For as “smart” as they like to see themselves…the team around Gangster Orange really is stupid as a box of hammers.
If they had allowed 60 Minutes to air the story about their concentration camp, and let him do his standard bloviating to the cult, this would have lasted one news cycle…
Telling one of his sycophants to spike the story just before it aired and then having her essentially say that it didn’t say anything new is now going to keep this part of the narrative for at least a couple of weeks.
—Now when will the story air?
—It was vetted FIVE TIMES, just how much checking does it need?
—Will the story be spiked because the WH doesn’t comment on it?
I hope one of the team that developed the story has kept a copy of the original…since we know that what airs will be dramatically altered…and has the courage to give it to the NYT..because the WaPo can no longer be trusted to post stories critical of the American Reich.
One way or another, the WHOLE story will air and a news agency that was the gold standard for broadcast journalism will fall deeper into the abyss.
The irony is, Bari Weiss was right, we know about this story. It would have aired and would have quickly been forgotten.
And that’s the saddest part of all, that we’ve become enured to the insanity coming out of the casino that used to be the People’s House.
That’s the feeling I have when looking at the ballot and preparing to vote.
The choice has boiled down to just how mean I want this city to be.
Since 2020, the narrative has been: “if we don’t take steps now, we’ll be overrun with ‘undesirables’” (i.e. any person who makes us feel uncomfortable as we watch TV or have Seattle’s increasingly right wing talk radio hosts tell us that we should be uncomfortable around).
“Compassion” has become an expletive—and we’re willing to look the other way on solving “issues” as long as it will allow the people operating the city’s daily paper to walk downtown on their annual trip to Pike Place because “there’s really no reason to go downtown, but I want it to look nice for the tourists.”
So, we’ll vote for the bully for mayor—and I say this while acknowledging that the incumbent has been part of my life in one or aspect or another for close to 40 years—because he’s made the Downtown Seattle Association happy through forcing people (city employees) back into downtown to buy lunch a couple of days a week. We’ll ignore the toxic environment that permeates his office and the collection of intimidators he’s surrounded himself with.
And we’ll vote for a city attorney who only started being “compassionate” when she realized that after the primary she was 20 points behind. An incumbent that understands that people living in Wedgewood, Laurelhurst, north Capitol Hill and along Lake Washington Blvd have never been subject to police asking why they’re in a neighborhood so recreating the incredibly racist SOAP and SODA laws doesn’t impact them.
And we’ll vote for a City Council President that is perhaps the coldest politician that I’ve ever had to deal with. A politician that just like the orange gangster currently residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, spent most of her year as Council President seeking vengeance against those who “wronged” her. Another politician that became “compassionate” only after finding out how greatly disliked she was on a city-wide basis.
The Mayor and the Council President have one thing in common—the creation of an atmosphere so toxic, so mean that it ensures that unless you work for them directly, you’re reluctant to work in city government.
I truly don’t know who I’m going to vote for in the mayor’s race—I have very real reservations of making a person with no elective experience the mayor of the most important city in the Pacific Northwest. I believe much of what has happened to Seattle over the last decade plus occurred because the city voted for a person who had no experience running an operation the size and scope of city government.
Voting for stability to avoid the potential of having a “Mayor Saka,” Mayor Kettle,” or ***SHUDDER*** a “Mayor Nelson” in 2030 may be the painful choice I have to make.
The other two choices are much easier. Both challengers have the range of knowledge and experience needed for their positions. More importantly, they strike me as having the proper balance you need to be a councilmember or city attorney. Neither appear to take being called “compassionate” as an insult. The two incumbents flee that word like a vampire flees a cross.
This city has always worked to find a balance between assisting those that need help and locking up those who prey on the people needing help.
Far too many people see that as being “soft,” the soft that helped create the “Seattle is dying” narrative. A narrative that has made it easy for people to look the other way when those who need a treatment bed more than a jail cell are swept off the streets.
Here’s hoping next week is the first step in trying to restore that balance.
“Television is much more difficult because at every moment the network can force you to change things based on their belief about what would make it popular. You’re in a constant debate with a gun at your head, and the gun is cancellation. So it’s hard to win the arguments.” –Judd Apatow
Lots of discussion from the Red Caps on “legacy media being brought to heel”—like media outlets are similar to dogs or any other animal that can be trained to obey its master.
I would challenge their word choice—legacy media hasn’t been brought to heel—what has been brought to heel is “corporate media.”
And we should be clear that we are talking about broadcast media..print media with the possible exception of the New York Times was “brought to heel” generations ago when Gannett started purchasing community newspapers and homogenizing news content…
How long has corporate media been in place?
–NBC has been purchased in pieces over the last four decades, culminating in Comcast being the majority owner.
–CBS was sold by Westinghouse in 1995 and through a series of purchases now belongs to Skydance media (a purchase that made news because the firing of Stephen Colbert appears to have been part of the approval of the sale).
–ABC was sold in 1985 and has been owned by Disney since 1996.
So “Corporate Media” has been in place for a generation—and truthfully it shows.
The corporations that own these broadcast entities all say they are in the “entertainment business” but the reality is like any other company in the financial system they are part of, they are in the “profit business.”
Anything that impacts their profit will soon be removed, and they are willing to deal with the consequences—i.e., bad press.
They can deal with the bad press because they know the America attention span is:
.03198 picoseconds…and shrinking!!!
Two of these three corporate entities are also trying to complete sales—and need the approval of the Federal Communications Commission for the sales to be completed—so they are willing to be brought to heel—hell they’ll ask their master how high they need to jump to get this.
I mention this because true legacy media:
CBS under founder William Paley,
NBC under founder David Sarnoff,
ABC under Edward J. Noble and Leonard Goldenson,
We’ll skip over FOX simply because their entertainment division has been a subsidiary of Disney since 2019 and the FOX News division has been a wing of the Republican party since its creation…
Would be having a field day with the current national situation.
The true broadcast legacy media understood the responsibility their companies had because they were providing information when there was only two sources: print and broadcast.
The world of today was truly science fiction in the early part of the 20th Century and the three networks understood their responsibility—for both news and entertainment.
Sarnoff and Paley were businessmen and as ruthless as the people who now control their broadcast heritage, but again, they also knew their responsibility went beyond dollars and cents.
They needed to ensure people knew the truth—not “both sides”—but the truth no matter how painful it could be.
Legacy media brought us Edward R Murrow, Walter Cronkite and Huntley and Brinkley.
Legacy media brought us the firehoses and dogs of Birmingham,
Legacy media brought us the attack at the Edmund Pettis Bridge,
Legacy media showed the paradox of destroying Vietnamese villages to save them.
Legacy media also brought us Laugh-In, the Smothers Brothers, Jack Parr and yes the venerated Johnny Carson, who was known to poke fun at presidents now and then.
Corporate media has bought us Jimmy Fallon running his fingers through a gangster’s toupee.
Corporate media has also brought us entities that flinch whenever a hand is raised toward them.
Corporate media has all of the moral courage of school paste.
Which is why we’re where we are today.
Legacy media would have dared the FCC to show where their reporters or entertainers did or said something that placed a subject in danger.
Legacy media would not have capitulated to frivolous lawsuits about news interviews.
Legacy media would not be in the process of seeing how they could get out of a contract with an entertainer because that entertainer is endangering their potential sale.
Legacy media would tell the gangsters in the People’s House “we’ll see you in court and match you attorney for attorney…”
Legacy media stood for something.
“Corporate media” will fall for anything.
George Patton—of all people–said it best about the current collection of corporate cowards in charge of the airwaves:
“A coward is someone who lets fear overcome their sense of duty.”
Today celebrates the fact that those in power will never give it up until they have to.
On this date in 1865—two years after the Emancipation and TWO MONTHS after the rebellion fueled by racism ended—slaveholders in Texas literally gave up what they believe was “theirs” ONLY at the point of a gun. The fact that what they were giving up Men, Women and Children was secondary—all they thought of was them losing their “property.”
Why do I suspect that somewhere at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. there is a draft proclamation/statement saying that today should be a day of mourning since it recognizes/celebrates the end of a “very good, very big” economic system that help “Make America Great” at the hand of an “oppressive government.”
Because of what I do, I try not to buy into conspiracy theories, but because of the current administration, this conspiracy gave me pause: that if it wasn’t for the deserved blowback it would receive if they had, I do believe they would rescind this holiday as part of their effort to bring this country back to the 19th century when good colored people knew their place.
To be quite honest, in this effort to deport anyone who looks brown and speaks with any type of accent, I’m surprised this administration hasn’t announced its economic plan to have famers and large growing operations invite people to own property on their land in exchange for helping grow and harvest the crops—you know—SHARECROPPING!!
Let us remember on this day that too much has happened to stop the momentum that has brought us to the present time. As much as many of my melanin-lacking friends want to go back to the days to where everyone knew that “God was a White Man,” just like a glacier we will continue to inevitably move forward—and just like a glacier, we will crush the bigotry and racism that continues to rule the day under its path.
Because today—tomorrow—and going forward–we won’t back down.
Freedom doesn’t come on a silver platter. With every great movement toward freedom there will inevitably be trials. Somebody will have to have the courage to sacrifice. You don’t get to the Promised Land without going through the Wilderness. You don’t get there without crossing over hills and mountains, but if you keep on keeping on, you can’t help but reach it. We won’t all see it, but it’s coming and it’s because God is for it. When God is for a thing it will survive. Don’t worry about some things we have to go through. Some of them are a necessary part of the great movement we are making toward freedom. There can never be growth without growing pains. There is no birth without birth pains. Like the mother suffering when she gives birth to new life, we know there is glory beyond the pain.
We won’t back down. We are going on with our movement.
For those who have followed me in the past, I’ll be working on being a little more regular.
If you’ve stumbled onto this for the first time—here’s a little background—and my hope that you will continue to follow.
On a day that celebrates a game with Roman numerals—I’m reminded of something:
Symbols Matter.
If you don’t think so, remember the construction, destruction and control of symbols have been a way for some people in American society to mark their territory.
It’s why the return of the failed game show host to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave has focused not on actual legislative action, but on the elimination of symbols that celebrate the diversity of American story.
It’s not that we don’t recognize the secondary achievement of certain races and genders, but it was the White Man who made America what it is and we should be celebrated for all our work in making America Great and you colored folk and women should be thankful for that!!
Again—Symbols Matter.
That’s what makes this week so amazing and amusing.
It’s going to start with a BLACK MAN being the face of biggest sport in America.
And it’s going to end with an 85-year-old symbol of America going onto the big screen as a BLACK MAN.
Legacy
Super Bowl LIX is going to feature a rematch between two quarterbacks that carry the legacy of when the league they are part of made Black Quarterbacks wide receiver, running backs and defensive backs.
They carry the legacy of Condredge Holloway and Warren Moon, who had to take the Underground Railroad to Canada to play the position.
They carry the legacy of Tony Dungy, an all Big 10 QB, who was told he was a defensive back by the coach that had already had a Black QB and didn’t want another one.
They carry the legacy of after losing the NFC title game in 1980, Doug Williams was mailed a rotten watermelon with a note using that very special word in describing why he would never be a winner.
They carry the legacy of when a few years later, the same Doug Williams was asked during the media day for the XXII edition of the game how long he had been a Black one.
They carry the legacy of the Heisman Trophy winning QB of the national champion Florida State football team that said he was not even going to join the league and honestly Charlie Ward probably made way more in his 10 years in the NBA than he would have riding the bench in the NFL.
WaPo (and former Seattle Times) columnist Jerry Brewer mentioned the first time these two QBs met that today’s game, and the two QBs playing were a glimpse of the future…and that their skills…are NOW THE NORM and not the exception.
Jalen Hurts is looking to join Doug Williams, Russell Wilson and Patrick Mahomes in a very privileged subset of a very privileged club.
And Patrick Mahomes is looking to do something that no other Super Bowl QB has ever done:
–Not Bart Starr –Not Bob Greise –Not Terry Bradshaw –Not Joe Montana –Not John Elway –Not Troy Aikman –Not “Flat Ball” Tom
Hmmm—wonder what those seven have in common….
Good QBs—and there have been bad QBs who have won the Super Bowl—become the face of the league. Which means it’s going to be very interesting to see how Racist Orange will react when having to congratulate a QB he would consider (off the record of course) as a “DEI QB.”
On Sunday, a Black QB will hoist the Lombardi. On Friday, the Red, White and Blue shield of Captain America is going to be hoisted by a Black Man!!
I expect those of you who don’t follow comic books—which is probably most of you who are reading this—to know that in the comic book world, there was a period when Captain America was a Black Man. If you’re interested, here’s the background.
Raising the Mighty Shield
Know you’re wondering what’s the big deal about a fictional character being Black.
Once again: Symbols Matter.
Captain America came onto the scene literally slugging Hitler…
Which is amusing because almost a century later there was a reworked image of Captain America slugging another dictator—but I digress…
The idea of Captain America being depicted as anything other than a White Man tends to raise the hackles of some of my melanin-lacking friends because— it was the White Man who made America what it is and we should be celebrated for all our work in making America Great.
The irony is just like another fictitious hero—the one faster than a speeding bullet—Captain America was created by a couple of Jewish nerds who wanted to celebrate America’s fight against fascism NOT ITS SURRENDER TO IT.
There are already those who are objecting to the movie—which won’t premier until Friday—and are using the standard words of those who object to any hero not being a White Man:
“I’m not racist, (which 99 and 44/100 percent of the time mean they are), I’m just not comfortable with this fictional hero being Black.”
“It doesn’t matter to me, but isn’t Cap a White Man?”
“I just don’t think Anthony Mackie can pull it off the way Chris Evans did” (and when asked why not, their faces flush and they say “‘cause he can’t!!”)
And these people will of course celebrate when it doesn’t meet the financial expectations that come with the $200 million plus cost of this movie by using the word “woke.”
You know, I hate to say this but go ahead and use that special word—you want to anyway—and that way I will know if I want to continue dealing with you in any way/shape/form.
It could be a bad movie—the last few Marvel movies have been—but it’ll be likely because of a poor plot and a tired genre than the fact that it’s starring a Black Man.
Again—why are a fictional character on the big screen and a person that when they’re a certain hue are accused of playing a “kid’s game” so important?
Because Symbols Matter.
Because the young men who are watching the game who look like Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts, if they are talented enough—and lucky enough—to make it to the NFL, can realistically know they will be able to play Quarterback, and not be told to go to the receiver’s room or to meet with the coach of the defensive backs.
Because much like a young Caryn Elaine Johnson, who decided she was going to become an actor because she saw Nichelle Nichols on her TV screen and shouted to her mother “come look! There’s a Black Woman on the screen and she’s ain’t playing a maid!” some black child is going to look up at the movie screen and believe, that if they’re talented enough—and lucky enough—to achieve stardom on the big or small screen, they can tell Anthony Mackie how he was an inspiration to them in the same way Caryn—better known as Whoopi Goldberg—was able to tell Nichell Nichols that she was an inspiration to her.
Because in a period when there is going to be an orchestrated effort on the highest levels of government and businesses to redefine America as the place that wouldn’t exist without the White Male:
Symbols Matter.
And those who look like me need to celebrate those symbols as much as possible in as many ways as possible, because we know if we don’t, they can disappear as quickly as a signature can be affixed on an Executive Order.
Until next time—and I promise this next one will be soon!!
On New Year’s Day, Seattle’s version of Rush Limbaugh passed away at the far too young age of 61. Much like the defenders of perhaps the most vicious and vile person to ever populate the airwaves mourned his passing, so too did the defenders of Seattle’s “Rush” leaped to praise him…and defend him.
It was as if they knew what was coming.
One apostle threatened a boycott of the Seattle Times and lead a subscription cancelation campaign because in the story about his passing, the paper had the AUDACITY TO PRINT THE TRUTH ABOUT THIS MAN:
How a school district actually thought that a man who could say things like that was perhaps not a person they wanted coaching their children.
Another apostle made a very overt threat toward those who didn’t mourn the death as profoundly as she was.
And those who were not apostles started their memories of the broadcaster by saying “we may not have agreed, BUT….”
Much like the late unlamented Limbaugh, the Seattle broadcaster made his reputation and fortune as a bully. His strength, “punching down” and mocking those who the “Sheeple” (one of the broadcaster’s favorite terms) of Seattle might support and want to help: you know, people of color, people courageous enough to make the decision to be comfortable within their own bodies and those people who are unable to live in a home.
Perhaps if they had listened to the interminable ads voiced by the broadcaster about building wealth and financing mortgages, they wouldn’t have needed to be on the streets…but I digress.
So why I’m spending time writing about this individual?
Because on this day, many of the apostles of this broadcaster will spend today talking about the 35 words they like to bring out on the day we recognize and celebrate of a TRUE HERO. Of course being an apostle means blind obedience, so they’ll also mention it’s too bad Dr. King’s people are too focused on “forcing wokeness on everybody” instead of working on their “character.”
What they will neglect to mention is that the hero who we honor on this day gave his life putting a hand out, not a fist.
Someone who while not condoning the uprisings in Watts and Detroit understood that “a riot is the language of the unheard.” (“The Other America,” March 1968)
A hero that understood that what is now called by many of my melanin lacking friends “being woke” was the first step toward taking off the blindfolds that still obscure our future:
“White Americans must recognize that justice for black people cannot be achieved without radical changes in the structure of our society.” —Where Do We Go from Here? 1967
And finally, a hero that spoke truth to power, even when he knew it would cost him the support he had garnered in fighting American Apartheid:
“The evils of capitalism are as real as the evils of militarism and racism. The problems of racial injustice and economic injustice cannot be solved without a radical redistribution of political and economic power”. —To the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) board on March 30, 1967.
Was this hero perfect? Of course not. For those of us who believe, there was only one perfect person—and we remember how he was treated.
In fact, some of the same apostles who will praise the 35 words today will also gleefully point out the imperfections of Dr. King, their way of denigrating the work he did because that is how they’re wired.
It’s very easy to garner fame and fortune by mocking your fellow man, and the late broadcaster did just that, which is why so many of the people who joined in deifying him probably couldn’t look me in the eye if we were to discuss him.
True heroism, true heroes understand the impact of their words and the cost to be paid in speaking truth to power.
True heroes, true heroism will not exchange reputations and honor to gain wealth and comfort.
And when people talk about true heroes, most hopefully won’t start with “we may not have agreed, BUT….”
We celebrate the life of one man today, but let us celebrate all of those who reach out with a hand—and not a fist.
And if that makes us “Sheeple”
BAA, BAA, BAA!!!
“For when people get caught up with that which is right and they are willing to sacrifice for it, there is no stopping point short of victory.” –Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. April 3, 1968
On this date in 1963, 250,000 people gathered on the same mall that today is unfortunately better known as the scene of an insurrection directed by a man who decided that he would rather plunge this country into chaos than admit that he lost an election.
On this day we remember, recognize and celebrate the anniversary of one of the key moments of beginning of the end of “American Apartheid,” and the history of this country’s overt racism, the March on Washington. An event that amazingly has been co-opted by the cult of the former game show host as an example of “content of their character” when they try to defend their racism—and use the word of the Keynote speaker that day to try to defend it—focusing on just 35 words from his speech.
The organizers wanted the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom to be a peaceful demonstration to those holding the power, but as Taylor Branch mentioned in “Parting the Waters” his first book chronicling the struggle for Civil Rights, the Rev. Dr. King, Mr. Randolph, Mr. Rustin and others also saw this as an opportunity to change perceptions.
They encouraged those “Negroes” who were coming to dress well and to be mindful of their demeanor throughout the day, because for many Whites who were also there for the march it could possibly be their first interaction with a Black person. The organizers were also aware that all three (yes just three) networks were going to be carrying the event throughout the day, and the images that they would be broadcasting could have an impact on people throughout the U.S.—and the world.
Perception is not reality—but those images…
-Of an event that was more of a celebration than an angry protest;
-Of men and women who had the same goals, hopes and dreams as those who were watching them on their black and white TV’s;
-Of a 34-year-old man talking so powerfully about what he knew this country could become, if only the millions of people who were denied their basic rights could fully participate in it;
Helped start changing the realities of a lot of people—even the realities of the cowards who would murder four little girls in a Birmingham church less than a month after this celebration.
One can’t help but wonder what would have happened in the event had occurred on this date in 2020—wait a minute, no we don’t BECAUSE HERE IS THE RESPONSE IN 2020 on just the possibility of the march.
The march help bring about the adoption of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, legislation that some of my R friends like to boast happened because of “the Republicans who helped ensure its passage.”
And you want to know something—they’re right.
It was moderate northern Republicans that understood they didn’t want to be on the wrong side of history and support the legislation. What Republicans now don’t want to admit is that what President Johnson said after the signing of the Civil Rights Act is true:
“We have lost the South for a generation”
The same White racists who blocked the adoption of the Civil Right Act through the use of the filibuster (sound familiar?) simply changed their party affiliation.
The party of Racists now started with an “R” instead of a “D” and they have continued with the same tactics they so proudly used six decades ago.
It is those same Racists (with the help of the silence of those moderates that Dr. King warned us about) that are rebuilding the standards that made “Jim Crow” the bulwark against progress toward true equity and justice, and are proud that they are doing it.
And if you don’t believe me, look at the consideration of blocking a book written about the Black man the school is named after all in the name of not “indoctrinating” the White kids who attend the school that some (not all) White people can at times can do some incredibly vile and evil things—then and now.
I’m of a generation that was taught that your actions reflected all of us. The Blacks who were among the 250,000 people who surrounded the mall on that August day in 1963 understood that.
I’m beginning to wonder if the people who continue to defend those “Freedom Fighters” and their leader understand that “Perception is Reality.”
And again, if you don’t believe me, there are two local “reporters”—one who was fired after praising fascists live on the air, the other who has gone the Alex Jones route and is suckering people to pay to be “undivided”—and two Seattle Times columnists who are making a comfortable living helping stoke the perception that Seattle—especially downtown Seattle—is Thunderdome minus Mel Gibson.
The reality—tourism in downtown is close to its pre pandemic high—but hey, never let the truth get in the way of making money
For the editorial page of The Mobile Register this was their reality of the March:
I wonder if those people ever admitted that they may have been on the wrong side of history?
I wonder if the people today who are now fighting to bring us back to those glorious days of “Separate But Equal” wonder if we may look at them the way we look at the editors of The Mobile Register:
Being on the wrong side of history.
BTW, at the end of the March, the people who participated in this event HELPED THE PARK SERVICE CLEAN UP AFTERWARDS—because they didn’t want to be seen as having left a national and international attraction a mess…
“With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.”
“Write the words, Brother Ben, the words that will lead us out of the darkness onto the path of righteousness. Write the words, Brother Benny. Write the words!” Star Trek Deep Space Nine “Far Beyond the Stars”
Truth is, being a Black comic book/sci fi fan in the early/mid 80s wasn’t easy.
What for me started as a high school hobby became a passion as I got older. In the mid 80’s my life was pretty much going to classes at the University of Washington, going to work, and going to Golden Age Collectibles, Zanadu and the Time Travelers, the Seattle book shops that specialized in comic books (and what was then called “comic book culture”)
Those books, and that community/culture played a role in getting me through some painful times in my life. They kept me sane, helped me get over the pain of my mother’s passing, and made me smile when there were times I really just wanted to lash out at everyone and everything. The books came with me into my marriage, to the annoyance of my wife, but I kept them out of her way and would read them whenever I wanted to go back to the days when a stack of books and the time to read them was a good day.
A few years back I sold my collection, which at one time was over 10,000 books. When I sold them, I had a library of closer to 5,000 books and it went for a good cause, seed money for my daughter’s college education.
During the height of my time collecting comics, there were not a lot of Black faces at the shops I went to–and there was a reason.
Even as I was reading Dubois, Booker T, Malcolm, and Dr. King, some of the people who looked like me people would see me with a comic book and ask “Why are you dealing with that white stuff?”
As if 7-foot, 1,000 pound gamma powered green creatures recognized color.
As for the emerging comic book/sci fi events, let’s just say there’s a reason that Comic Book Guy and Sheldon Cooper were designed the way they were. And those attending them were overwhelmingly White and male—and that continued as I reconnected with that community over the last decade.
But over the last few years, I’ve noticed more Black and Brown faces, men and women, cosplayers and those like me who primarily went to these events in a T shirt celebrating their favorite comic book, anime or TV show, looking for bargains and taking photos with the performers who portrayed childhood heroes.
As I walked around during the just completed 2022 Emerald City Comic Con seeing all of these new faces, it struck me:
This the generation that as kids grew up watching He-Man, She-Ra, Lion O, and Optimus Prime. They shouted “GO JOE,” “Go Go Power Rangers,” and “Turtle Power!”
These are the tweens and teens who watched Q put humanity on trial, understands the significance of “Wolf 359” and saw a Black man command a space station.
Growing up they not only read Le Guin, Herbert, and Asimov, they ALSO read Octavia Butler, Tananarive Due and Walter Mosley.
And they are now the young adults in theaters cheering the King of Earth’s greatest kingdom and greeting friends by crossing their arms together and saying “WAKANDA FOREVER!!”
They are quite literally the first generation of Black and Brown people who grew up where liking comics and science fiction wasn’t an automatic accusation of “acting White”
And they’re starting to have children!!!
The Wakandan Royal Family!!
Children who when they see Spider-Man will see him as a Biracial teen (something that I hope we’ll see happen soon on the big screen as well as the comics)
Children who are watching a Black woman COMMAND a star ship.
Children who will grow up watching reruns of Luke Cage and Black Lightning.
Over the last month, much has been written about the passing of Nichelle Nichols, who I was blessed to see at a Con a few years back. She told the two stories that have now become legend:
The story of Rev. Dr. King telling her she couldn’t leave the bridge of the Enterprise.
And the story of a young child named Caryn Johnson telling her mother to come into the living room and see this Black woman on TV who wasn’t playing a maid.
Nichelle’s voice got soft when she said that young lady, better known as Whoppi Goldberg, reached out to her after she accepted the role of Guinan in Star Trek: The Next Generation and said that Nichelle not only played a part in her accepting the role, but in her becoming a performer.
Dr. King realized it when he spoke to Nichols 50-plus years ago, and Whoppi voiced it in the message she gave to Nichols.
Seeing somebody that looks like you IS important.
The Short Round Black man with a legend
Just as important, seeing somebody who looks like you, and it being acceptable to your community, is life-affirming.
This makes my heart sing.
And it makes me look forward to just how this generation, and their children, will help grow this comic/sci fi and cultural seed they are planting.
One Con at a time.
Instead of Until Next Time, let’s end with the favorite word of the late, great Stan Lee (Who if you don’t know—shame on you)
Raised by a single father in Oakland, CA (who once upon a time, went to school with the short, round man’s mother—but that’s a story for another day..)
Who was talked into playing the sport that would make him a legend and simply dominated in high school and college.
Dominated the game to the point that much like a decade later when they stopped the kid from UCLA from dunking, the supposed amateur athletic league widened the free-throw lane to 12 feet in an attempt to keep him from getting easy putbacks (“The Russell Rule”)
Drafted by the St. Louis Hawks, and saved from going to (back then) the most racist city in the NBA by being traded to what continues to be the most OPENLY RACIST CITY IN THE NORTH.
A city that even as he won them titles, never understood this fierce man who got so nervous before some big games that he vomited prior to tip off (in fact, he said the coach who became a legend with him would every once in a while, tell him: “Russell, I haven’t heard you puking yet—go get sick.”)
A man who averaged a 20-20 in college who realized the team he played with in the NBA needed his rebounding and defensive skills more than his scoring ability, so he became arguably the most complete defensive player in NBA history and still averaged 20 points and 12 rebounds throughout his career.
He won titles, lots of titles—NCAA, Olympic Gold, and ELEVEN NBA TITLES, the last as a player-coach, the first Black coach in modern sports.
All American At Univ of San FranciscoMember of the 1956 Gold Medal TeamFirst Black head coach in modern sports history
A man that understood, like his contemporary that played football in Cleveland, that at the time he was in the American spotlight he had a responsibility beyond just dribbling a ball. He spoke about the injustices he had to endure as a Black Man in America, and those who were not willing to listen to what he had to say, (who, if they are still alive, likely voted for the failed game show host) broke into his home, destroyed it, and then smeared their feces throughout his home.
But that didn’t keep him from supporting the champ who didn’t want to fight in Vietnam.
Nor did it stop him from supporting, speaking about, and marching with the pastor who had a dream.
For those of use who still mourn the theft of our NBA team because of the petulance of the burnt coffee baron, let us remember the excitement of the first pro sports team in Seattle (in modern times) to make the playoffs, a team coached by this man (who also drafted Dennis Johnson, the foundation of the title team a few years later)
A man who came to the Pacific Northwest and never left (save for a short, disastrous stint in Sacramento, but that team has always been cursed)
And never stopped speaking truth to power.
For those who like to elevate jumpman to the GOAT—remember what Mikey said, that greatness is defined by rings—so by Mikey’s own definition, we are saying goodbye to THE GREATEST PLAYER IN THE HISTORY OF THE NBA.
But he was so much more.
The sportsocracy (columnists, talk shows, sports radio morons and the “shut up and dribble fans”) who continue to denigrate Kaepernick and LeBron for pointing out the challenges that William Felton Russell spoke about HALF A CENTURY AGO, will celebrate their ignorance and their hypocrisy by heaping their praise upon a man who was as vocal about the injustices that his people continue to face than Colin and LeBron will ever be.
But for me, since I was never blessed to see the great man play, I will remember:
How he would never NEVER give the racists who cheered for him and then call him N***** after the game the satisfaction of seeing him angry.
Reading about the fierce battles between him and Wilt (and wishing I could have seen these two warriors in the prime, because their games are the stuff of legend).
And the cackle and smile that was part of the sports fabric long after his playing days.
Goodbye Bill, I hope after saying hi to your father, you and Wilt will start rounding up folks to play shirts and skins.
Thoughts From A Short Round Black Man 