A Proud Father and Son

An excerpt from ESPN - 

Doug Williams, the first black QB to win a Super Bowl, shares 42 years of 'teaching moments'

By John Keim

My son, D.J. [an offensive assistant with the Saints], sent me a text Saturday morning [June 6] that brought me to tears.

"You raised a strong black man! You created America's worst nightmare. A SMART, EDUCATED, AMBITIOUS, BLACK MAN with great character. Thanks for that Pops. I can't even begin to imagine the things you went through coming from seeing crosses burning and just your ride as a black man and a black player in this country. Love you Pops. I'm a product of you and that's what I am most proud of my brother"

We always have had a great relationship, talking about life and how to handle situations. When he was driving back and forth to Grambling [where he went to college and played football], I used to tell him, "If you get stopped, be compliant. You've got to get out and say, 'Yes, sir.'" He was going through Mississippi and a few country towns. Don't be argumentative. He would always say, "Don't worry about me." But I had to worry, because he's black and he's driving by himself through little towns. And then to get that note? It says a lot about him and what he thinks of me. It made me feel like I'd done a decent job. He wanted me to know the impact I had on his life, that I raised a smart, educated, ambitious black man. As an older black man, that's pretty good. Yeah, from an emotional standpoint he brought something out of me.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/29297476/doug-williams-first-black-qb-win-super-bowl-shares-42-years-teaching-moments

More Black Girl Magic!

Now I could let these dream killers kill my self esteem or use my arrogance as the steam to power my dreams.

A black female neuroscientist.

Shot by: @Txmmy4k pic.twitter.com/KAa7zApnSn

— Ono (@_onvme) June 7, 2020

American Apartheid

An excerpt from Salon - 

American apartheid: This country still treats too many of its black citizens like slaves

What happened to George Floyd has a long history. Until we face that history honestly, we'll never escape it

By LUCIAN K. TRUSCOTT IV

Imagine that you are a black citizen of this country. Every day, you wake up in your house or your apartment, and you must wonder, is this the day? Is this the day I'm going to be jogging down a neighborhood street, like Ahmaud Arbery, and be killed by armed civilians? Is this the day I'm going to be arrested outside a convenience store, like George Floyd, and be strangled to death? Is this the day I'm going to be stopped in my car by a policeman for failure to signal a lane change, like Sandra Bland, and be arrested and jailed and end up dead? Is this the day I'm going to be birdwatching in the park, like Christian Cooper, and have a passerby call the police and report me? Is this the day I'm going to be stopped for a broken brake light, like Walter Scott, and shot five times in the back and killed? Is this the day I'm going to walk up to the door of my apartment building and be confronted by four policemen and when I reach for my wallet, be shot 19 times, like Amadou Diallo? Is this the day I will be snatched off the street by three white supremacists and dragged with a chain behind a truck for three miles until I die, like James Byrd Jr. in Texas?

How would you like to be afraid every single day of your life that something terrible will happen to you, just because you are black?

https://www.salon.com/2020/06/13/american-apartheid-this-country-still-treats-too-many-of-its-black-citizens-like-slaves/

The NFL - Will They Do The Right Thing?

An excerpt from the Undefeated - 

For the NFL, issues have to outweigh the optics this time around

This is an ideal time for America’s sport to lead the conversation

BY J.A. ADANDE

The reason the NFL keeps winding up in the middle of the police brutality debate is because both professional football and violence are woven into America. You could actually make a case that professional football is so quintessentially American specifically because it is so violent. The nexus of football and violence also reminds us of the limits historically placed on African Americans, that their prominence rarely accompanies power, that for all the attention given to black players in the NFL and their outspokenness about police brutality, they were unable to do much about it on their own. It is a dynamic as old as America itself.

As a way to quantify the prominence, consider this: Black players scored 80% of the touchdowns in the NFL last season. Not to diminish the importance of blocking, tackling, special teams play, film study, playcalling or any of the other components of winning football games, but ultimately what matters to us are touchdowns. Black people, in overwhelming numbers, produce the thing we care about the most in the sport we care about the most.

“Touchdowns equal happiness,” John Madden once said as the cameras showed jubilant fans reacting to a touchdown. The equation is unbalanced. For all of the happiness produced by black players, there should be an expectation to not only pay their salaries but to pay attention to their concerns, hopes and fears. That didn’t happen in 2016 when then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick started a wave of players kneeling during the national anthem to protest inequality and injustice.

https://theundefeated.com/features/for-the-nfl-issues-have-to-outweigh-the-optics-this-time-around/

Ravens

Ravens united.

Black Lives Matter. pic.twitter.com/3KAl3dFSrQ

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) June 12, 2020

People are loving this adorable boy's politeness

Simply Living is Dangerous for Us

From the Washinton Post - 

I can’t breathe

By Sergio Peçanha

I can’t breathe.

Eric Garner, New York City

I can get killed by police at a Walmart.

John Crawford III, Beavercreek, Ohio

Or when I’m playing at a park.

Tamir Rice, 12, Cleveland

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/06/05/ever-growing-list-what-black-people-cannot-do-without-risking-their-lives/?arc404=true

Good For Business? What's the Message?

This is a horrific graphic to have put up on air.

My god. pic.twitter.com/HoDof1AN9l

— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) June 5, 2020

Somebody's Baby

ok baby names dot com go off pic.twitter.com/4jkDQHKsDP

— bij (@bijanstephen) June 9, 2020

When It's Too Much to Bear, Bake Some Cookies

From Delish - 

Cookie Recipes

https://www.delish.com/cooking/g1956/best-cookies/

For All the Mothers

   June 15, 2020

    https://time.com/5847667/story-behind-george-floyd-time-cover/

    https://time.com/5847487/i-cannot-sell-you-this-painting-artist-titus-kaphar-on-his-george-floyd-time-        cover/

Where is Kaep's Apology?

Everything is meaningless and falls on deaf ears until there is a formal apology to Colin Kaepernick.

We, the NFL, condemn racism and the systematic oppression of Black People. We, the NFL, admit we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest. We, the NFL, believe Black Lives Matter. #InspireChange pic.twitter.com/ENWQP8A0sv

— NFL (@NFL) June 5, 2020

Michael Che "Black Lives Matters" Stand Up Comedy | Laugh Into Tears

The History of Lynchings

An excerpt from the NY Times - 

Art That Confronts and Challenges Racism: Start Here

Our writers suggest works that illuminate and tackle issues of police brutality, social injustice and racial inequity.

By Melena Ryzik, Wesley Morris, Mekado Murphy, Reggie Ugwu, Pierre-Antoine Louis, Salamishah Tillet and Siddhartha Mitter

The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, 

the Alabama museum dedicated to the history of lynching.

Credit...Robert Rausch for The New York Times

Artists and thinkers have already shown us how: Bryan Stevenson, the crusading lawyer and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, has a memoir, and a movie based on it, “Just Mercy,” that is attracting a new audience, alongside the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, the Alabama museum dedicated to the history of lynching, which embodies his life’s work. The filmmaker Ava DuVernay made the documentary “13th,” about the roots of mass incarceration, and has long been boosting independent black voices with her distribution company Array. Here, writers recommend other works that illuminate and confront racism, tracing a path, thorny as it may be, forward. MELENA RYZIK

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/04/arts/racism-writings-books-movies.html?searchResultPosition=1

We Cannot Stay Silent About George Floyd | Patriot Act Digital Exclusive...

Mayor of DC Painted the Street - Love her!

#BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/OQg6977n5r

— Muriel Bowser #StayHomeDC (@MurielBowser) June 5, 2020

From Rolling Stone - 

Street in Front of White House Officially Renamed ‘Black Lives Matter Plaza’

“Black Lives Matter” also painted on the street leading up to the president’s residence

By BRENNA EHRLICH 

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/black-lives-matter-plaza-1010752/ 

What We Have To Do

@skoodupcam

Jus some unwritten rules my mom makes me follow as a young black man ##fyp ##blacklivesmatter

♬ original sound - marcappalott

BLM to NFL . . . We'll See

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Michael Thomas (@cantguardmike) on Jun 4, 2020 at 6:07pm PDT

How Can We Win

Police Have a License to Kill Provided by the Supreme Court

An excerpt from USA Today - 

Police act like laws don't apply to them because of 'qualified immunity.' They're right.

There's a legal obstacle that's nearly impossible to overcome when police officers and government officials violate our constitutional and civil rights.

By Patrick Jaicomo and Anya Bidwell

On Monday, May 25, Minneapolis police killed George Floyd. While two officers pinned the handcuffed Floyd on a city street, another fended off would-be intervenors, as a fourth knelt on Floyd’s neck until — and well after — he lost consciousness.

But when Floyd’s family goes to court to hold the officers liable for their actions, a judge in Minnesota may very well dismiss their claims. Not because the officers didn’t do anything wrong, but because there isn’t a case from the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court specifically holding that it is unconstitutional for police to kneel on the neck of a handcuffed man for eight minutes until he loses consciousness and then dies.

And such a specific case is what Floyd’s family must provide to overcome a legal doctrine called “qualified immunity” that shields police and all other government officials from accountability for their illegal and unconstitutional acts.

The Supreme Court created qualified immunity in 1982. With that novel invention, the court granted all government officials immunity for violating constitutional and civil rights unless the victims of those violations can show that the rights were “clearly established.”

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/05/30/police-george-floyd-qualified-immunity-supreme-court-column/5283349002/