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i do defend black men when i agree with them. i never stopped taking up for Colin Kaepernick, unlike you. I had no reason to defend Cosby and his lecherous behavior. Black folks blew off whites who wanted Obama to distance himself from Reverend Jeremiah Wright's incendiary racial remarks during his campaign, but they observe a different standard when it comes to white folks who were products of their time before they later changed their views. This latest incident is another distraction that helps to fragment the Democratic party and it supplies ammunition for the Republicans. By the time 2020 rolls around, all of these Democratic candidates and the constant in-fighting will just hand the election to Trump. Unacceptable. This governor has learned his lesson by default and wouldn't dare to anything else to offend his black constituency. Plus it's now surfacing that the black lieutenant governor who would be in line to succeed him, is rumored to have been charged with sexual harassment. It's always something!

@Cynique This is still true although “Boule” in this context refers to the biennial meeting of my sorors of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. “The Boule’ (Sigma Pi Phi) the organization of Black Elite Men is still strong today with an estimated 5000 members who contain some of the same Black men who have chaired or still sit on the boards of the largest corporations, serve in the U.S. Government ; executive level of the nation’s top universities such as Gregory Vincent https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregory-vincent-681232b/ The fraternities of the Divine Nine still have the same mission - Of course I’m not a member but last year an A phi A friend of mine called, seemingly, to make sure I’d put in a word with my Kappa baby-daddy because he wanted to host a party at my baby-daddy’ and his powerful attorney wife’s martha’s vineyard home for a New York political candidate. It happened. I’m a degree away from the “elites” and their power moves; but to be honest, I never felt comfortable in their world , choosing not to even marrying into it when the opportunity arose. @Troy Lawrence Otis Graham wrote a book on “Our Kind of People” and that book just scratched the surface of Old Money Black Elite... but it’s not fiction or old news. One of my best friends, I met at Tech, came from that world. She was kind of a rebel; graduating from Ethical Culture Fieldston School before attending and graduating Tech, from Mount Holyoke, and from Cornell with a JD/MBA. She was so “fancy” she opened a literary gallery in SoHo prominently featuring bchildren’s book black illustrators... I went to the opening it was fabulous! Never seen it duplicated. But I digress. That world exist and hasn’t lost its steam or exclusive membership. While not at the level of “The Boule” in political power, but in numbers, recently, the Kappas came out to support their frat Colin Kaepernick. These black men still congregate but maybe not to “chit chat” but with an social political and economic agenda. Anyway, to Delano’s comment I guess there’s no “fighting, egoism et al in the upper echelon of society because they’re the folks who throw away the scraps “we” fight over. @Delanoas for “Sweet, SweetBack, Badass Song” Director -I have no opinion but in the late 90s he told a reporter he didn’t have a PHd in Negrology and I’ve used that line ever since.

Dallas ,White. Police. Officer. Indicted. For. Murdering. Her. Black. Neighbor. She. Thought. His. House. Was. Her. House,Shot. And ,Killed,Him...White. Police. Officer. Found. Guilty Of Shooting, Murdering 15,Year old Black Boy. .Black Teenage Boys Left A,House. Party , White Police Officer Followed Them,Started ,Shooting. At The Boys Car. Killing One Of The Boys..In St. Louis,Missouri. White Police Indicted For Beating Up. A ,Undercover. Police Officer,Trying To Cover. It. Up. One. Of ,Them,Was. Found,, Not. Guilty. Of . Killing. A. Black. Man. Last. Year...Where. Is. Quarterback. Colin. Kaepernick ??Corrupt,Racist,White,Police..A. Black. Man. Claims. He. Murdered ,Over,90. People. He In. Prison. For. Murdering 3 Women......What,Is. Amazing. To. Me,The. Silence. Of Black. Police ..All. The. Innocent,Unarmed. Black. Makes. Being. Shot,Murdered. By. Racist,White. Police . Black. Police. Not. Saying. Anything. White,Police,Have. No. Fear. When. The Neo Nazi. Walk. Around,With,Guns... Kkk Have. Rifles. Terrorist. With. Guns...

Black. Males. Wearing. Hoodies. In. A. Mall. In. Memphis,Was Aressted,, Taking Out. Of ,The Mall. Because. They. We're. Wearing,I ,Think. Black. Hoodies. They. We're. Racially. Profiled. White. Females,Decided To Wear Hoodies Into The Same Mall. To See,What Would Happen,They Were Not Aressted. White And,Black,Protesting...Football Great Alan Page Was Given The,Medal Of Freedom Award By Trump. He Said He Was ,Surprised. He Said His Ancestors That Came In Slave Ships,Were,There. With. Him,James. Chaney ,And. The. 2,White. Men,Murdered. In. Mississippi Was. There,Girls. That. Was. Murdered,In,The. Bombed. Alabama. Church. Was. There. With. Him.A,White. Man. Begin. Shooting. At. A. Police. Officer,Bullet. Holes,In,Police. Car. They. Caught. Him. ALIVE!!! White. Man. Shooting,Bullets. In. The. Police. Officer. Car,Saw. On. The. News,Black,Man. Would. Have. Ben. Shot. Another. Example. Why,Colin. Kaepernick Was. Kneeling. Down..I. Think. Alan. Page,Is A,Judge. In. Minnesota....

The white woman who accused the black 9 year old of groping her, has gone online and issued an apology after viewing a security video which showed it was the boy's book bag which brushed up against her ass. The guy who fired his rifle at a fleeing black teenager who knocked on his door looking for directions, has been found guilty of attempted murder. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts has ordered several federal judges to investigate ethics complaints brought against Brett Kavanaugh. Harvard University has presented Colin Kaepernick with the WEB DuBois award it gives out every year to an outstanding black person. Donald Trump's approval ratings have risen slightly... You win some, you lose some.

@Delano, your question is based upon a false assumption. I think they are bith interestion otherwise i would nit engage in conversation about them. Kaepernick however strikes me as earnest. He is a positive influence while Kayne is an embarrassment. Kanye does have the benefit of being more independent, while Colin was dependent upon the NFL for his platform. Of course it does, and the is exactly why i bitching. Kayne is a distortion of the truth, he gets too much attention. Trumpers running around using kaynes ramblings to justify their racism. See YOU may think the media is "...exposing Trump for the fool that he is..." when this is clearly not the case as the nan the the freaking POTUS! To be clear @Cynique I wrote: My statement has nothing to do with Republicans.

What a week this has been! Here around Chicago, everybody was holding their collective breaths waiting for the verdict to come down after the Prosecution rested its case against Jason Van Dyke, the white cop, who mowed down LaQuan McDonald, a black teenager walking away from him with a knife clutched in his hand. Because Van Dyke felt threatened by this situation, his reaction was to empty his gun in the back of this young man, riddling his body with 16 bullets. This killing was covered up by Chicago law enforcement with the cooperation of other cops on the scene who did not feel similarly threatened but later chose to observe the oath of silence rather than betray their trigger-happy comrade. The truth finally came to light when rumors that this incident was captured on a body cam reached the media, after which the tape was finally released under pressure, and once it was aired all over TV, outrage was immediate at the sight of the young man being hit in the back and falling to the ground as a hail of bullets continued to puncture his shuddering body. Heads soon began to roll. The Cook County States Attorney was voted out of office, and the Mayor withdrew his plans to run for re-election, so great was the black community's resentment against him. After 3 years of finger-pointing and political mayhem, the perpetrator was finally indicted for murder and brought to trial, his case lasting over a month as a stream of experts and witnesses provided dramatic testimony. Much speculation also centered around a jury made up of 6 women and 4 men, 1 Asian, 1 Hispanic, 1 Black and the rest White. Once word came down that the verdict had been reached and would soon be announced, Chicago was literally on lock down, anticipating trouble in case an innocent verdict caused all hell to break loose. Extra police were dispatched everywhere, workers were sent home from their jobs early, businesses were closing up shop. crowds gathering outside the court house. But Lady justice got her due. After 2 days of deliberation, the jury found Jason Van Dyke guilty of second degree murder, his sentence to be determined by a judge whom everybody has described as being very fair. There was also praise for the all-white prosecution team who presented a strong effective case for the State. So, this is a victory in a war that has yet to be won. Colin Kaepernick, can feel a little compensated. Then, there was the clash for the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh, for Supreme Court Justice that has now ended in his being sworn in. It's impossible for me to pass any impartial judgment on this case because i have such a visceral dislike for Kavanaugh, his supporters and his president. I cannot stomach these Republicans and what "making America great again" means to them. In my gut, however, I know that, as flawed as they are, Liberal and Progressive Democrats and Moderate Independent representatives would be better for the nation's survival than those Red-neck racists, and White privileged conservatives and Blue collar bigots who infest this country and will now be in a position to bring about a change for the worst. Donald Trump is a despicable person who is not the caliber of man who should be President of the United States and leader of the free world. And the fact that millions of white people, especially white men, feel this way, too, is proof of how he is not only a disgrace but a threat to the survival of America.

I don't think the movement is dying so much as i think it is stalled, just marching in place, bringing about few results. For some reason, black leaders have not thrown their full support behind this organization, while Colin Kaepernick's solo crusade has captured the imagination and support of the black masses, stealing the thunder of BLM. There also seems to be undercurrents in regard to this organization having been co-opted by opportunistic individuals with their own agendas. In Chicago, a sensational trial is currently taking place involving the killing of a 19-year-old black male by a white cop who fired 16 shots at the knife-carrying victim as he walked away from him. Several black community groups are peacefully demonstrating outside the court house, but I'm not even sure whether BLM is among them; that's how invisible this group has become.

@Troy for somebody who crows about all the times he's been stopped by the "po-po" when driving while black, you ought be more invested in the whole campaign to put white cops in check, along with the NFL who exploits black players. ( Instead of posting videos of professional thieves accosting a suburban white kid in an effort to tell somebody from around Chicago that killing people for sneakers is still widespread, you might want to consider the circumstances for my statement to the contrary. As somebody who reads the head count of Chicago murder victims, - lists that for at least the past 10 years are printed everyday in the local newspapers, i can tell you i can't remember the last time any of the thousands of these homocides in this big city have been been missing his shoes, and his cause of death listed as sneaker theft.) You need to direct your wrath toward billionaire, Michael Jordan, instead of the object of your seething belittlement, Colin Kaepernick, - MJ who benefits from the blood and sweat of those overseas peons who work for slave wages to produce his exorbitantly priced gym shoes, a charge being leveled against NIKE all over FaceBook from those who stay woke, contrary to your belief that everybody but you is naive and gullible.

Kaepernick is a reflection of our time. I truly have nothing against the man. I believe his heart is pure and his intentions just. However he is rendered ineffective in 2018. The original intent of his actions have been buried and everyone has co-opted his message. 45 has used it to fire up his racist and xenophobic base by perverting Colin's message on Twitter. Nike is now exploiting the optics to increase shareholder wealth All the while nothing in the Black community has changed -- other than for the worse. @Cynique have you ever lived in a community where people had the shoes stolen off their feet? Does this seems like alien behavior to you? I ask because of your statement. Which struck me: This video is in NYC in May of this year. There are MANY videos like this one. The victim in this video sneakers were apparently worth $2,000, a pair of Air Jordans. Give today's technology the shoes probably cost less to make than the $100 pair of shores a generation ago. These are just the incidences video tapes most of these crimes go unreported. WHile this young man was not murdered for his sneakers, I assure you people are mirdered each year over a pair of Nikes. I wonder if more people are killed over a pair of Nikes than are unjustifiably killed by Police each year. Again, the value and price of these shoes have NOTHING to do with their cost. The "value" of these sneakers has been manufactured, out of thin air by Nike. The resulting crimes are the result. Today Nike is using Colin to improve the effectiveness of their marketing machine. We are a long way from what ever the heck Colin was kneel about. Just Think.

So basically you decide what or whose platform supports black people. by the way, most media outlets have stated they will no longer show the anthem portion of NFL games - most recently ESPN. So I guess, Colin Kaepernick has made an impact - because no more jingoism in televised sports. Any way, I gues you decide who has impacted someone's life in a positive way - and be damn the black men who ARE visible doing that damn thing ... LeBron James. And then you wonder why no one is interested in rank-in-file black men or reading about them ... they have no voice. Also since, you say I wouldn't understand because I'm not a black man - I guess we'll no longer hear from you about black women, right?

I use the terms Black and white as we understand them here in the US, but I also recognize that there is no scientific basis for the designations. I'm sure there are a number of Black folks who ascribe to Peterson's worldview. Indeed, someone described him as part of the "Coon Squad," a group of folks including Omarosa who take positions that serve white folks, usually at the expense of Black folks. (Generally I believe these people are mostly interested in serving themselves, but that is another story). To answer you last question: what I find is that we in the Black community, with rare exception, do not determine who is visible. Anyone who has any level of visibility that benefits Black folks is shut down. Whether it is Malcolm X, Colin Kaepernick, or any number of Black men who try to build a platform to support Black people. The Black men who are visible are there was because white folks put them in the position. Typically it is because they are the likes of Peterson or provide some form of entertainment. @Mel Hopkins, please don't give me the names of entertainers to counter my point or some obscure business leader who the general public never heard of because they don't impact anyone's life in a positive way. I used literature as an example, because the books we produce are excellent proxy for what the culture deems to be important. Again ours is a culture that marginalizes Black men -- middle aged Black men in particular. These are the men who should be having their greatest impact on the culture, but do not. I'm not even sure why the is a topic for debate... Again, if you want to believe Black middle aged men are truly visible go ahead, but I suspect now that this might be a situation that you really can't understand, because you are not a Black man. Camille Yarbrough understands:

Someone forwarded this to me today on Facebook with the instructions to "forward this every Black person you know." I have to admit I was a little excited because i thought now, finally, some Black leaders are getting together to take substantive action against the NFL since Colin Kaepernick has been neutralized. I dug a bit deeper into this effort and see that he video was created LAST YEAR! My hopes were dashed because obviously this effort had less than zero impact. Why didn't this effort go viral on the Web? The video has been posted several times on youtube. The one with the most views (that I could find) is shared below. It got less than 83K views. This is a video created by a bunch of ministers with presumably supportive congregations why am I just now learning about this?!. They even have a hashtag #blackout. The answer is obvious we don't control social media. We also do not own any platforms with meaningful reach that would promote this effort and that we also support. As a result after NFL "killed" Kaepernick their revenues are higher than ever... But the most important reason for the failure of this effort is that we, as a people, are too WEAK to boycott the NFL. We won't boycott social media we won't boycott Amazon, we are pathetically support those who have demonstrated, time and time again, that they dont give s hit about us. We deserve everything we get. It is not too late for the 2018/19 season.

You men on this site just don't get it! You're so busy trying to discredit another brotha, that you can't wrap your mind around the fact that his taking a knee has scored a moral victory because it is still being discussed, debated, challenged, and prolonged. It exposes and lays bare the hypocrisy of what the American flag is supposed to stand for. It embarrasses white patriots, it galls the twitter-happy fool occupying the white house, it makes franchise owners uneasy, it makes black athletes soul-search, it is a thorn in the side of white law enforcement. But, noooo, you naysayers stand around criticizing Colin Kaepernick when his only crime is that he is in the same category as all the other back men who have failed to make equal justice a reality is this country that doesn't give a damn about them.

Last. Sunday. Scrolling. To. See. What. Was. On,Oprah. Winfrey. Was. Interviewing. That. Idiot. Football. Player,Tom. Brady. Did. Not. Waste. My. Time. Watching. . Do. She .Plan,To,Interview. Colin. Kaepernick ,Richard. Sherman,Other,Football. Players. To. Ask. Them. Why. They. ,Were. Protesting?If. Someone. Watched. OPRAH. Interviewing,That. Idiot. Tom. Brady,Did. OPRAH. Ask. Him,Why,Do. You. Like. Trump,Do. You. Support. Trump. ,Supporting ,Neo Nazi ,,.,Does. He. Support. Neo-Nazi. Waving. U. S. Flag. And. Nazi. Flags,As. Football. Players,Hated. , By. White. People. For. Protesting. Racism. In,This. Country.. ...Have. Heard. OPRAH. Puts. On. Stupid. Preachers,Like. T.D._Jakes ,John. Gray. Whatever. His. Name. Is.. Will. She put ,On,,,Black. Hebrews,Nation. Of. Islam?. Making. White. Viewers ,Comfortable.......

Look, we all know Kaepernick's action will not have any impact whatsoever -- indeed it can be viewed as a catalyst for making things worse. From day one I always asserted that nothing short of a boycott of the NFL will make any difference, but again we will never take this action. Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists during the 1968 olympics, a seminal -- arguably a more profound action -- which has resonated for 50 years, but nonetheless has resulted in no significant change. Muhammad Ali knowingly sacrificed his career and risked imprisonment refusing to go to Nam. Kaepernick's action, while commendable, does not rise to Ali's actions. Let's keep things in perspective. Colin was just some dude who got uppity, forgot who he worked for, and was summarily dismissed as a result (@Cynique wouldn't that meet your definition for "loser?") @Coach Michael Taylor, people were already aware of police brutality -- it is constantly covered in the media. @Cynique, sure he agitated the country but his message and goal of his agitation was lost. I was at a sporting event (car racing) recently and some red neck said everyone one here better stand for the flag. Again the meaning of Collins kneeling completely lost. You can not use the tools of the master to effect change -- it is impossible. Colin tried to use the NFL has a platform and they erased him and used the media to pervert his message -- even sending in the VP of the United States to walk out on a game in protest -- taking Kaepernick's protest and twisting it into an issue of patriotism. If we had conscious Black-owned media perhaps the people actually doing things of consequence would be uplifted and celebrated and maybe Colin would still have a job entertaining, and enriching, the white folks who obviously don't give a shit about him or any of us.

Colin Kaepernick may not have affected widespread change in the life of black America at large, but as i continue to stress, he DRAMATIZED a grievance and agitated the country. The fact that he is still a relevant topic of conversation is, in itself, is a victory! What he accomplished was to embarrass America into to realizing that its beloved flag doesn't live up to its promises. That is the implicit take-away from his bending a knee and this makes patriotic Americans extremely uncomfortable. That's a good thing in what is becoming a fascistic country. Nobody really believed his demonstration would suddenly turn racists cops into Office Friendlys, but without lifting a finger, Kaepernick became a thorn in the side those, who in all of their white law and order privilege, consider the boys in blue to be heroic paragons. Furthermore, NFL players and owners were all forced to do some soul searching and this may yet have a trickle-down effect.

America is riddled with folk lore about larger than life heroes who sprang from the ranks (and imaginations) of the common man. And, of course, there are biblical characters who have been extolled in verse and sermon. Donald Trump is currently filling a need for resentful people fearing the status their white skin color guarantees is in jeopardy, thanks to the politically-correct and bleeding-heart liberal crowd. In every time of crises the masses look for a "man on a white horse" to appear and deliver them from impending doom.. Obama briefly filled this role for blacks but his sheen has gradually dulled. Colin Kaepernick stole a little bit of this shine but he has few successes to his credit. Also missing the mark are star athletes who marry white women and lend their names to a line of exorbitantly-priced gym shoes. So, as usual, blacks are floundering around looking for a Messsiah, but left with nothing but martyrs snatched from the populace of young males shot in the back while fleeing their misdemeanors. Or, embracing an irrelevant comic book figure like Black Panther whose alter-ego Chadwick Boseman was savvy enough to present the MTV Award he won for favorite movie hero to James Shaw, the ordinary Joe who single-handedly disarmed a shooter on a rampage, and just happened to be sitting in the audience at this TV event And so it goes. Black people continue to shuffle around claiming this one or that one to really be black, this place or that place to actually be the country of Mankind's black mama. Too bad we weren't "evil" enough to subdue our adversaries so we could enforce black supremacy and lie about how great we are. OK. Back to my perch, and the bird's eye view that provides me a good opportunity to spot any UFOs that decide to re-visit Earth and take me back home. I'm world-weary. Trumpism is stifling me.

Del you should widen your source of information everything you share just reinforces what you (what we all) want to believe). The reality is Trump is not going anywhere before the end of the year -- even if he is completely guilty. The wheels of justice turn slowly... if at all. Meanwhile time the Warner monopoly has been approved, net neutrality shut down, facebook owns social media and is working on destroying the rest of the web, and colin Kaepernick has been banned from playing football and no one cares

There's something about this "Black Lives Matter" movement that makes me a little suspicious of it's origin and intentions. First of all, I have no problem with them being women but why are the founders Lesbian and Bisexual? Secondly, from what I see on television more White people are participating in these demonstrations than Black people which makes me wonder how much effort they're really putting into actually mobilizing the Black community. Also, their methods of blocking traffic and causing social agitation seems to do more harm than good because it pretty much pisses off the public. The police are the one's who did the wrong, so why shut down the sports arena and disrupt games or shut down the freeway and keep people from getting home to see their families? I liken THEIR methods to Colin Kaepernick's who thinks kneeling is will be effective....... Not only are you NOT being effective, but you're actually pissing otherwise neutral people off and making more enemies.

@Troy Would you have any misgivings marketing Colin Kaepernick's forthcoming book by using a phrase like "we sell books by black "sons-of-bitches"?

Thanks for the correction Cynique. @Pioneer1 as @Mel Hopkins mentioned this issue is collusion. By law (antitrust) the league;s owners can not get together decide to take an action,like blacklisting Kaepernick. But these guys don't have to talk to each other to know the deal. Colin was poison for the NFL's brand. I'd bet money they colluded regardless of the outcome of the grievance. Pioneer, these types of laws are in place for a good reason.

I love it when a good plan comes together. Many who are dazzled by the media and may have missed the plot. We must remember, we're a civilization rooted in story-telling. We share information filled with iconic imagery, symbolism, and sounds. Celebrities are no different. They use the media to tell stories that voice their platform position or opposition. Case-in-point, On December 5, 2017 "Beyoncé surprised free-agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick with Sports Illustrated‘s Muhammad Ali Legacy Award." Here's the backstory for those who missed it. Beyoncé became Enemy #1 when she performed "Formation" during the 2016 Super Bowl. SUPER BOWL 50. It was the only time the NFL ditched the Roman numerals. Like a Trojan Horse, Beyoncé and her Black Panther styled-warriors marched out on their field. She resurrected Malcolm X and gave corporate America the finger. Without those who sound off every time a celebrity offends their sensibilities, we'd miss the story unfold. White folks screamed bloody murder and cops threatened not to provide security for her upcoming concerts. Butthurt. Now, 45 and white America are butthurt because Kaepernick took a knee 7-months after Bey danced into Formation. For a protest to be effective, you got to surprise them on their battlefield. Awarding the Sports Illustrated Muhammad Ali Legacy Award to Kaepernick is nearing the apex of consciousness raising. If this were a monomyth, also known as the Hero's Journey; it would be where the Hero gets the gift from the Goddess right before he returns from his journey. Together, whether it was planned or not, they used their platform to bring attention to police brutality and state-sanctioned murders. Beyoncé and Kaepernick didn't level a gun. They waged protest in an arena the military used to raise support. Raise. Support. For. War. Maybe like me, you weren't aware of how the National Anthem and the NFL wedded at the conclusion of World War II. The Washington Post shared that part of the story in September. Up until 2015, the Department of Defense contracted with the NFL using millions of taxpayer money. I never had a problem with military pageantry. I do have a problem with hypocrisy. Neither Beyonce or Colin Kaepernick used taxpayers money to advance the cause of bringing attention to police brutality. They told a story through their actions. Proving once again; a storyteller's wheelhouse is winning hearts and minds.

I love it when a good plan comes together... Y'all keep being dazzled by the media but still missing the plot .... Beyoncé surprised free-agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick with Sports Illustrated‘s Muhammad Ali Legacy Award

@harry brownYes, we can thank Colin Kaepernick's knee bending protests for nudging the AFL owners into making this gesture. Unfortunately, your are right about whether the money will trickle down to the people it is meant to help. Sports Illustrated magazine honored Kaepernick with the Muhammad Ali Legacy Award, and GQ magazine named him "Citizen of the Year". He was also honored by Native Americans at an indigenous peoples sunrise ceremony.