The way the NBA is going with a heavy concentration on three-point shots, probably the last great guard-big man duo in professional basketball might be Shaquille O’Neal and the late Kobe Bryant. Shaq and Kobe combined for three consecutive NBA championships from 2000-2002. Both are regarded as two of the Top 50 players ever in the NBA. By most accounts they would both land in the top 20 players of all time.
Browsing: Against the Grain II
The narrative of the absence of Black fathers has been overblown. It has been perpetuated over the decades even with statistics to show the contrary. Since 1976, more resident fathers were in Black households in 2023 than any year in between. According to the National Fatherhood Initiative, “children who grow up with their dads are more likely to thrive physically, emotionally, and socially than are children who grow up without their dads.”
He was one of only a handful of entertainers to attain the elusive “EGOT.” He won an Emmy, Grammy, Tony, Oscar and Tony award. This is a symbol of a total entertainer that only a select few have been able to attain.
The passing of longtime FAMU administrator and supporter Eddie Jackson was met with massive disappointment. His passing confirmed that he was one of the most popular figures in the Rattler community, though he never fought for popularity. He was a leader in the Rattler nation though he would shy aware from awards and notoriety. He was that old school Rattler who believed that he should do whatever necessary to support FAMU because the school was the reason for his success in life and it was his responsibility to give back.
Over the years, the fight for Black representation has been a real struggle. It’s hard to convince industries, politicians, or even common folk that seeing someone that represents your category, whatever it might be, is critical in the psyche of providing a sense of belonging. For those who have never had to look for representation, it often doesn’t even register as important. The entitled would often rationalize that you can look to others for inspiration without it totally aligning with who you are.
The Democratic Party, on the other hand, is asleep at the wheel. When something goes wrong, they are purely reactionary and not very effective. More importantly, when things are going well like most economic indicators in the United States, which signals effective leading of the country by President Biden, they are not good at promoting it. It is allowed to be disseminated through normal media channels with no sense of urgency to the point where the average busy American will never see it.
Why Dr. J is still my all-time favorite athlete
FAMU’s official closure just ahead of the end of the Federal Public Health Emergency in May, which was enacted in 2020, of its covid-19 testing and vaccinations site marks the end of a three-year stretch of dedicated performance. By April of 2020, tens of thousands of covid-19 testing sites were set up in makeshift triage facilities across the country. The most significant of those in our area was the FAMU testing site which occupied the northeast side of Bragg Memorial Stadium.
We all were invested last week when the experimental OceanGate submersible went missing less than two hours after descending to the depths off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The mainstream media effectively drew us in to the story. It put most who had heard about the tragedy in “hope mode” wishing that by some miracle the crew could be retrieved and returned safely home.
What goes unrecognized often is how Black colleges furthered the musical experience of America. During the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s Black college campuses were the musical hubs of Black music. Without the access to the large venues that white musicians enjoyed there were basically only two options. The first option was to play the “Chitlin’ Circuit,” which was a string of small clubs owned by Blacks. Some were graduated barns that might be leaky if it was raining outside. There were limited amenities, but during the time where there weren’t many options, some of the top acts would frequent these venues as they were the social center of Black music culture.