National News Race, Class and Privilege and the NFL’s Unresolved Issues
“I’m not going to stand to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black People and People of Color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish for me to look the other way.” —Colin Kaepernick
Perhaps it was inevitable that the National Football League would not be immune to the raw, angry clashes around race that have exploded into super bursts of toxic energy around the country particularly since wannabe cop George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin in Florida in 2012.
Sports, we’re told, is the great equalizer. On the field, they intone, race doesn’t matter, only athletic prowess, hard work and the devotion to winning. But this truism is as false as a $3 dollar bill, as illustrated by the NFL’s reaction to Colin Kaepernick’s fateful decision to kneel before a preseason game in August 2016.
His gesture demonstrated his opposition to the second class treatment of Black people, racial injustice and condemnation of a society which condones police brutality and the extra-judicial murders of Black men, women and children.
Updated Sep 11, 2019 - 9:27:46 AM
National News Dreads, Super Bowl tickets and a tricky start to NFL-Roc Nation community partnership
Thousands packed Grant Park in downtown Chicago ahead of kickoff for the 100th season of the National Football League for free activities that included meeting former players, games, other activities and musical performances from hip hop artists Meek Mill, Rapsody and pop star Meghan Trainor.
Updated Sep 11, 2019 - 9:56:56 AM
National News Havoc-making storm slams U.S. coastline
COLUMBIA, S.C.—Following days of devastation in the Bahamas where Hurricane Dorian left fatalities and war zone-like damage, it slowly danced northward along America’s eastern seaboard to Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, and Virginia.
Updated Sep 11, 2019 - 9:29:10 AM
National News Sorrow, seeking solutions to child deaths in St. Louis
ST. LOUIS—The Black community of St. Louis is outraged and seeking answers to why young children have died in troubling numbers since last spring. A clergy coalition, congressman and NAACP leader recently called for the giving the city authority to determine its own guns laws.
Updated Sep 6, 2019 - 9:43:07 AM
National News Can Blacks Survive America’s Changing Workplace
Black and Latino workers face a bleak outlook due to a myriad of challenges including automation—the use of computers and technology in substitution for human labor—reentry, and education, according to national facts, figures, and expert analysis.
Updated Sep 6, 2019 - 9:06:47 AM
National News Commitment on a whole new level!
When the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan directed the Believers to “make” our communities a decent and safe place to live, it was a directive that many took to the streets.
Updated Sep 6, 2019 - 8:28:24 AM
National News A fisherman and a fisher of men
Inspired by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, Brother Michael 2X of Muhammad Study Group in Jacksonville, Florida, arranged and organized the Second Annual Community Fishing Outing for the youth.
Updated Sep 6, 2019 - 8:27:46 AM
