Ja-Merica
Months ago, Ja Morant jeopardized his NBA career, generational wealth and more when video showed him casually playing with guns. While suspended from gameplay, Morant said he got the help he needed to deal with his life’s pressures. Recently, while rollin’ with one of his homies, Morant was again about the gunplay. His homie, who knew the blowback Ja got the first go-round, still chose to livestream their antics. The resulting opinions? Ja needs a new crew. Ja needs to accept personal responsibility. Ja needs to stop playin’ “hard.” The Grizzles – his team – and the NBA need to invest more in player development, etc. While some or all of that may be true, no one’s mentioning the AR-15 pins GOP lawmakers floss after each mass shooting, or the Christmas cards with GOP lawmakers and family members strapped with weapons of war, or the NRA’s full-throated defense of whites parading their guns in public, yet dead silence or condemnation when it comes to Blacks gun carriers. In Ja, we see our brother who needs help. But so does America.
Thous shalt not front
Some Texans are gung-ho about the move requiring placement of the 10 Commandments in every classroom of every public school, as if this act will curb gun violence or improve morals. Are we really that infantile as a people regarding how our spiritual walk works? Hell, the fact that the promoters of this bill supported putting children in cages, continually demonize the poor, and cheer on the mistreatment of Blackfolk should tell you something. If not, let me leave you with the words of U.S. Senator Cory Booker: “Before you speak to me about your religion, first show it to me in how you treat other people; before you tell me how much you love your God, show me how much you love all His children; before you preach to me of your passion for your faith, teach me about it through your compassion for your neighbors. In the end, I’m not as interested in what you have to tell or sell (or post in a Texas classroom) as in how you choose to live and give.”
Beyond Brown v. Board of Ed.
As they say, “If you’re gonna tell the story, tell the whole story.” That’s what we need to do regarding Brown v. Board of Education. The famous decision came down on May 17, 1954, legally ending segregation in public schools. That’s the part of the story we tell. But what too often goes unspoken, several counties and cities literally closed down their public schools, some for nearly three years, rather than have their kids sit next to Black children in classrooms. Some municipalities changed their laws to use public tax dollars to fund private schools founded by white “Christian” churches. They were affectionately called “segregation academies.” So, cities used Black tax dollars to fund their kids’ education while ours got none. And some cities fought school integration up into the 21st century. Ironically, schools today, in some places, are more segregated now than in the 1940s. So, let’s cheer the courage and brilliance of Thurgood Marshall, Charles Hamilton Houston and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. But just know, even with our “victories,” the struggle always continues.
