RICHARD SHERMAN IS RIGHT ABOUT GOVERNMENT-SUBSIDIZED SPORTS

I don’t think National Football League team owners and politicians are feeling Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman these days, after he appeared on a sports radio show and suggested a removal of the massive government subsidies used to fund the construction of pro sports facilities. I think Sherman’s statement is bold — considering that his […]

SUNDAY SMACK: TREATMENT OF ORLANDO NIGHTCLUB SHOOTING

This morning, one of NYC’s news radio stations mentioned last night’s tragic Orlando, Florida nightclub mass shooting as follows: We now know the nationality of the gunman in the Orlando gay nightclub shooting — coming up. My Sunday Smack: “Do you have any problem whatsoever with the above statement?” I’d love to understand the reason […]

SUNDAY SMACK: THE DRAFT AND PRESIDENTS

This week’s Sunday Smack covers war, and asks a simple question: If the United States reinstated the military draft, would Americans change the way they vote for presidents? song currently stuck in my head: “girls and boys” – prince

MUHAMMAD ALI THOUGHTS

My meditations of a post-Muhammad Ali America hit on a sad reality that we still have too many White folks — and let’s be sure to include an excessive number of the Black ones as well — who view the words and actions of confident Black folks as “Cocky.” “Too aggressive.” “Arrogant.” Or much worse. […]

HILLARY CLINTON IS CLEARLY LYING. NOW WHAT?

Dorothy Allison’s young adult novel Bastard out of Carolina has a quote which partially describes the current state of play in Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s repeated failures to credibly explain her use of a private email server while she served as Secretary of State: “Things come apart so easily when they have been held together […]

SUNDAY SMACK: WHAT ABOUT THIS CHINESE WASH-THE-BLACK-OFF COMMERCIAL?

My friend Anisha Moon, a musician (you can see her here, trading lyrics with Leon Ware), and entrepreneur, posted this Chinese laundry detergent commercial on her Facebook page. Here’s the story flow. 1. An Asian woman is washing clothes. 2. An African descendent man appears, apparently taking a break from painting. 3. And he finds […]

LIVE: ANNABEL (LEE) IN L.A.

Annabel (Lee) member Richard E. hipped me to a recently-produced video of the group, armed with an orchestra, performing “Find Me” from their By the Sea … and Other Solitary Places album. I later found a live clip of “Suki Desu” from the group’s YouTube channel. You know how I feel about By the Sea […]

CLINTON’S AMAZING WEEK OF ‘NO’

As the presidential candidate who’s “willing to debate anytime and anywhere,” and is willing to speak with any investigator about her private email troubles, Hillary Clinton seems to be saying “No” a lot lately. Saying “No” to a Party of No Guts primary debate with opponent Bernie Sanders in California makes sense on the surface […]

IF ONLY FREDDIE GRAY WAS A POLICE CAR

Of course cop cars matter! So do the lives of police officers! And guess what? Freddie Gray’s life mattered! While I’m making my rounds of citing who and what matters, allow me to state what should be obvious: Black lives matter. Are you mad because I ended that last sentence with bold characters, and didn’t […]

SUNDAY SMACK: 2008 ALL OVER AGAIN?

The two stupefying Wall Street Journal charts about US credit card debt you see above has caused me to break from my typical Sunday Smack format of simply raising questions without a strong injection of my opinion. Banks are issuing more credit cards today than they did just prior to the 2008 financial crash while […]