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FM123's JournalGregg Popovich: 'The System Has to Change'
(TheNation) The legendary San Antonio Spurs coach is past done with Donald Trump’s inability to rise to this moment.
People from across the sports world have spoken out, raised money, and taken part in demonstrations following the police murder of George Floyd. The one voice that we haven’t heard yet has been perhaps President Donald Trump’s most outspoken critic in the wide world of sports, as well as someone who has never shied away from speaking about institutionalized racism or police brutality, San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich.
Late last night my phone rang, and it was Coach Pop. He was ready to say something.
“The thing that strikes me is that we all see this police violence and racism, and we’ve seen it all before, but nothing changes. That’s why these protests have been so explosive. But without leadership and an understanding of what the problem is, there will never be change. And white Americans have avoided reckoning with this problem forever, because it’s been our privilege to be able to avoid it. That also has to change.”
“It’s unbelievable. If Trump had a brain, even if it was 99 percent cynical, he would come out and say something to unify people. But he doesn’t care about bringing people together. Even now. That’s how deranged he is. It’s all about him. It’s all about what benefits him personally. It’s never about the greater good. And that’s all he’s ever been.”
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In the end, what we have is a fool in place of a president, while the person who really runs the country, Senator Mitch McConnell, destroys the United States for generations to come. McConnell has destroyed and degraded our judicial system. He has tried to destroy health care. He’s destroyed the environment. He’s the master and Trump’s the stooge, and what’s funny is that Trump doesn’t even know it. Trump’s always wanted to be part of the in-group, but McConnell is an in-group of one and Trump plays the fool.”
“He’s not just divisive. He’s a destroyer. To be in his presence makes you die. He will eat you alive for his own purposes. I’m appalled that we have a leader who can’t say ‘black lives matter.’ That’s why he hides in the White House basement. He is a coward. He creates a situation and runs away like a grade-schooler. Actually, I think it’s best to ignore him. There is nothing he can do to make this better because of who he is: a deranged idiot.”
(Read More)
https://www.thenation.com/article/society/gregg-popovich-george-floyd-protests/
'I need white mamas to come running'
(CNN) Christy Oglesby is a senior producer at CNN. The views expressed in this commentary are her own. Read more opinion on CNN.
Mama.
That's the sweetest name in the world to me. Ever since I was three, I yearned for that title and privilege. Year after year during my childhood, I asked for the same Christmas presents -- a doll, a stroller, a set of dishes. I wanted a way to show my child the world and introduce the world to my child. When I got my dishes and doll, I crafted elaborate table settings for my mud pie meals so the "baby" would know how much I treasured her. Years later, I'm blessed to have become Mama. Drew, my black son, my gift, knows I cherish him.
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So he was who I thought of when tears burst from my eyes listening to George Floyd, a man in Minneapolis. His final minutes in the custody of the police were captured in a devastating video, as he screamed "Mama." Floyd was pleading with the officers -- one of whom held a knee to his neck -- that he couldn't breathe, to the growing alarm of bystanders, one of whom recorded the scene. Floyd's mother is deceased. But in his cry -- "Mama!" -- I heard a twisted combination of hope and horror. Hope because in that moment he hoped the person who gave him life could save his life even in death. She'd undoubtedly done it before when she was alive. And horror because that's never how a black mama wants to hear her sacred title.
Mama!
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But I'm tired. I'm tired of being scared for him. I'm tired of reading about Ahmaud, Travis, George and so many others. The list never stops. I need the white mamas to share this burden. I need my white friends to love me and mine enough to come running, too.
Mama! Mama!
I need them to hear that cry and to tell their sons and daughters that my child is a human. I need them to declare and believe that he's in danger, that I can't protect him by myself and that his life matters to me and to them. I need them to tell their white friends' children, too. My child's life is sacred. My child is not dangerous.
(Read more)
https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/28/opinions/george-floyd-cry-for-mama-hits-home-oglesby/index.html
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