It’s Okay to Just Dribble (Perspective on Jordan’s The Last Dance)

by with 2 Comments FeaturedSports

If you’re a sports fan like me, you’ve been fixated on ESPN’s The Last Dance documentary. Outside the NFL draft and free agency, not much is happening in the world of sports. Sure, there’s entertainment elsewhere, but you can only laugh at hearing “Carole Baskin” so many times and as funny as it is, it cannot replace sports. Nothing can… except when the context is about sports. And the Last Dance delivers what we secretly love the most about sports… drama!

The Last Dance primary focus is the coverage of the Chicago Bulls 1998 championship year, a third in a row, and their second set of three-peat championships of the 1990s. The ten-part documentary series chronicles the 1998 season in addition to that championship season. The documentary examines several aspects of Michael Jordan’s years spent with the Chicago Bulls. The series reviewed the first three-peat championship years spanning from 1991 to 1993, only to have Jordan retire for the first time the following season to pursue baseball. There’s even coverage dating back to his college basketball days at the University of North Carolina under legendary coach Dean Smith. 

The series also gives us the in-depth insight on Jordan’s relationship with his fellow teammates. From possibly the most underrated star in NBA history in Scottie Pippen to the man who said Carmen Electra wasn’t cute enough, Dennis Rodman. Relationship focus goes beyond the locker room with references to the 1992 US Men’s Basketball Olympic “Dream Team,” arguably the greatest collection of talent on one time of all time, and how Jordan the super-star related with other stars at the time.  The “Dream Team” included not just basketball stars, but legendary figures such as Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Charles Barkley. With the inclusion of those greats and others came forever the controversial omission of Isaiah Thomas from being a member of that team, a feud he carries with Michael Jordan till this day. 

The documentary brilliantly showcases how talented Jordan was, and how his drive combined with his talent led to him being the greatest basketball player of all time. Yes, this coming from a team LeBron guy, Mike is the greatest. 

Michael Jordan has had the most successful career as a professional athlete in the history of all professional sports, and it’s not even close. His on-court dominance of winning six championships while never losing one and being the MVP of each championship season to his basketball brand of shoes and appeal being the premier brand worldwide will simply never be matched. 

However, there is a matchup Jordan has not competed well against, and that’s social activism. And that’s OKAY. Yes, it is perfectly fine and okay that Michael Jordan is not thee face and champion for social change in the likes of Muhammad Ali and Lebron James. 

It’s okay for Michael Jordan to simply dribble. 

Back in 2018, FOX News Host Laura Ingraham stated Lebron James was stepping out of line for openly denouncing the actions of President Donald Trump. And that Lebron should focus on making millions playing basketball rather than being a political activist. 

Lebron turned her comments into a full fledge documentary about activism amongst Black athletes. 

What Laura Ingraham and others don’t understand… for Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, and many other prominent athletes, social activism means just as much to me as their talent on the court. Definitely a passion of theirs. 

That was and is not Jordan. And that’s ok. It isn’t as if Jordan didn’t CARE about being on the right side of history, it just wasn’t his PASSION. 

Michael Jordan also isn’t the biggest hip-hop fan. Shocking right! The man whose shoes have literally been the standard footwear of every rapper from Rakim to Da Baby. Air Jordan’s (J’s) are mentioned in every other rap lyric. 

And though MJ could easily sing deep tracks of an Earth, Wind, and Fire record before acknowledging Da Baby and Lil Baby aren’t the same person, he and his Jumpman brand are still very much a part of hip-hop culture. 

This is because the greats like Mike know what they’re good at, and what they’re not. He knows the difference between voting and supporting a man like Harvey Gantt for Senate in North Carolina over Jesse Helms, the epitome of a segregationist. He even donated money for Gantt’s cause. Jordan never has nor never will be the one on a podium trying to excite the crowd about a candidate. He’s excited the crowd through his play, the best ever. And him simply being great at dribbling is great enough. 

The Trump Doctrine: What Ukraine Says About Trump’s Foreign Policy

by with 5 Comments FeaturedGlobalPolitics

One of the biggest stories of 2019…  

In the latest episode of The D.C. Apprentice reality show, we unpeeled another layer of the onion that is the Trump Doctrine. Whether it’s Brexit, Afghanistan, Jamal Khashoggi, summits with North Korea, tariffs and trade deals, Putin, and now, Ukraine, we bear witness to a convoluted set of policies without specific details and a heavy emphasis on maximizing publicity and attention. Trump’s foreign policy is based on minimizing or eliminating long-term military engagements, renegotiating agreements that play into his deal-making reputation, and provoking diplomatic altercations that further establish Trump as the Commander-in-Chief of Red State America.

Trump vocally embraces the paleoconservative philosophy championed by Patrick Buchanan, Steve Bannon, Lou Dobbs, and numerous contributors to Fox News and Breitbart News. It embraces traditional social positions and nationalism while strongly opposing trade agreements, immigration, and international organizations. It also has a strong isolationist influence that opposes military interventions. Between the trade wars, ICE raids, border wall funding, immigration and asylum reductions, NATO criticisms, and troop withdrawals in Afghanistan, Trump is reliably committed to Paleoconservative orthodoxies. 

Trump’s reputation as a deal-making businessman from his real estate business in New York to his TV show to his book, ‘The Art of the Deal,’ is built on maximizing publicity by making grandiose, must-see-tv gestures that consumes all oxygen from other competitors. Whether it’s the summits with the North Korean dictator, renegotiating NAFTA, and imposing tariffs on trading partners like China, Trump uses each opportunity and/or manufactured diplomatic crisis to further burnish his perceived deal-making reputation. 

Perhaps most importantly, Trump’s foreign policy is dependent on cementing his status as the Commander-in-Chief of red-state America. The President has gone all-in on being the war-time commander in the new cold war between red and blue America. Withdrawing from the Paris climate treaty is the perfect example. The trade wars with Mexico and China appeals to the rural working-class voters in Midwest and Southern states who see their manufacturing tradition threatened by globalization. Trump’s coalition swapped out college-educated middle-class voters in suburban counties for working-class voters in rural areas. He relishes any attack from blue-state America because it further establishes his war-time credentials with red-state America. Therefore, the Ukraine news only solidifies his support from his fans. In the mind of his supporters, they are at war, and all is fair in love and war. That might seem drastic, but his supporters love that there is no line he won’t cross to defend them against their enemy. Trump has nearly 3 years of history proving himself to his supporters that he will fight every fight that they believe his predecessors were too weak to engage, and this is no different.

This article was originally published on 27 September 2019.

Bulletproof Backpacks, a 2019 Back-to-School Essential?

by with 2 Comments FeaturedGen Z

New anxieties emerge with the return of the school year in the wake of multiple mass shootings. 

I had never seen someone look so brave holding up a broom as a weapon. As all my peers and I hid against the wall, many crying softly, my teacher stood by the door barricaded with desks and held the plastic pole ready for whatever might emerge. No amount of active shooter drills prepares a child – or anyone – for the fear of a lockdown. That was in the sixth grade, and now as a college student, that same experience feels like it could repeat itself at any moment.  

After the mass shooting incidents in El Paso and Ohio, it does not come as much of a surprise that some parents are opting out of purchasing their children Barbie and Star Wars backpacks for bulletproof bags. On Aug. 5 2019, when I received an email from Temple University’s President addressing recent safety concerns, I thought maybe it wasn’t so ridiculous after all. According to CBS Philly, Patrick Buhler, a Bucks County man was arrested and charged with terroristic threats and harassment. Buhler bought several boxes of ammunition, as well as knives and propane bottles from Walmart locations. While he was purchasing five boxes of ammo, he asked a customer about Temple University’s security and its campus police. 

Democratic presidential candidates, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Senator Cory Booker, and Julián Castro have called on Walmart to stop selling guns. The company is one of the leading sellers of guns and ammunition in the country. ABC News reported Walmart is pulling violent displays, but will continue to sell firearms. An internal company memo obtained by the Associated Press instructed Walmart employees to unplug Xbox and PlayStation consoles that show violent video games and shut off hunting videos in the vicinity of where guns are sold. The truth is though, no amount of active shooter drills, bulletproof backpacks, or removal of violent displays will save us from the gun culture that has become normalized in the United States.

According to USA Today, the mass shootings in Texas and Ohio may also prompt the Supreme Court to delay hearing cases that could expand Second Amendment rights. Proponents of gun rights say the violence should not hinder the Supreme Court Justices from pushing their agenda. To this, I agree. Change can not purely be catalyzed in the face of tragedy. The lives lost in Dayton and El Paso, is only one story in a string of devastation. The Atlantic reported the United States has witnessed nearly 2,200 mass shootings since the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive. 

This new anxiety from mass shootings is not only present in people with loved ones returning to school, but in many Americans when entering public spaces. People recently took to Twitter to share their respective fears. Geraldine DeRuiter posted her sentiment in a tweet that instantly went viral: “whenever I’m in a public space, I think about what would happen if a mass shooting broke out. It’s a constant, low-level anxiety that follows me everywhere. I wonder if it’s just me. I don’t think it is.” Buzzfeed News said DeRuiter received a slew of responses from individuals scared to be in classrooms, movie theaters, churches, etc. This concern recently became even more tangible to me when my cousin declined an invitation to go to a street festival because she was anxious about walking in a highly-populated open space.

The recent attacks highlight issues that go beyond gun violence, namely the El Paso shooting and the animosity it carries towards people of color. According to the New York Times, the suspect, Patrick W. Crusius, 21, who is a White male, told police that he had targeted Mexicans. Crusius wrote a four-page manifesto that said he was carrying out the attack in “response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.” Hate crimes like this become even more incomprehensible when public figures like Fox News host Tucker Carlson declares on-air that White supremacy is a “hoax.”

This summer I worked as an English language teacher for high school students from Spain. It was heartbreaking to me that a majority of the students were eager to get answers about the presence of guns during our presentation on campus safety from Drexel University Police. It was sad that neither I nor the police officer had a substantial answer, but it was also a reality check. America, we need to do better. 

Similar Read: Guns Are Here To Stay 

“Is It Safe?”

by with No Comment MediaRace RelationsSocial Issues

Racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, etc, will always have a permanent seat at the table which is the United States. We’re reminded of that permanent seat in every facet of Americana. One of the more recent editions of the showcase of bigotry has been social media. Social media has exposed the usual suspects of bigotry; however, that’s to be expected and thankfully largely ignored. The interest in social media regarding bigotry isn’t just random rants on Twitter accompanied with the hashtag “freedomovertyranny,” it’s actual people who have actual careers who have actual consequences for their actions.

In recent news, social media remarks have surfaced from MLB pitcher Josh Hader and Baltimore Ravens reporter Lindsey Ok. The remarks… the usual… “N bombs” left and right, racial slurs, “joking” about White supremacy, homophobic remarks, and the icing… the forever classic “suck my ” insert private part” demands. Previous articles on this publication have already gone into detail regarding their remarks; however, I’m writing to explain why their remarks were made for the public to see in the first place.

Spoiler alert… no, it’s not the typical lame excuse of being young and insensitive, spare me. It’s simple. They can…

In the classic 1976 Dustin Hoffman film “Marathon Man,” there’s a famous scene in which Dustin Hoffman’s character is being tortured with dental equipment. During the scene, the villain of the movie Dr. Christian Szell, repeatedly asks Dustin Hoffman’s character Babe the cinematic famous line, “Is it safe?” Dr. Szell was asking Babe this question, for fear of being caught by the police regarding stolen diamonds.

“Is it safe?” Yes, White people in America, by and large, have the safety to make remarks of bigotry, apologize, and move on. Sure, there’s the occasional firing of a Paula Deen or shaming of Mel Gibson or removal of John Schnatter from being CEO of Papa John’s, but as soon as it no longer becomes a trending topic, things return to normal. No true loss.

Josh Hader, received a standing ovation from Milwaukee Brewers fans when he returned to the mound a few days after his tweets surfaced. Think about that. John Schnatter still has a net worth of almost a billion dollars. Lindsey Ok will eventually get a gig with Fox News… safe.

“Is it safe?” Yes, I’d say it’s pretty safe.

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