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Man, it's hard to believe it's been a year since this thing with Colin started! My, my, my........ Mel You know what? You have just alerted me to someting that has helped me make sense of all of this silliness and CONFUSION. I've been saying since the entire thing started that Colin's behavior actually causes more CONFUSION and PROBLEMS than it actually solves. First of all it does basically nothing to solve the problem or racism and police brutality. Second, all he's doing is pissing off patriotic White people by not respecting the flag....many of whom may not have been ordinarily racist but have TURNED racist because of his behavior. Third, KNEELING before the flag actually shows more respect for it than STANDING. So if he wants to protest, why the hell would TAKING A KNEE be the way to go????? But after reading your post and doing a little research, I now realize what happened. A WHITE MAN got to his ear and convinced him to do the very OPPOSITE of what he was trying to do. A WHITE MAN actually fooled him into: 1) showing MORE respect for the flag than he originally intened to show by kneeling for it 2) Pissing off as many White people as he could, which would mean losing potential allies. He was essentially tricked and this confusion and mixed message has trickled all through out the NFL. This is why I think a Black power fist or simply sitting would have been a more effective protest.

Wow this is a such a meaty subject and so many places to comment don't know where to begin :-) Del you gave Mel quite a bit of latitude with the stats she expressed, I know you would not have been nearly as understanding with me ;-) Cynique, sure I made declarative statements, but they were supported by ample evidence. But seemingly social media's impact on the election is like climate change: There can be plenty of evidence, but that is of no consequence as people will only believe what they want to believe. The current social science tells us that people are moved by emotions not wonk. My challenge is that I tend to explain with data, facts, and evidence, which does not move people. Cynique I appreciate the kind words, but I hope you and everybody else think of this forum as much yours as mine. Sure you don't have to worry about the maintenance, the spammers, or expense, but as far as the opinions you all express I trust you all feel free to say what you want. At the same time, I trust folks are introduced to different ideas and perspectives. I know I have been. The bottom line as I've said a number of times. There must be standards, that people generally agree upon, for there to be a cohesive society. We can argue about what those standard might be, but absence any standard means we are in trouble. I also believe that we as a people have given our agency to corporations. Whatever we create is taken from us and perverted. Hip-Hop is a prime example. Finally, since Cardi B. is the top female rapper today (based upon her fantastically successful single), she represents the pinnacle of the musical form right now and perhaps represents the aspirations of many young girls, as a result. Now some of you all may like that--fine. But understand we (Black people) did not put her there. Because we don't choose who is celebrated we can not be served very well. We do not choose which musicians are elevated, we do not choose who are leaders, we do not choice are spokes people. We do not set our own agenda. Today the Colin K fiasco is now about 45 and respecting the flag and a Cardi B is out top rapper... Collectively we can be pretty weak sometimes and it is frustrating that we don't recognize it.

No @Cynique, you are misinterpreting what I'm saying. I'm not belittling Colin. My argument is that Colin's protest is driven by media attention. They choose to promote Colin's to promote--not us. They can also chose to move on when no more controversy can be rung from the issue. Obviously, 45 has given the media an opportunity to milk this further, but again this will run it's course, and the unheralded heroes who are actually doing the work our liberation will continue as they always have. Cynique, do you think that Colin taking a knee is the most substantive effort of protest that we are currently engaged in, the effort most worthy of our attention and support, or are you fine with allowing corporations to continue to drive our agenda, based upon profit rather than effectiveness? Time will tell this oft repeated story.

@Cynique I would be willing to bet that there have been, over the decades, numerous individuals who failed to salute the flag, but they they did not garner so much media attention because there was no 24/7 news cycle and no social media. Again, Colin's story is only "relevant" because of the media's reaction. No one would have wasted a camera to isolate what individual players were doing during the national anthem 30 years ago. His action would have gone unnoticed. All the man has done is drop to a knee, for Christ's sake! It is not like he risked prison by refusing to serve in Vietnam like Ali. It is not he marched across the Edmond Pettus Bridge while racist cops were beating him senseless. Let keep things in perspective. Now that 45 has chimed in and everyone has taken a sides. What will come of this? Does anyone, for a split second, think racism will actually end? Does anything think that racists will question their own motives and see things differently? What is the goal of all this attention to the various knee-bending, arm-joining, activity going on in the NFL? Again, I think the whole knee bending is much ado abut nothing, simply because it will not improve race relations. It appears it is not even enough to get Colin his job back, but even if he did, nothing would change. In a pre 24/7 news cycle/social media era Colin would still have a job. Meanwhile the activists, attorneys, legislators, educators, ministers and their organizations, who actually do the work of making change could be getting the actual work done. But today some guy taking a knew gets all the attention, our organizations grow weaker and nothing changes... I'm reading,Ta-Nehisi Coates' new book, We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy. In it he draws an analogy between the aftermath of Obama's presidency and and the end of reconstruction. It is an interesting parallel we saw rise of the Klan and Black people had every benefit provided during reconstruction ripped away for another century. Poor and middle class, under-educated, white people are angry. Their social media filter-bubble-fueled bigotry is reinforced and they can't see Colin's actions as anything but overt hate of American and a threat to everything America represents.

@Cynique, very well put and I'm sure you are right. I guess I simply do not care what 45 thinks or what football playesr do. It is of little consequence to me. I would like to see the players, who provide the bulk of the entertainment, own a percentage of the league proportional to their participation on the field, but no one seems to care very much about that even though it is a more important issue. I don't even care if they want to risk brain injury. They know the risks. Still I can't help but feel the media is fueling the flames of this. If I turn on the TV, open a paper, or post to social media--I have to see 45's stupid tweets. Other than dropping off the grid there is no escaping his nonsense. Rather than taking a sober look at Colin's motivation and having a sensible dialog, the entire media landscape is inundated with childish bickering that will lead us nowhere good. The are no voices of reason with a platform large enough to rise above the noise and reach anyone. A thoughtful examination of the issues are not profitable. Emotion fueled controversy is, so this is what we get. Social media has put this on steroids and are laughing all the way to the bank--completely insulated from any negative repercussions due to their great wealth.

Poor Hillary Clinton. She just can't win for losing. She's really catching it from the haters responding to what as been leaked from her soon to be released book in which she offers her explanation and theories as to why she lost the election. Naturally, her detractors accuse her of blaming everyone but herself, but she reportedly does devote space to describing where she went wrong. In one chapter she takes Bernie Sanders to task for making her campaign harder, likening him to a father who promises his children a pony and when his wife questions where they will get a pony or how they will pay for it and where will they house it, he accuses her of not liking ponies. She pretty much accused him of putting her in a Catch-22 position from which she could never recover. She also said that she really believes her sex worked against her because many of both sexes just weren't ready for a women president. I think Hillary is destined to go down in history as a tragic figure. And i also think she should just retire from politics because she will be a disruptive force in the Democratic party which needs to re-invent itself. Below is an interesting perspective of her long political career, a blog essay by Larry Womak which appeared in Huffington Post in September of 2016, two months before the election. Is it biased? i dont know. But it does "out" her haters for their sloppy vetting of her. “Why Is Clinton disliked?“ “Why the hate for Hillary?“ “Why do people hate Hillary Clinton so much?“ Is it because of partisanship? Or a hard-fought primary? Maybe, NBC once suggested, it’s because “she’s not a train wreck.” Funny how the answers seem to be everything but the obvious. We go on endlessly about how “untrustworthy” she is, while fact checkers rank her as the second-most honest prominent politician in the country. (And her opponent as by far the least.) We say that she has trouble with transparency, while her opponent refuses to release his taxes and the current administration sets records for secrecy. We decry her ties to corporations and the financial industry, while supporting a walking tax shelter or mourning the exit of a president whose re-election was funded by a record-shattering Wall Street haul. We list so very many explanations, all of them complete bullshit. In truth, the Hillary haters seem to resent her more than disagree with her. They demand to be humored and catered to. They hold her to wildly different standards than her male counterparts. They regard her with an unprecedented degree of suspicion. Above all, they really, really want to see her punished. And an aggressive male presence—even if dangerously incompetent—seems to comfort a great many of them. Everyone but them knows damn well why. Bad news for the haters: History is decidedly unafraid of “the woman card.” It doesn’t care how many people will stand on tables today and swear they’d feel the same if she were a man. It will see us for what we are—a sick society, driven by misogyny and pathetically struggling to come to terms with the fact that women do not exist solely to nurture. If that answer isn’t as nuanced as the average thinkpiece, that’s because we, as a people, are not. No matter how many branches have formed, they all emerged from the same seed, planted way back when Bill Clinton first ran for governor. She wouldn’t be so suspicious of the press, or so measured in her presentation, or so any one of a thousand other things, if she had been born a man. The lengths we go to in order to rationalize this all will be seen, in retrospect, as extraordinary. When the Bush administration was discovered to have erased millions of emails illegally sent by 22 administration officials through private, RNC-owned accounts, in order to thwart an investigation into the politically motivated firing of eight US attorneys, just one talk show covered it that Sunday. When Mitt Romney wiped servers, sold government hard drives to his closest aides and spent $100,000 in taxpayer money to destroy his administration’s emails, it was barely an issue. When Hillary Clinton asked Colin Powell how he managed to use a Blackberry while serving as Secretary of State, he replied by detailing his method of intentionally bypassing federal record-keeping laws: Yet the fact that Hillary Clinton emailed through a private server and didn’t use it to cover anything up is somehow the defining issue of her campaign. “My God,” people cry, “anyone else would be in jail!” Or is the real scandal that her family runs but does not profit from a charitable foundation awarded an A grade byCharity Watch, a four out of four star rating by Charity Navigator and responsible for helping 435 million people in 180 countries get things like clean drinking water and HIV medication? Because the AP seems super concerned that she encountered people who donated to it—specifically Nobel Peace Prize-winning economist Muhammad Yunus—in her official capacity as Secretary of State. It should at this point be observed that her opponent is a shameless con artist who has built an empire bilking people with fake businesses, fake universities, fake charities and, now, a fake campaign. Last week, he told a lie every three minutes and fifteen seconds. Oh, and did we mention that he, like so many of his online “supporters,” is a goddamnRussian stooge? I tried to list all of the dumb, awful stuff that he does every day and I cannot come close to keeping up. Voters, it seems, are his easiest marks yet. And it isn’t just Republicans. The double standards are even more transparent on the left. Back in the mid-90s, Clinton’s persistent unwillingness to hide the fact that she was a thinking human female really freaked the center-left establishment out. Michael Moore observed that, “[Maureen Dowd] is fixated on trashing Hillary Rodham in the way liberals love to do, to prove they’re not really liberal.” The bashing slowly morphed into a creepy, extraordinary sort of policing. Since then, Clinton racked up a Senate voting record more liberal than any nominee since Mondale. Her 2008 platform was slightly to Obama’s left on domestic issues. Her 2016 platform was barely to the right of self-proclaimed socialist Bernie Sanders. Yet, we have all heard and seen countless liberal posers passionately decrying her “far right voting record,” untrustworthy promises or ever-changing policy positions. Jon Stewart recently called Clinton “a bright woman without the courage of her convictions, because I don’t know what they even are.” Because if he doesn’t know, she must not have any, right? In fact, there is a very lengthy trail of public records all pointing in the same direction. If you can’t figure out which, maybe the problem is you. Yet, many on the left who gladly voted for John Kerry, two years after he voted to authorize the Iraq war, now say they couldn’t possibly vote for Clinton, because she did, too. And view her with contempt for opposing same-sex marriage in 2008, while fawning over men like Barack Obama andBernie Sanders, who held the same position at the same time. It’s time to stop pretending that this is about substance. This is about an eagerness to believe that a woman who seeks power will say or do anything to get it. This is about a Lady MacBeth stereotype that, frankly, should never have existed in the first place. This is about the one thing no one wants to admit it’s about. Consider, for a moment, two people. One, as a young woman at the beginning of a promising legal career, went door to door searching for ways to guarantee an education to the countless disabled and disadvantaged children who had fallen through the cracks. The other, as a young millionaire, exacted revenge on his recently deceased brother’s family by cutting off the medical insurance desperately needed by his nephew’s newborn son, who at eighteen months of age was suffering from violent seizures brought on by a rare neurological disorder. What kind of a society treats these two people as equal in any way? What kind of society even considers the latter over the former for its highest office? Generations from now, people will shake their heads at this moment in time, when the first female major party presidential nominee—competent, qualified and more thoroughly vetted than any non-incumbent candidate in history—endured the humiliation of being likened to such an obvious grifter, ignoramus and hate monger. We deserve the shame that we will bear.

Pioneer, come on Brother, how many Black women do you see dyeing their hair blonde and bleaching the skin so that they can look like a phenotypical white woman (other than Michael Jackson ). Women of all so called races change their hair from it's natural state for a myriad of reasons. I think you may be overstating the self-hate cause particularly in the case of Black women. When I was in Kenya I visited a Maasai community the women shaved their heads and the male warriors did all kinds of ornate things to their hair. I think those people loved themselves and their culture despite changing their hair from it's natural state. Rachel Dozal is a completely different matter, but you know you would have accepted as a Black Light skinned Black woman (of the high yella, red-bone variety) just like everyone else. Some Black women have naturally straight hair (you know that "good hair"). I bet you'd assume they are trying to be a reverse Rachel Dozal huh? It is interesting to ponder if Colin K came from a poor, background and was darked skinned would the reaction to that Brother have been the same? We can't know, but it is interesting to ponder. Somehow I think that brother's shenanigans would have been nipped in the bud.

The NAACP Is Talking About Boycotting Pro Football If Quarterback Colin Kaeoernick Do Not Get Signed To Play..Black People Should Ask The NAACP Why A Black. Woman Is Not ,President Of The NAACP. Jim Brown Says I Would Not Desecrate ,My Flag Or Anthem..There Is A Right Way To Protest. Former Football Player Shannon Sharpe Says There Is A Right And Wrong Way To Arrest Unarmed Black .Men And Women..Some Successful Black People Think They Are Another Race .If Black Athletes Were Stopped By White Police ,They Would Say ,They Are,Pro Athletes Keep .From Getting Shot..NAACP Should Corrupt Preachers,Crack Houses,Street Gangs,Pimp Houses,Black Men. Sex Trafficking Teenage Girls..

Interesting. I'm hearing rumblings of actual boycotts of the NFL which I like, but not to get Kaepernick on a team; that is short sighted. Here may be an opportunity to make more fundamental changes to the game which will benefit not just one player but all players and fans alike. Then again with all the press about traumatic brain injury so many player suffer from it seems like the long term prospect for the NFL are constrained. I guess they can do like cigarette manufacturers and market the sport abroad.

with his golf ball-sized gonads. ?????? What's wrong with golf ball sized gonads? Anyway......... I'm not hating on Colin. Again, I'm glad the "young brother" is taking a stand...lol. But again, besides calling attention to a problem that everyone already knows exists, what exactly is the goal or end game to what he's doing? When Kenneth Frazier had a problem with his boss or atleast the man who's team he was on.....he didn't just go into the conference room with Trump and take a knee. Nor did he toss his pen on the conference table and refuse to take notes or give Trump suggestions in some sort of "protest". .....the man LEFT. .....he QUIT. He recognized an injustice and inconsistency that he didn't want to associate himself with and left the entire team all togethe telling the entire world that he will no longer associate himself with a man that racially insensative. Contrast that with Colin who refuses to stand for the National Athem but CONTINUES TO PLAY THE GAME. ....making money for and entertaining the same White people who are causing the problems he's protesting. I think he'd have a bigger impact if he lead Black NFL members on a STRIKE to stop playing all together.

On The News In Virginia ,Neo Nazi,KKK, Protesting ,People In Virginia Planning To Move Statue Of Confederate Robert E. Lee. .Protesters Ready To Fight The Neo Nazi. Truman's Mouth Shut,So Far. Steve Bannon ,Who Trump Appointed To A Whitehouse Position Is A Neo Nazi ,News Says. White Police Have Been Fired For Being KKK ,Klan Members. That Is Terrorist,Organization Not A Hate Group. Neo Nazi In .U ..S.,Military..Steve Scalise Who Was Shot At The Politician Baseball Practice ,Is A Neo Nazi,Friends With Neo Nazi Grand,Dragon David Dukes..White People Who Hate Quarterback,Colon Kaepernick ,Condone All This.....Not Surprised,Neo Nazi Had A Rally,Surprised The Rally Is Not,In Front Of The Whitehouse. As This Country Talk About North Korea ,Middleast Terrorist,Neo Nazi In This Country,Planning A Race ,War ,is Okay...Black Street Gangs Like The Neo Nazi Is ,Domestic,Terrorist...

Oh I get your question now. It is actually in our own self-interest to do more for others. In a world where everyone is free to maximize their own potential, we all benefit. A rising tide lifts all boats that sort of thing. Mel would you shave 500 square feet off your house in exchange for never having to lock the front door? That 500 square feet can go toward someone who is homeless. We can reduce crime by simply ensuring that people's basic needs are met. Think about all of the great discoveries that will never happen because so many in our population cannot afford an education. Many of the most successful people who we think we can emulate did not have to pay for college Colin Powell did not have to pay to go to City College. When we started college we could borrow enough to attend. Today many students can't even borrow enough go. Even if they could the quality of the education has gone down a great deal employers do not value it as much so the graduates fare less well. Having large numbers of uneducated or poorly educated people does not serve our culture or Society.

Cynique unlike Kenneth Frazier, Colin didn't wait for a specific event to prod him into taking a public stand Or....... One could look at it as Kenneth Frazier being an older mature and intelligent man DIDN'T NEED several incidents to motivate him to take a stand like Colin who decided to act only after YEARS of seeing injustice. With Mr. Frazier, after ONE negative incident that tested his metal....he rose to the occasion and publically rebuked the President of the United States in the name of honor and principle. What's-his-name is just a member of the bandwagon everybody is jumping on Yeah but Mr Frazier was the FIRST to jump on the wagon. BEFORE it started moving.....LOL. Troy As Cynique implied it was not exactly a tough decision or big sacrifice for Frazier to step down. I don't think it was a tough decision either, he's a chief EXECUTIVE officer and the brother knows how to come to the right decision and quickly. It was a BRAVE decision though because to dismiss and break ties with a narcissist and egoist like Trump in a public manner takes a lot of courage as everyone knows how he likes to get down with his enemies. Sacrifice? Not likely.....but who says you have to sacrifice yourself to be successful or even take a stand? I'm not a religious man so I don't necessarily see value in the act of self-sacrifice. I see value in AFFIRMATIVE ACTIONS that directly influence the accomplishment of a particular goal. If you can get the same things accomplished without suffering.....I say go for it.

Pioneer Kenneth Frazier is a captain of industry and clearly a brilliant man. For a Brother to get as far as he has in corporate America you can be sure that he is indeed the shit. But The folks held up in the Black community are not picked by use,or anye like us. Colin is a celebrity so he will get all of the attention until he is no longer a celebrity. As Cynique implied it was not exactly a tough decision or big sacrifice for Frazier to step down. He won't get any bonus points from me for that action.

A demonstration is step #1 in a movement; the boycott is step #2 in the process of bringing about reform. Kaepernick's demonstration has inspired talk of boycotting the NFL. If he is picked up before the season opens, his bending a knee will have caused owners to defer to the black community and whites of good will who believe in the right to protest. If none of this leads to anywhere, don't blame the messenger, blame the country who the message is for, - a place where it is necessary for a black citizen to agitate against . I am not passionate about this issue but i don't think that Kaepernick should be dismissed and derided for rockin the boat and making waves. He had to be aware of the consequences of the choice he made, but he made a conscious decision to do what he did. So be it.

It makes little difference whether Kaepernick plays in the NFL or not; for it will make no difference in the way the NFL treats players. Again, there were many other players who took knees, raised fists, and engaged in other forms of "protest" during the National anthem. Some were given media attention others were not. Indeed if the broadcasted did not show kaepernick's taking a knee and spend so much time talking about it his "protest" his would be a nonissue. You see, if our protest is a function of the media's (even social media) coverage, then it is doomed to failure. His protest is a direct function of the media coverage. However, if every Black people simply stopped tuning into games the NFL's games, the NFL would feel the pain--whether the media covered it or not. That is true power.

Well, all of you guys who were young kids during MLK' s civil rights movement obviously don't get that the primary goal of a demonstration is to dramatize a grievance. You don't seem to be able to process the idea that it is a tactic designed to agitate and make people uncomfortable and even feel guilty. It is the first phase toward a goal which will pass through many stages before it is institutionalized into the norms of society. Radicals have been known to set themselves on fire to demonstrate their cause. Women secured the right to vote by staging demonstrations. Of course in America, Colin's gesture is doomed from the start because the country is racist to its core as illustrated by the solicitation in another post on this site wherein the acting president and CEO of the Missouri NAACP sends a request for donations to help fight what is a disgrace to have to fear in the year 2017 where it is unsafe for black people to travel in certain areas in a state. SMH BTW, i don't know whether it's fake news or not but there's a report circulating on the Internet that one of the owners of the NY Giants football team has said that Kapernick will be playing in the NFL this season.

Well, the assumption is made that Kaepernick, himself, is protesting not being picked up by a team. Seems to me it's other people and organizations, many with their own agenda who are doing this. He's a free agent but he is not demanding to be taken by another team. Others are the ones doing this and they are using as an argument the fact that he is being bypassed for quarterbacks who are not as good as he is. For all we know, Kaepernick doesn't care about a team selecting him. I suspect that he has made his bed and is willing to lie in it. He has spread his money around for good causes in addition to "bending his knee". Maybe he just wants to combat racism in his own way. Why should black people have a problem with this? What his detractors continue to ignore is that his protest has sparked controversy and exposed the NFL and America for what it is. That's what demonstrators do. Whether they bring about change or not, they call attention to injustice and force the culprits to deal with it. He has become a thorn in the side of the NFL. That's his victory.

"I'm not trying to hate on the brother, he's doing his thing. But again, I can't figure out what his aim is or what his goals are and for Spike Lee to get in on this I think is a waste of publicity and effort." Let’s see, there has been talk of Negroes boycotting NFL games because they believe an injustice has been meted out to one player? Really? Kaepernick made a personal decision to do what he did. There were consequences and they were dire. He knew this. While I respect him for his decision to protest what he sees as injustices to many black Americans by the police, I have no idea why he (and the Negroes who support him) believed there would be no back lash to his refusal to stand during the national anthem. You may agree or disagree his decision but the general response was very predictable. It’s not rocket science. And not to mention the fact that Kaperenicks playing had deteriorated to the point where he was benched. He is now a lightening rod and most teams are reticent to touch him for obvious reasons. His playing ability at this point does not outweigh the distraction his presence would bring to a ball club. It’s as simple as that. If I were an owner, I wouldn’t bring him to my team. And as far as an attention seeking harlequin like Spike Lee is concerned…well…I think that speaks for itself. Sorry folks, I’m not boycotting anything where the average player (according to Forbes) –makes 1.9 million dollars a year. E’nuff said…

If I were to organize a football rally, it wouldn't be in support of Kaepernick. I'm not trying to hate on the brother, he's doing his thing. But again, I can't figure out what his aim is or what his goals are and for Spike Lee to get in on this I think is a waste of publicity and effort. If Spike Lee wants to organize a rally to raise awareness about an injustice in the world of sports he should start with a rally DEMANDING COLLEGE PLAYERS GET PAID. These universities all around the nation are making BILLIONS of dollars off of the Black football and basketball players that basically play for free. Where is all this money going? It sure as hell ain't going back into the universities themselves because in schools both public and private the tuition keeps going up higher and higher every year. The Black college athlete has to be one of the most exploited athletes in sports......Spike should hold a rally over THAT first.

There seems to be a ground swell of support growing for Kaepernick taking place in the black community who has no love for the slavemaster NFL team owners. Although i don't know how effective a suggested tactic to boycott NFL football games would be because blacks are only a small percentage of the paying fans. Watching the games on TV is more their thing and not doing this will not have much impact. Kaepernick's taking the knee was inspired by police brutality but it has inadvertently shifted focus and has now put the spotlight on the NFL where 80 percent of the players are black. Bought and paid for gladiators who are sacrificing their bodies and risking future brain damage all to provide entertainment for avid white fans. One possible way to send a message would be for all the NFL black players to show solidarity and pick one specific date to all sit out a game, demonstrating how important they are to the sport. But that ain't gonna happen. So Kaepernick will continue to just muddle through until he can find another venue in which to protest racism. @Troy Spike Lee certainly looked upon the black-on-black killings in Chicago as an opportunity to come to this town and stroke the black community, befriending a white activist Catholic priest, all the while laying the groundwork for making a movie inspired by what's happening in this city.

Cynique I said Black men in Missouri should FIGHT as opposed to running away, who said anything about "taking up arms" as a solution? Again, I didn't say Black men should go to Missouri and start a race war, I said go to Missouri in mass numbers.....or better yet the Blacks who are STILL IN Missouri should go there and FIGHT the racism head on. And again, there are hundreds of ways both legally and politically to fight the racism that occurs, not just in Missouri but in nearly every state in the Union. As long as you DO SOMETHING instead of cutting and running as the NAACP advises. You give the example of Colin as as some "Black man fighting" while you argue with ME..... But if you were arguing with HIM you'd dismiss his strategy and go to pointing at some other Black character just to shade on him and demoralize HIS efforts. Because that's what too many of our women do.....go out of their way to DEMORALIZE thier own men instead of standing behind them and their ideas. Then get angry when they look around and can't figure out why so many Black men refuse to fight for them. I remember during one event me and some other brothers were hosting the AfroAmerican women in the AfroAmerican women were being so loud and confrontational and un-cooperative that we had to go down to the NIGERIAN market and convince some young AFRICAN WOMEN to come in and join us as a show of force because we couldn't even trust that our own women were gonna act right in doing it....lol. You talk about Black men being demoralized by the overwhelming force of White technology but I wonder which has been the BIGGEST demoralizing factor in the efforts of Black men..... White technology.....or lack of support from our own women? Makes Black men wonder if it's even worth fighting for because look at what they might get as a reward.

I don't want to say Kaepernick put himself in the hole for nothing, he obviously stood up on his principles and took a stand for what he believed in, however......... What exactly was his point? What did he hope to accomplish by refusing to stand and pledge allegiance? Now hold on (Cynique) I'm not saying the man SHOULD have pledged allegiance. It's his right and I respect it.....infact I don't even remember the last time I stood or said the pledge of allegiance. But I'm the type of person who makes GOALS and has a VISION of the desired outcome of most things before I start them. I don't just get in my car to ride around town wasting gas. I have a DESTINATION I'm trying to get to and you better believe there is something I'm trying to do when I get there. I may or may NOT always accomplish what I want to do, but you can best believe I certainly know WHAT I want to do! What was Kaepernick's plan or purpose in refusing to stand....... What he hoping other players would follow suit and take a knee with him? Was he hoping those in the audience and across America would? Was he hoping that police brutality would stop? If he goal was JUST to bring attention to the problem of police brutality or American injustice....then WHO was he trying to get that attention from? Hell, White people in America already KNOW about the injustices they commit, so was he trying to alert other AfroAmericans? I've said since Kaepernick started his protest that his goals need to be clearly laid out, else much of what he did was done in vain or even worse done at a cost to his career. How terrible it is for a man to put his life or career on the line for people and end up losing everything only for the people he actually fought for to turn around and unassumingly say: "Ain't nobody asked him to do that"

Harry this is why signing a petition to get Colin a job is a very superficial way to deal with cultural racism or even the NFL itself. The message (below) from the NAACP's Missouri branch sounds very serious--almost alarmist. I'll heed their message and avoid the state. I've been several times, but admittedly there is no need or even desire for me to go again. I did get wind of this travel advisory in an email from Black America Web, but I did not read their article or follow up to find the source until now. Below is their press release (emphasis is mine) from http://www.monaacp.org/urgent-missouri-travel-advisory/ MISSOURI NAACP STATE CONFERENCE OFFICE P. O. BOX 104221 JEFFERSON CITY, MISSOURI 65110 PHONE 844-NAACP-HELP www.MONAACP.ORG maryann.grayson@sbcglobal.net URGENT – MISSOURI TRAVEL ADVISORY June 7, 2017 (Jefferson City, MO – Missouri NAACP State Conference Office) A travel advisory has been issued in the State of Missouri due to the sad passage of Senator Gary Romine’s Jim Crow Bill – SB 43 – and recent events throughout Missouri. The advisory means each individual should pay special attention while in the state of Missouri and certainly if contemplating spending time in Missouri. Unlike seasonal weather advisories, where no unnecessary travel on city streets or parking might be directed, the NAACP wants to make Missourians and our visitors aware of looming danger which could include the following by example of what has happened to some residents and visitors: Tory Sanford who recently died in a jail cell but was never arrested after running out of gas when he traveled into the state accidently; Racist attacks on University of Missouri students while on the states’ campuses – as the University of Missouri System spoke in favor of Romine’s Jim Crow Bill; Missouri’s legislature Representative Rick Bratton argued that homosexuals are not human beings according to his faith; Black high school students in St. Louis have been attacked with hot glue while denigrated racially; Two internationally born men gunned down outside in Kansas City after their killer thought them to be Muslim; According to the Missouri Attorney General African Americans in Missouri are subjected to excessive traffic - 75% more likely to be stopped and searched based on skin color than Caucasians, Public threats of shooting ‘Blacks’ that terrorized University of Missouri students and members of the public. Individuals traveling in the state are advised to travel with extreme CAUTION. Race, gender and color based crimes have a long history in Missouri. Missouri, home of Lloyd Gaines, Dredd Scott and the dubious distinction of the Missouri Compromise and one of the last states to loose its slaveholding past, may not be safe. The Missouri State Conference of the NAACP will follow Governor Greitien’s review of this Jim Crow Bill – SB 43 – and we will update the NAACP advisory for the State of Missouri if this measure is vetoed. SB 43 legalizes individual discrimination and harassment in Missouri and would prevent individuals from protecting themselves from discrimination, harassment, and retaliation in Missouri. Moreover, over zealous enforcement of routine traffic violations in Missouri against African-Americans has resulted in an increasing trend that shows African-Americans are 75% more likely to be stopped than Caucasians. These stops have resulted in increased traffic fines, senseless searches of vehicle and persons, and on occasion unnecessary violence. The advisory is in effect until at least August 28, 2017 starting today. The Missouri State Conference NAACP asked that you do the following: warn your families, co-workers and anyone visiting Missouri to beware of the safety concerns with travel in Missouri, notify members of your trade associations, social and civic organizations that they are traveling and living in Missouri at their own risk and subject to unnecessary search seizure and potential arrest, and file and seek help on any existing claims for discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and whistle blowing ASAP before your legal rights are lost if Senate Bill 43 is not vetoed by Governor Greitiens. VISIT www.MONAACP.org - LIKE Missouri NAACP State Conference Facebook – FOLLOW @MOSTATE for additional information and updates. To file reports of harassment and discrimination and get help call 1-844-NAACP-HELP. Contact Governor Greitiens at 573-751-3222, @ericgreitiens and ask him to make Missouri safe for our families.

@Pioneer1, 45 speaks his mind too. I think there is some value is discretion. Besides how does a Kanye know who Bush likes or does not like. Maybe he does not like poor people, maybe his reaction to Katrina was incompetent but that had nothing to do with his personal predilections and more to do the failings of the local and national administrators. Sure Kayne's statement, like 45's tweets are great for the media, but counterproductive. I'll have to watch the entire video with my "Hotep Hat" and third eye engaged, and get back to you. The problem is that our activists are validated by media and they are usually celebrities. Celebrities can assist, but they can not be the leaders. Baldwin, Angelou, Belfonte assisted King and other civil rights leaders in the civil rights struggle, they did not lead it. Celebrities get all the attention because that is the way the media get more people to watch. This does us a disservice. Whenever we attempt to choose our own non-celebrity leaders the media marginalizes them, focuses on their flaws and failures, or simply don't cover them. King, Malcolm, The Black Panthers, etc, had media campaigns launched against them and may Black people were turned against these institutions and men. Sure Dr. King is universally celebrated now, but he was not during his day. I doubt a Dr. King could rise to prominence today. We'd probably be fixated on whatever a Little Richard had to say about civil rights if it the media operated the way it did today... So Colin K. the professional football player, has been thrust into the limelight as if his kneeling during a football game, given the media coverage, is the more important civil rights action that has taken place since the march on washington. And (choose your favorite local activist), struggles for the support to make a difference in obscurity.