern breeze was an all too familiar image of the antebellum south.

Weeks later in late May, as more concerned text messages poured in, it only fortified my resolve to avoid the video of George Floyd’s execution until I was mentally prepared for the visuals. I continued reading the text messages.

How are you holding up Neville?

I can’t believe that this is happening. I am so sorry bro.

Hey Nev, be safe out there big fella! We’re worried about you.

As more and more concerned text messages from mostly white friends and acquaintances arrived, the more bewildered and enraged I became. The cushion beneath me was morphing a launchpad and I was beginning to rumble in anger. I wanted to lift off and explode in response to the text messages.

WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN AM I OK?! I LIVE MY LIFE WITH THIS EXISTENTIAL FEAR!! I EXPECT THIS BEHAVIOR FROM WHITE FOLKS. THE REAL QUESTION IS: ARE YOU FUCKING OK WITH WHAT YOU SAW?

Delete, delete, delete, you can’t respond with that I thought. These folks are concerned about you.

But it was too late, I had already been poisoned by the news of the day.

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WHAT MORE CAN I SAY

I needed to calm down and quiet the war going on inside. I put my phone down and went back to working on a large technology partnership with Jay-Z’s entertainment company, Roc Nation.

Eight months prior, I had delivered one of the most riveting and personal business pitches to the leadership team at Roc Nation. Jay-Z had once compared the technology industry and its lack of diversity, inclusion, and retention to Major League Baseball prior to integration on his song Legacy.

“We gon’ start a society within a society

That’s major, just like the Negro League

There was a time America wouldn’t let us ball

Those times are now back, just now called Afro-tech”

With rhymes like that, it wasn’t lost on me that I was a Black man selling technology to the company he founded. It was a proud moment in my career to stand at the plate in the sleek Roc Nation conference room and deliver a homerun presentation to win their technology business. Just like Jackie Robinson stealing home plate decades prior, I was able to exemplify that diversity, inclusion, and retention can benefit corporate profits when our talents are unshackled and enabled to flourish.

When I brought the deal to my company I was again confronted with the taste of America’s racist bitches brew. I scheduled a conference call to discuss the details of the pricing negotiation. Two of my white bosses were on the conference call and when I joined the call I overheard their conversation.

“This is why I don’t do business deals with any Roc Nation type of companies,” one White boss scoffed to the other.

“Oh no, the guy we are working with is a White guy,” the other white boss replied to his off-color comment. “He’s not Black.”

It’s tough to describe the complexity of my feelings on that conference call but you know that bathroom scene from the movie Trading Places?

There’s an important scene near the end of the movie.

During the scene, Billy Ray Valentine, the main character, is hiding in a nearby stall and overhears the details of brothers Randolph and Mortimer Duke’s nefarious experiment as they settle their infamous $1 wager in the bathroom.

I guess you could say that I felt like Billy Ray overhearing the Duke brothers’ conversation except these two knew I was present on the call. But it was too late, they had already exposed their diseased mindset about Black people.

I remained silent on the call as that all too familiar taste of casual cultural racism filled my throat like vomit. I wrestled internally as to whether I should have made a witty remark or let the exchange slide entirely.

I didn’t address the offensive exchange and focused on the task at hand. This was not the time for activism, so I brushed off the comments and forged ahead with the internal conversation.

Months later when the deal closed in June, one of those white bosses had the audacity to attempt to tie my success with Roc Nation to the timing of George Floyd’s murder.

“Seems like George Floyd’s death really helped us close this deal,” he said in a pleasurable tone.

“Don’t tie that man’s tragic execution to my success in this deal,” I bristled. “The two events are not correlated.”

I was confronted with the casual nature of cultural racism at every turn. The reality of Jay-Z’s sharp lyrics from The Story of O.J. came to mind and my mood was dampened.

“Light nigga, dark nigga, faux nigga, real nigga

Rich nigga, poor nigga, house nigga, field nigga

Still nigga, still nigga”

The Grayscale skin disease was spreading and taking its toll on my mental health.

ALABAMA COLTRANE

It took me weeks but I finally mustered up the courage to watch the full 8:46 minutes of George Floyd’s execution.

Late one night around the midnight hour in early June, I turned off all of the lights and closed the shades to be in total darkness. I slipped into my bed and curled up under the covers for what I was about to see and experience. I took a deep inhale and pressed play on the YouTube video.

There had been so much talk of the recording that I was not surprised by the images on my screen. It was just as devastating as I had feared.

I had been conditioned to expect white Americans to treat Black bodies with excessive force. However, what struck me the most about this video was the defiant entitlement, comfort, and smugness on the face of the white officer as he pressed his knees deeper into the skin on George Floyd’s neck. You could see from the expression on the officer’s face that he was relishing every moment of the execution.

I COULD NOT BELIEVE THAT THIS WAS STILL HAPPENING WHILE THE PLANET IS BATTING A FUCKING DEADLY PANDEMIC AT A SCALE THAT WE HAVE NOT SEEN IN OVER 100-YEARS! HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN WITH PEOPLE STANDING RIGHT THERE?

American racism was crafted so that the enslavement was intellectual, moral, and legal. American racism is the real Grayscale skin disease from fictitious television series – except its white folks that are the asymptomatic carriers and they have infected us all with this highly contagious disease that has been slowly destroying the nation.

This strain of racism may be as infectious as “Grayscale” but its impact is excruciatingly more real. Black folks in this nation have been suffering from our daily engagement with this disease-riddled system for centuries.

American racism and white supremacy rob white people of the experience of being fully human. This particularly evil brand of racism is a disease that white people need to be cured of. Throughout history, the experience of attaining an elevated or supreme position within one’s community is earned through the content of one’s character and not by the birthright of their skin color.

I could go on and on about this topic but I refuse. I’m so tired of this shit. I fucking hate writing about racism.

The reality is plain and simple for the world to now see: America is not a healthy environment for the overall wellbeing of Black Americans across all socioeconomic backgrounds.

Sadly, unlike the television series, there is no healing ointment or witches brew to cure us of this disease either. Not Samwell Tarley, not Joe Biden, or even Jesus Christ can apply a balm to our skin to heal us from this affliction. We are irrevocably disfigured as People because racism is codified into the nation’s governing documents, cultural norms, and workplaces.

Sipping on America’s piping hot brew is slowly killing me and I have to protect my future generations from grappling with these feelings of worthlessness and despair.

America’s demons will never release this nation from its clutches and I refuse to fight against the federal and cultural racism that will likely result in my dead body being tossed onto the already mountain-high pile of young, gifted, and Black bodies that have spoken out against injustice before me.

I had to finally give up on America and flee her borders for my physical safety, my mental sanity, and my future legacy.

It was time to put down the sword and apply a healing balm to my hardened gray skin before it was too late.

RIP AMHAUD ARBERY & GEORGE FLOYD

Racism

by with No Comment CultureFeaturedRace Relations

Racism hurts both sides. One side is antagonized unjustly (because having a different skin color is not a crime!) and one side lives in fear of retribution for the senseless injuries they have caused… fear of justice.

Racism robs us of potential friends, spouses, business partners, and soldiers.

Racism has no merit, no historical benefit, no positive outcome.

The athletes who peacefully protested were always kneeling against racism.

Not the police.
Not the flag.
Not our country.

But racists (yes, racists) who are afraid of change, afraid of admitting historical atrocities, afraid of justice… racists made what is called a “straw man argument.” This is a bad-faith and illogical way of arguing where one MISREPRESENTS an opponent’s position so it is easier to pull apart (like a straw man).

So racists said, “They hate the police.”
Racists said, “They hate the troops.”
Racists said, “They hate our country.”

No. They hate the poison of racism. And so do I.

Racism is like an addiction. You can’t overcome it if you don’t admit you have a problem. You’ll lie to yourself to maintain it. You’re afraid to confront it.

“Well, I don’t think I’m a racist.”

Well nobody does! It’s not the point. “Racist” isn’t something you permanently are or you aren’t. Racism is something you have to constantly fight and try to defeat.

Did you judge that person by their skin color alone and no other context? That was a racist thing to do. At that moment you are a racist.

Did you see video of police killing an innocent Black man and feel the need to somehow defend the police officers? That’s racist. You’re a racist.

Until you can see how their heinous act was clearly murder and an abuse of the sacred power that law enforcement is granted for the betterment of society, you remain a racist.

And that makes you poison; to yourself and to this country which is and always has been a melting pot of diversity.

Can anyone even fathom the goodness we have gained from cultural exchange? The music alone… how can we ignore the benefits of bringing together all of the peoples of the world to create America?

Diversity is good. Diversity is beautiful. Diversity is healthy.

The tribalism must end. The exclusion must end. The racism must end.

For the sake of all.

This article was originally published on 29 May 2020.

Similar Read: DIPLOMACY AND WAR: KNOW THE DIFFERENCE

DEAR WHITE FOLKS: BRING SUNSCREEN

by with No Comment CultureFeaturedRace Relations

I have a diverse group of friends. Over the years, I’ve had great conversations with my White friends about what my experience is as a Black American. Often in those various conversations, a few statements have recurred:

“I won’t ever know what it’s like to walk in your shoes”

“I don’t see color”

“I don’t know what I can do to help”

Generally speaking, all of these statements were said with good intent. So I’ve come up with a simple but impactful analogy that might help shift one’s thinking from apathy to care. 

In my travels and most summers, I love to go to the beach. Growing up in Brooklyn, I never felt that I had a connection or access to picturesque beaches but there is calming quality in listening to the waves crash under the sunshine. I find that the beach is a great place to read a book, listen to music, have few drinks, and/or connect with friends. When I take out my beach bag to leave for the beach there is always something inside the bag that I don’t really need; sunscreen.

Now before you get all preachy on me about the dangers of skin cancer hear me out. First, my doctor tells me every year that I have a vitamin D deficiency. Second, my dark skin can absorb the sun’s rays and I’ve never gotten sunburned in America. Third, my skin looks radiant and I look great with a tan.

So why do I buy sunscreen and remember to take it with me to the beach? I know that when I leave the house for the beach that I will likely be going with other people, of lighter skin (i.e. White folks), who will need sunscreen or else they get sunburned.

Now, I’ve never had a bad sunburn but I have been around plenty of White folks who didn’t apply sunscreen properly and have gotten a bad sunburn. To be frank, it looks awful and extremely painful. Because I’m not apathetic, I’ve asked my White friends to share their sunburn experience with me. What does it feel like? When does it go away? What happens when you touch it? How does it heal? Why did you not apply sunscreen more effectively? You really have to go through this entire sunscreen application process before you layout? Why do you want to get a tan anyway? Yes, I know being darker is sexier but is all this worth it? So I’m thoughtful enough to leverage my Black privilege in this instance to bring sunscreen just in case.

Similarly, when I leave my apartment every day there are things that I have to think about that White folks don’t. I’ve previously written about some of the things that I have to think about when I leave the house. While I can’t speak for the 40+ million Black folks in this country, I can tell you that acknowledging our struggles under the metaphorical sun will go a long way to improving the racial discourse in this country.

You see, Black folks are familiar with the White experience in this country because that experience has remained prominently at the forefront of our culture. In an era where access to information is just a few clicks away, I’ve come to feel that some White folks are simply apathetic to our experience and choose to remain ignorant of the full spectrum of the Black experience. Folks choose to remain uninformed and believe, just as our current administration does, that only negative portrayals of our communities are worth highlighting. 

In his usual eloquence, James Baldwin, explains the White apathy towards the Black experience as a segregated wall where there is no desire to peer over the other side of the wall because there is a conscious effort to remain ignorant of the Black experience. 

In short, we want our White brothers and sisters to look over that wall, we want you to understand the complex spectrum of our experiences, we want you to be curious about how we live, we want our struggles under the metaphorical sun to be acknowledged, we want you to join in our interconnected fight against racism. We want you to bring sunscreen, even if you don’t need it.

“Most of the White Americans I have ever encountered really, you know, had a negro friend or a negro maid or somebody in high school. But they never, you know, or rarely after school was over or whatever, you know, came to my kitchen. You know, we were segregated from the schoolhouse door. Therefore, he doesn’t know – he really does not know – what it was like for me to leave my house, you know, leave the school and go back to Harlem. He doesn’t know how negroes live.

And it comes as a great surprise to the Kennedy brothers and to everybody else in the country. I’m certain again, you know, that like – again, like most White Americans I have, you know, encountered, they have no – you know, I’m sure they have nothing whatever against negroes. That is not – that’s really not the question. You know, the question is really a kind of apathy and ignorance which is a price we pay for segregation. That’s what segregation means. It – you don’t know what’s happening on the other side of the wall because you don’t want to know.”

— JAMES BALDWIN, 1963

What Does It Mean To Have Two Old White Men Running For The Democratic Primary In 2020?

by with No Comment FeaturedPolitics

The 2016 election was historic. Hillary Clinton became the first woman ever to secure the Democratic Party’s nomination for president. While her run for president was historic, unfortunately, she did not win against Donald Trump. 

However, after her run, unprecedented drives of women – more than ever before – began stepping up to run for office across the country and at every level. So, it was no surprise that the 2020 election for president would see a historic level of women running. Major Democratic ticket contenders included NY Senator Kristin Gillibrand, MN Senator Amy Klobuchar, CA Senator Kamala Harris, Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, author Marianne Williamson, and MA Senator Elizabeth Warren. Of these six women, Gabbard remains in the race, but her campaign is not viable.  Warren was the last serious candidate to drop out, falling hard after Super Tuesday where she had a poor showing. 

So what does this mean for a primary that has seen upwards of fifteen-plus candidates enter and leave the race? 

Some Americans are saying this country is ready for a woman president; however, their actions are not matching their words. Arguably, Warren was the Democratic Party’s best chance for a woman candidate, but she did not win a single state during the four early primary contests (IA, NH, NV & SC) and she fell flat during the 14-state Super Tuesday contest. She didn’t even win her home state which is a bad indication of support. 

Even more than her loosing and ultimately dropping out, we now face a primary that is likely to showcase a contested convention with two old White men. Our moderate candidate being former Vice President Joe Biden and our liberal candidate being Bernie Sanders. 

As a self-proclaimed woman advocate, it’s extremely hard to look at a contest that seemed so promising with a diverse field of candidates running from age, gender, race and sexual orientation to dwindle right back down to what we’ve been used to in this country – old white men. 

While Gabbard remains in the race, clearly unviable, Warren dropping out sends a strong signal that what this country preaches it clearly doesn’t practice. We already have a president who has proven himself to show clear bigotry and sexism towards women. What we should be running toward are more women who can represent the more than majority voting population of this country – women. 

While I believe we will have a woman president within the next decade, I can’t help but wonder what message we are continuously sending by advancing old White men.

Ricky Gervais: Hollywood Court Jester

by with No Comment CultureFeatured

A King is omnipotent. He cannot be questioned or challenged.

According to Sun Tzu, exuding supreme confidence is essential for victory; an enemy must never even perceive a chance to win. This is why many Kings project confidence at all times and never apologize.

However, once a King achieves power and influence beyond question or challenge, what happens if he acts or decides in a manner that is self-harming or detrimental to himself or his Kingdom? The Court Jester was a mechanism to perhaps mitigate such a situation.

An expert Court Jester could point out flaws of the King or the King’s Court in a humorous, seemingly innocuous manner, never earning the ire or Axe of the king. In this way, problems could be at least addressed, possibly considered, and at best resolved. It was a form of therapy for such a precarious system of governing, particularly for the laborers and peasants who were unable to express any malcontent with their monarch.

Although Kings have mostly disappeared from the world and been replaced by more Democratic systems of rule (at least in appearance), there still remains the archetype of “Kingship” mostly in the realm of the rich and famous.

Specifically in the art world, when these modern Kings rise to the level of unquestioned and unchallenged behavior, they can often do the most damage, particularly to themselves. Consider Elvis (The King), Michael Jackson (The King of Pop), and Prince (uhhhh… Prince) who all died of drug overdoses at some point after they rose to levels of wealth and power at which nobody could tell them, “No.”

So if Hollywood is the King of Pop Culture right now, Ricky Gervais is Hollywood’s Court Jester.

His monologue at the Golden Globes was everything that most of America would like to say to these “royal” people who are admired, powerful, talented, and beyond question or challenge, but cannot.

I personally loved every bit of his monologue and found none of it offensive (although none of it was directed at me, I admit). Nonetheless, I think we need Ricky Gervais more than ever right now, particularly when most of the country feels powerless and held hostage to the extremes of the Right and Left.

No movement, however virtuous, is infallible. If an idea or group is unable to be criticized or questioned, then that group is essentially invincible (like the King) and could ultimately use this power malignantly. The very idea of “untouchable” or “beyond reproach” is what someone like Ricky Gervais fights against. This explains why he has upset members of the LGBTQ community in his career as he has lambasted them along with every other group in existence.

To empathize with Mr. Gervais, I would agree that you have not truly earned equal rights until you can be ridiculed freely as the rest of us are. That’s why the term is “equal” rights and not “more than” rights.

So, for anyone who may have been offended by the Golden Globes monologue last weekend, let me go over his jokes a little for your consideration. Maybe this will help illuminate the necessity of such a Jester in our current socio-political climate.

I will also give Mr. Gervais a bit of criticism as well which, if you read his Twitter Account, he welcomes enthusiastically even going so far as to retweet bad reviews of himself or his shows; lest he ever becomes anything like the “King” he is currently so adept at criticizing.

Ricky’s jokes followed by my commentary:

Kevin Hart was fired from the Oscars for some offensive tweets — hello?

Pointing at himself, Gervais seems to question the double standard of preventing a black man from hosting an award show on account of anti-LGBTQ content, when a white man can post incredibly incendiary content and still host.

Maybe NBC is just braver than ABC – or more hungry for those controversy ratings?

Or maybe there is a stronger degree of wrongdoing by Hart who seemed to express genuinely anti-gay sentiments while Gervais simply ridicules LGBTQ out of the principle that everyone deserves to be ridiculed and nobody is above a joke, particularly when it comes from a place of inclusion and not malice?

Lucky for me, the Hollywood Foreign Press can barely speak English and they’ve no idea what Twitter is, so I got offered this gig by fax. 

Obviously, he’s coming up with an outlandish explanation for why he was chosen to host in spite of his provocative Twitter comments and pretending that the HFP, who all live in Southern California, are literally Foreign and can’t speak English.

Let’s go out with a bang, let’s have a laugh at your expense. 

Yes, surely the most privileged people in the world can be the butt of a joke.

Remember, they’re just jokes. We’re all gonna die soon and there’s no sequel, so remember that.

Characteristic Gervais throwing a bit of his atheism into it.

But you all look lovely all dolled up. You came here in your limos. I came here in a limo tonight and the license plate was made by Felicity Huffman. 

The ultimate symbol of White Privilege finally facing justice. How could this crowd defend her?

No, shush. It’s her daughter I feel sorry for. OK? That must be the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to her. And her dad was in Wild Hogs.

While it is low-hanging fruit-making fun of an actor in a bad movie, it’s still funny to wonder who the daughter considers a worse parent: the one in jail or the one in a horrible film?

Lots of big celebrities here tonight. Legends. Icons. This table alone — Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro … Baby Yoda. Oh, that’s Joe Pesci, sorry. I love you man. Don’t have me whacked. 

Appearance-mockery and pop culture reference in one joke… not very funny to me, but worked well enough for his crowd.

But tonight isn’t just about the people in front of the camera. In this room are some of the most important TV and film executives in the world. People from every background. They all have one thing in common: They’re all terrified of Ronan Farrow. He’s coming for ya. 

Nervous laughter. Yeah, Farrow doesn’t mess around. He is out to shine light on the cockroaches of society and Hollywood is having its turn.

Talking of all you perverts, it was a big year for pedophile movies. Surviving R. Kelly, Leaving Neverland, Two Popes. Shut up. Shut up. I don’t care. I don’t care.

Even Catholics can’t escape the shadow of thousands – THOUSANDS – of covered up child molestation cases in just the last century alone. This is speaking truth to power and it’s not actually funny except that it’s David attacking Goliath so brazenly right in front of the Philistines.

This was the innocent child yelling: “The Emperor has no clothes!!!”

Many talented people of color were snubbed in major categories. Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do about that. Hollywood Foreign Press are all very racist. 

They are all international journalists.

We were going to do an In Memoriam this year, but when I saw the list of people who died, it wasn’t diverse enough. No, it was mostly white people and I thought, nah, not on my watch. Maybe next year. Let’s see what happens.

Increasing diversity in film has been one of the greatest achievements of this last decade. Black Panther alone will do more for young black kids who want to fantasize about themselves as the hero and aspire to be greater than any token character of the last century.

However, as Bill Burr labels it, “Overcorrection” can happen.

This joke simply warns about trying to apply the morality of “ensuring diversity” to every aspect of every part of the industry (like the In Memoriam).

I imagine a film about the Harlem Globetrotters will probably not require a quota of x amount of Asian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, and White actors to play the roles of historically Black athletes from one of the most famously Black areas of the country.

No one cares about movies anymore. No one goes to cinema, no one really watches network TV. Everyone is watching Netflix. This show should just be me coming out, going, “Well done Netflix. You win everything. Good night.” But no, we got to drag it out for three hours.

Poignant. True.

You could binge-watch the entire first season of Afterlife instead of watching this show. That’s a show about a man who wants to kill himself ’cause his wife dies of cancer and it’s still more fun than this. 

Shameless plug.

Spoiler alert, season two is on the way so in the end he obviously didn’t kill himself. Just like Jeffrey Epstein. Shut up. I know he’s your friend but I don’t care.

Hilarious. True. I wonder how many in this room have been to his island or on his plane.

Seriously, most films are awful. Lazy. Remakes, sequels. I’ve heard a rumor there might be a sequel to Sophie’s Choice. I mean, that would just be Meryl just going, “Well, it’s gotta be this one then.” 

Low hanging fruit. It worked. Good for levity – which was surprisingly needed in such a brutally damning monologue.

All the best actors have jumped to Netflix, HBO. And the actors who just do Hollywood movies now do fantasy-adventure nonsense. They wear masks and capes and really tight costumes. Their job isn’t acting anymore. It’s going to the gym twice a day and taking steroids, really. Have we got an award for most ripped junky? No point, we’d know who’d win that.

I still don’t know who he means by this. Also, I whole-heartedly disagree with him and Scorsese about this. These superhero movies are for kids. Netflix is killing the budgets and demands for original, well-made quality movies in big theaters, not superhero movies.

Martin Scorsese made the news for his controversial comments about the Marvel franchise. He said they’re not real cinema and they remind him about theme parks. 

Ha. I know my children will all watch Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, Gangs of New York, and Shutter Island on repeat until they are 16 and old enough for Marvel Movies.

I agree. Although I don’t know what he’s doing hanging around theme parks. He’s not big enough to go on the rides. He’s tiny. 

A size joke is seemingly juvenile… but so is picking on kid’s movies when you are the greatest living director! So, well done.

The Irishman was amazing. It was amazing. It was great. Long, but amazing. It wasn’t the only epic movie. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, nearly three hours long. Leonardo DiCaprio attended the premiere and by the end, his date was too old for him. Even Prince Andrew was like, “Come on, Leo, mate. You’re nearly 50-something.”

Low hanging fruit, again.

The world got to see James Corden as a fat pussy. He was also in the movie Cats. 

Gervais really seems to hate Corden, at least in his comedy. After Life (which is pure brilliance) lambasts Corden also. I often find this problem with extremely intellectual people: they tend to cynically and inaccurately portray the heavily visceral artists and performers. It’s the “Lennon is great and McCartney sucks!” people.

There are a lot of colors in the rainbow, Ricky. What you may consider banal is often just a conduit for energy. Sometimes, “How’s the weather?” conversations are one person really just saying, “I care about you and just want to make sounds in your direction.” Go to a Coldplay concert. It’s beautiful in a different way from Tom Waits or Frank Zappa. Hierarchies are for fascists.

No one saw that movie (Cats). And the reviews, shocking. I saw one that said, “This is the worst thing to happen to cats since dogs.” But Dame Judi Dench defended the film saying it was the film she was born to play because she loves nothing better than plunking herself down on the carpet, lifting her leg and licking her minge. (Coughs.) Hairball. She’s old-school.

Now, it would have been even more outrageous and absurd if Mr. Gervais had this level of obscene mockery directed at Meryl Streep who was in the room, but Dame Judy Dench was a fine target for the harshest roast of the night.

Apple roared into the TV game with The Morning Show, a superb drama about the importance of dignity and doing the right thing, made by a company that runs sweatshops in China. Well, you say you’re woke but the companies you work for in China — unbelievable. Apple, Amazon, Disney. If ISIS started a streaming service you’d call your agent, wouldn’t you?

Dead on. Truth to power. Thank you, Ricky Gervais.

So if you do win an award tonight, don’t use it as a platform to make a political speech. You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg.

So if you win, come up, accept your little award, thank your agent, and your God and fuck off, OK?

This kind of sums up the mentality of most Americans and touches on why Trump won the election. They don’t trust Democrats or the Hollywood elite who are so clearly hypocrites.

Most Americans love Hollywood and what it has done for the world, but if it wants to remain King, it must listen to its Court Jester: Mr. Ricky Gervais.

Watch the entire 2020 Golden Globes by Ricky Gervais:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCNdTLHZAeo

A TEMPLE WITHIN AN IRON ORCHESTRA

by with No Comment CultureFeatured

Silverback’s Note: There are no “Avengers: Endgame” spoilers ahead.

We gather at the Acropolis of Brooklyn. Our sneakers hit the artificial turf from various races, ethnicities, experiences, sexualities, regions, sizes, shapes, journeys, and stories.

Some of us drive the subway cars that herd millions of New Yorkers and visitors throughout this great city.

Some of us have raised our right hands to take an oath to support and defend the laws of the United States Constitution.

Some of us aspire to perform our talents under the brightest lights on the biggest stages.

We are “Kranksters.”

And on the surface, what brings this diverse community together is simply iron, rubber, and sweat.

However, if you attune your ears to the sounds that thunder from Krank Brooklyn you might hear a beautiful harmony.

Situated on the top floor of a less than auspicious storage facility, Krank is a boutique fitness gym featuring a body of citizens that exemplify America’s idealistic goals for diversity.

For me though, Krank has been the buoy that I drift to in my darkest moments lost at sea.

Owner Dan Salazar launched Krank in 2010. His love of performance science and insane competitive drive fueled his passion to master the art of training himself and others. The dude has over 15 training related credentials and certifications. The guy basically has information spilling out of his signature beanie. He is so encouraging, his energy is infectious.

A native New Yorker from the Lower East Side (LES) of Manhattan, Dan’s entrepreneurial spirit embodies a dream that has been fulfilled for millions of Latinos who arrived in New York City just a generation ago hoping to provide a better future for their families.

Dan’s vast knowledge and passion for training is what attracted some of the first Kranksters to join the gym. Admittedly, these first Kranksters were some of his childhood friends from the neighborhood in LES.

You may not be aware of this but it’s a Herculean task to get folks who live in Manhattan to cross the bridge and come into Brooklyn for anything — let alone to work out. The fact that he was able to convince his friends from the neighborhood to cross the bridge and put them through grueling workouts is a testament to just how special of a guy Dan is.

These “O.G. Kranksters” cemented the foundation this community is built upon.

One of these O.G.’s changed the course of his career by joining Krank. Head Coach, Miguel Gonzalez, known by various nicknames that are all synonymous with pain — mostly goes by “Migs” for short.

Miguel is genetically gifted and incredibly hard-working. The gods bestowed upon him a physique that appears to be carved out of marble, and I am convinced that he farts body fat for laughs. Nicknames and body fat aside, my fellow Aquarian is one of the most authentic, genuine, and caring guys I’ve come to know in recent years. I’ve always walked away from our discussions with a deep sense of connection. But more on that later.

Today — almost a decade later — Dan and Miguel continue to conduct Krank sessions like maestros. Directing, instructing, encouraging Kranksters and coaches to push themselves even harder to achieve their goals. All while remaining in tune with the pulse and pace of every section of this iron orchestra.

Traditional orchestras have four sections separated into categories of instrument. There is a woodwind, brass, percussion, and string section. Krank’s iron orchestra also features four sections. There’s the turf section, the rubber section, the iron section, and the raised platform section.

It was at this Acropolis where I built my Parthenon: my temple dedicated to guarding myself against my innermost demons.

Like most first time Kranksters, I couldn’t find the gym for my first session back in 2013. (Spoiler alert, the gym is actually inside the storage facility next to the Brooklyn Queens Expressway)

I hobbled into this no-frills storage facility desperate to make a change.

A few months earlier I had torn my second Achilles’ tendon playing basketball and required surgery to repair the injury.

Against my surgeon’s advice and with my thighs chafing from the August humidity, I rode the elevator thinking to myself, “What the (bleep) did I get myself into?”

Dan and Miguel’s attention to the limitations of my injury and their vast knowledge of modifying exercises for me to prevent further injury reassured me that this gym was the perfect match.

Months later I had reclaimed my body and was stronger than ever, but even more importantly, I had formed new friendships with some amazing people I had met along my Krank journey.

I love to challenge and compete with myself. But how does one compete with themselves without first establishing a baseline of success?

All right: Now I’ll admit that while I was hobbling through my first session I was picking out other Kranksters who I wanted to model my success after.

Later I would meet three Krank legends: Angel, Jamal, and Jessica.

Angel, an O.G. Krankster from LES, is a devoted family man and the strongest person that I know. Now I’m strong for your average mortal, but Angel is a Puerto Rican Samson. His strength is of biblical proportions.

Jamal, an O.G. Krankster from Brooklyn of Caribbean descent, is the most athletic person that I know. After years at Krank, I surpassed him in strength on the bench press and he then put me to shame by walking his large muscular frame on his hands for the entire length of the gym. (Yes, you read that correctly.)

Jessica, an O.G. Krankster from one of those cities in New England (kidding, Boston) is one of the most consistent people I know. There she is, day in and day out, a living embodiment of Krank’s mantra: “Do work, son!” Like me, she’s also of Cape Verdean descent which often reminds me of our ancestors.

Strength, agility, and consistency. Afro and Latino. Togetherness and encouragement. All the qualities that I possess, represented through these legendary Kranksters. The Krank community had breathed life into me and awakened the finest characteristics of my being.

It was also around this time in 2014 that I began to see a therapist on a weekly basis.

Between the almost daily sessions at Krank and my weekly visits with my therapist, I had begun to transform my mind and body. The place where I could release stress, let out a roar, and embrace the sense of community that we social creatures crave. Krank had become my sanctuary, my temple.

In fact, it was in my workouts with Angel and Jamal that the moniker “Silverback” was born.

Then years later through my love of music, I would add “Soulful” to Silverback and here we are.

So you see Soulful Silverback was conceived during a time of holistic wellness in my life. As a result of that healthy foundation, Soulful Silverback represents the finest ideals of who I continually strive to be as a person. Krank is the temple where the Silverback defeats his personal Thanos (the devastating supervillain from Marvel’s Avengers series).

Over the last two years, I’ve allowed that inner Thanos to get the upper hand on me and I found myself yet again lost at sea.

Krank is a short 10-minute walk from my apartment and I had intentionally been avoiding that climb to the Acropolis of Brooklyn.

I had forgotten what the iron orchestra sounded like and I was embarrassed to return in the poor shape I was in.

But like Thor in Marvel’s latest “Avengers: Endgame” film, I had to remind myself that, “I’m still worthy.” (And if you’ve seen the film, I probably looked like him too)

My mind, body, and soul was yearning for a dip in the temple waters.

Then out of the blue, my phone was buzzing. It was a text from Jessica and two other Kranksters wondering where I had been.

Like the Hulk, they encouraged me to come back home to Krank. I got the sense that they missed the Silverback but more importantly, I missed them.

Weeks have passed since I returned to my temple atop the Acropolis of Brooklyn and oh how I have missed rumbling around this sanctuary.

As I was alluding to earlier, the discussions on the temple grounds of Krank are sometimes even better than the workouts themselves (if you can catch your breath).

They are discussions that would make any political pollster salivate. Discussions that express the soaring highs and the dark lows of the human experience. Discussions that center around the eternal principles of art, faith, justice, thought, and love.

They are topics, discussions, and stories that exemplify the storytelling tradition of our species. And in the backdrop, the drive that our species has to improve on what Leonardo da Vinci thought he perfected when he drew the Vitruvian Man.

Dan, Miguel, Angel, Jamal, Jessica, and countless other Kranksters are all central figures in my adventures atop the Acropolis of Brooklyn. They are the people who make Krank a special community to be a part of. It’s these interconnected bonds — a celebration of togetherness — that lures every Krankster back to sweat in that old storage facility.

These days as I take that rickety elevator to the 8th floor — those blue elevator doors slowly peel open and as I get closer to the temple grounds — I can hear the instruments of the iron orchestra get louder and louder.

I smile as I am reminded that there is healing in community, and together we go farther than we could alone.

Time to “Do work, son!” and be the hero of your own story.

Similar Read: Dreams of Wakanda

What Does LGBT Inclusion Look Like?

by with No Comment FeaturedGen Z

Just a few weeks ago the popular TV show, RuPaul’s Drag Race, hit an all-time high in ratings with its latest season 10 finale. As a member of the LGBT community, it is absolutely amazing to see a show all about drag queens performing so well in mainstream media.

Shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race are so important to have in our society today. When a show is centered entirely on an LGBT experience, it gives LGBT youth something to look up to. They can see people like them being portrayed routinely on TV, which has not been a common trend in the past. Not to mention the inclusive nature of the show, in which RuPaul accepts queens of all kinds and encourages them to be unique in order to succeed in the competition.

Representation is so important, especially for children because it helps reassure them of their identity as well as showing them what they can do. For me it is always exciting to see LGBT representation in the media because every instance of it means we’re one step closer to normalizing LGBT culture and communities in our society. 

This most recent season (10) of RuPaul’s Drag Race was particularly exciting for me to watch because the winner actually grew up in my hometown. It was so inspiring to see someone who came from the same place, not only win such a huge competition, but also to be celebrated for his identity and his sexuality. 

This is why representation is so important. To see someone who comes from the same place as you rise to do great things, especially as a member of the LGBT community, is absolutely inspiring. It also gives LGBT youth a positive role model to look up to and shows them that they can be successful in embracing who they truly are.

Representation in media is also helpful because it gives people who may not know or understand the LGBT community an inside look at what it’s really like, and it’s one step closer to normalizing diversity and inclusion in our society. When straight people see LGBT people on TV or in movies, they gain a different perspective, which allows many of them to warm up to the idea of LGBT people. 

With the recent wave of queer representation in mainstream media, shows such as RuPaul’s Drag Race and Queer Eye, as well as movies such as Love, Simon and Call Me By Your Name, more and more straight people are getting an inside look at what being LGBT truly means and have become more accepting because of it. I hope LGBT representation continues to grow in mainstream media until it’s completely normalized in our society. 

Musings on the State of Race in America

by with No Comment CultureFeatured

In the past week and a half, we have seen various milestones pass us in the struggle for civil rights in America. Foremost of those events, was the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. The majority of the things King stood up for in his illustrious but short career are still with us today. In the 50s and 60s, people were far more open in their racism and bigotry, and were more likely to express it openly (without fear of retribution). Today it seems as though those same attitudes were just suppressed and became part of society’s larger working. For example, people controlling mortgages for homes do not lend to minorities in certain areas and historically, black institutions have never been allowed to take on those functions in black communities to help their own people. The racism and bigotry we think of from the 50s and 60s has been there since America’s inception and has simply been institutionalized instead of treated. Therefore, the roughly 13% of the population that is African American is never going to get the fair shake the majority of society receives.

The second event was the airing of Hope & Fury, the very aptly named documentary by NBC News; “hope” being the optimism of the 60s and early 70s that things were going to change along with the Civil Rights Movement, and the “fury” comes from that in 50 years later although some things have changed, there is still an extremely long way to go before gaining racial equality in America. This documentary, through actual news footage, painted a very real picture of what 1955 was actually like. Although the police at the time were are an active part of the hate-filled mobs, they have taken a step back from blatant society supported assaults on blacks to a more inconspicuous attack on black society through “justified” killings of black men as their position as the police. Until there is a fundamental change in the mentality of the policing in America, nothing will change in the black community because the people who are doing the policing have no stake in that community and no incentive to see that community thrive.

I was distressed to find out that the day after the airing of Hope & Fury, that Linda brown, aged 75, passed away. She was the lead plaintiff in Brown v Board in 1954. Her entire life was defined by the Civil Rights Movement and the court case that changed America’s schools forever. I personally found it very tragically ironic that the day after Hope & Fury aired she would pass. Could it possibly be that she lived through the hope and ended up at the fury of realizing how little things had really changed in the scope of her lifetime? If we take the events discussed here, 50 years since the death of MLK, the Airing of Hope & Fury, and the one week anniversary of Linda Brown’s death, and juxtapose them over 50 years, are race relations better off 50 years later, or if you scratch the surface are they just as bad as 50 years ago?

Similar LCR content: Hope & Fury

Cultural Blind Spots

by with One Comment Media

Lack of Diversity = Cultural Negligence

Things that you cannot take back: A stone after it has been thrown, a word once it has been spoken, an offensive ad after it is published, and an audience after cultural negligence. A hooded top with the words “COOLEST MONKEY IN THE JUNGLE” on a black child model is the latest public relations nightmare in the world of advertisement. The international retailer H&M published an on-line advertisement for its U.K. site; however, the tone-deaf and racist ad quickly spread through social media, resulting in H&M pulling it.

The question is, why did “they” not realize the severity of the cultural insensitivity. Are “they” diverse enough to throw a flag on the play of cultural negligence in the room where decisions are made? Furthermore, even if there are a few token diverse voices in the room, is the environment and leadership diverse enough to encourage as well as respect the voice(s) of cultural awareness and inclusion?

H&M is not the only organization that has seen its lack of diversity affect the campaign message in a racially tense era. In 2007, HP depicted a white man in an office with 6 black sprinters in starting positions that appeared to be bowed to their master. In 2017, Nivea had an ad with a tag line “White is Purity”, which white supremacist were happy to retweet. In 2011 and 2017, Dove released ads that were interpreted as blacks using the product to cleanse themselves of their brown skin.

Imagine the impact “they” in the advertising team would have if the group was a true representation of the consumers they target. According to The National center for Education Statistics, in 2014, the number of minority students enrolled in the public schools was 50.3%, making it higher than whites for the first time in U.S. history. As the minority transition to become the majority, companies need to execute a plan to guarantee the right representation at all levels of the organization. If they do not, they will continue to have advertising PR nightmares that lose more patrons than they gain.  H&M released a statement that apologized for offending and stated its commitment to diversity and inclusion. It will be interesting for them to share what their organization diversity numbers are currently, particularly in the advertising department.

According to a U.S. Black Consumer Survey from 2017, 70% of black millennials say they are more likely to buy from a brand that takes a stand on race-related issues. With heightened race tensions in society and constant reminder of opinions and feelings smeared through social media today; what percentage of black millennials would buy from a brand that is tone-deaf to race and negligent to their culture? This segment in the market is one that companies need to capitalize on, not offend. In order to capitalize, companies need to make a conscious effort that starts in the human resource department. The number one priority needs to be an overhaul of hiring practices and retention strategies to attract and retain a diverse talent pool that brings cultural awareness and inclusion. Only then can “they” have the voices in the room to depict an accurate society. “No! This is completely inappropriate and offensive!” is what someone in a diverse and inclusive room would have said when calling a young black boy a monkey was suggested.