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Society

Society

From the Left Field Bleachers: Explicit

Published by communitypublishingabq@gmail.com on August 28, 2020 Respond

When unarmed people are being murdered by “law enforcement” officers without due process should the support for the solution(s) to this ongoing tragedy be implicit or explicit? Let’s back up for 2:58.

The Pros

The Milwaukee Bucks decided to boycott/strike and refused to take the court for the 1st round NBA Playoff game against the Orlando Magic. Shortly thereafter the other NBA teams scheduled to play along with the WNBA, MLB and WNBA games were cancelled), on Tuesday (08/27/20) in protest of the attempted murder of Jacob Blake by a Kenosha Wisconsin Police Officer. Originally ,when discussions were being held for the NBA to restart play in the “Bubble” atmosphere in Orlando Florida, many players were outspoken in dissent against the idea, George Hill of the Milwaukee Bucks for one stated that he did not want Pro Basketball to distract from the ongoing Black Lives Matter struggle in particular.

What Can We Do?

According to this ESPN article, NBA players and the Players Union were trying to figure out what the best path forward in offering solutions to the issue of police brutality against African Americans. Stars like LeBron James and others have used their significant social media platforms to express frustration, anger and call for societal change in order to the address the issues being put forth by the Black Lives Matter movement. Today LeBron went so far as to leverage the power of his team the LA Lakers and the LA Clippers to force owners to use their resources to help find a solution for these ills. But here is the rub, his actions and all other athletes utilizing their platforms are being implicit instead of explicit. Stay with me here.

Can anyone make a real case that the modern (Kennedy era) Democratic Party has more closely represented the interests of African Americans, way more than the modern (Nixon era) Republican Party? Sanity dictates that we cannot even be a serious conversation about which party has because the answer is obvious. The Democratic Party is extremely flawed with Corporate Democrats still firmly calling the shots but even this terrible reality pales in comparison to the atrocities committed and furthered by Republicans and Donald Trump. Voter suppression like tactics like closing polling locations and now pulling out mailboxes in African American communities is part of the past and current strategy of disenfranchisement.

So if this is the case, then the solution is clear, athletes can use their influence to EXPLICITLY endorse, support, and help elect candidates that will become leaders that will truly represent us and tackle the root causes of inequity-racism-brutality. Does becoming an internationally recognized individual forfeit your right to express your ideas for solutions to many of society’s issues?

Emboldened

(Now) Senator Bernie Sanders 1965 Property of Chicago Tribune All Rights Reserved

So picture this, here is LeBron James emboldened and determined to help change things, “I support the progressive movement brought to the public consciousness by Senator Bernie Sanders and led into the future by the squad: made up of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. I support this movement because I know progressives like Senator Sanders were chained to, and arrested in support of African American’s during the 1960s, fighting for their right to the same rights that white Americans enjoy; while others were putting human rights behind political calculations of “personal evolution” or wondering about what the country is “ready for.”

Explicitly vs Implicitly

LeBron didn’t say that, I did. And I also say we ALL need to come out and support and vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, then hold their asses to the fire to start adopting progressive, people first policies that are going get to the root causes of racism, police brutality, inequity…all that. I said that, and LeBron and his fellow NBA players should be explicit and say it too. Way too many have died to be beating around the bush lost in implicit messages. Sometimes the solutions are as simple as, well, Mathematics…

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15 Minutes with Bernie Sanders

Published by communitypublishingabq@gmail.com on May 24, 2016 Respond

15 Minutes with Bernie Sanders by Alex Paramo

As the Author of From the Left Field Bleachers, my sports blog that begins with sports and examines social issues, you should know that I am unabashedly progressive. I have been since I became politically/ideologically conscious as an undergraduate at Queens College at the City University of New York (CUNY). In college I was exposed to the thinking of “radical” professors from the University of California system who migrated to CUNY because it was one of the few free public institutions left.

Shifting Radicals

15 Minutes with BernieI came to realize that these professors were not radical at all in their belief that public learning institutions should be of the highest quality and should be free to all, regardless of income. Another one of their so-called “radical” beliefs is that all the residents of our great country should have free access to quality health care. Also on their so-called radical list is the belief that no one should work a full-time job and not be able to feed themselves or their families.

I discovered that their “radical” beliefs/convictions/ideas were not “radical” and rather we based upon a principled belief in human rights. These ideas were based on the founding documents of the USA, the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Of course we know that all people are created equal and therefore should not have their basic unalienable rights impinged upon.

The Real Radicals

15 Minutes with Bernie SandersThe real radicals are those folks that believe that we all need to fend for ourselves regardless of circumstance. They believe that profits are more important than people. They believe that folks should not receive public assistance but corporations should. They believe that people should not be entitled to receive a living wage, while it is fine for corporations to hide their billions in foreign tax havens. They believe that people should have to navigate all kinds of obstacles to vote but reserve the rights for folks to walk in to a gun-show and purchase a military assault rifle without extensive back-ground checks. They say they believe in personal liberty but they do want the government to dictate what women do with their bodies. The real radicals are those who have been duped by the sociopaths that dominate our corporate and banking leadership positions into voting against their best interests.

Weekend at Bernie’s

15 Minutes with Bernie SandersI have been an ardent Bernie Sanders supporter for many years. I have admired his ideas/ideals from afar and have been exposed the Senator thanks to the Thom Hartmann show. Bernie Sanders came to New Mexico this past weekend and through a combination of dedication, perseverance, luck and a 9 year old little girl’s tears, myself and my little girl Marisol were able to meet Bernie and engage in a 12 person Q&A session with the Senator. Marisol asked him what he would do to alleviate the homelessness epidemic. He answered that he would create quality affordable housing and push through the living wage.

I always explain to Marisol that the movement is not about Bernie per se rather it is a movement to reclaim our basic human rights that begins with Bernie and will be fulfilled by her generation.  I decided not to ask him a question. I didn’t not ask him a question because in my heart I already knew the answer, and that is why I support Bernie and his movement, our movement.
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Alex Paramo Summer SolsticeAlex Paramo is a native New Yorker of Colombian descent. He is an Author and Co-Founder of Community Publishing. He currently resides in Albuquerque, NM. Read More about him here.

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Asterisk: A Glyph

Published by communitypublishingabq@gmail.com on December 16, 2015 Respond

Asterisk: A Glyph by Hakim Bellamy

Originally Publishing September 5, 2015 in HakimBe where you can find more by Mr. Bellamy

in the post-Serena Slam era

When you say her name
what do you mean?

Do you mean “us?”

Do you mean Latin, or
do you mean Chamoru* for sunlight,
sunshine?

Or do you mean daughter?
Do you mean dark?

When you do not say her name
what do you mean?

When you say calm
do you mean invisible
or ladylike?

When you say peaceful,
do you mean conquered?

When you say serene
do you mean “sista”
or slave name?
What exactly do you mean?

When you say tennis
do you mean love
or combat?

When you say respect,
do you mean you first?

Do you mean all white
when you say club?

Do mean color,
or do you mean code?

Do you mean Druid Hill,
or do you mean Indian Wells?

When you say racquet,
do you mean rigged?

When you say endorsements,
do you mean permission?

When you say masculine,
do you mean anger?

When you say loud,
do mean record-breaking?

When you say manly,
do you mean win?

When you say unpretty,
do you mean powerful?

When you say her name,
does it make you feel small?

When she says fuck,
does it make you go numb?

When you say boo,
do you mean little girl?

Does it scare you
that she is no one’s prize?

When you say slam,
does it hurt?

When you say serve,
do you mean help?

Who do you mean
when you say hero?

When you say asterisk,
do you mean champion,
but…

When you say history
do you mean yours?

When you say game
do you mean everything
or do you mean sport?

When you say match,
do mean none?

Interpretation aside-ways
Do you know what “it” means?
Do you know what she means?

Do you know what she means
to Compton?

When you say she’s no angel,
Do you mean blasphemous

Do you know why forsaken people
sometimes turn athletes into gods?

Gods that look like them?

Do you recognize the broadness of wingspan
it takes to put a city on your back?

Halo, cocked just a ll’ bit to the side
but not cracked.

When you tell her to tuck in her attitude,
and pull up her ass,

I get it.
I am no longer confused.

When you say
it’s nothing, I know

I know
that you are just
mean.

© Hakim Bellamy, September 5th, 2015

*The Chamorro people, are the indigenous peoples of the Mariana Islands. Chamoru society was based on what sociologist Dr. Lawrence J. Cunningham termed the “matrilineal avuncuclan”, one characteristic of which is that the brother(s) of the female parent plays more of a “father” role than the actual biological male parent.

**In colloquial usage, an asterisk is used to indicate that a record is somehow tainted by circumstances, which are putatively explained in a footnote referenced by the asterisk.

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Hakim Bellamy

Hakim Bellamy

Community Publishing will be publishing Hakim Bellamy’s Samuel’s Story, a multimedia children’s story featuring the music of DJ Flo Fader and the illustrations of Melvin Mayes.

Community Publishing brings local artists of all mediums together in creative collaborations for distribution as Multimedia Books while promoting literacy in our communities. We are proud to be a community partner and digital marketer at the Rail Yards Market and the Monte Vista Fire Station. Need help with your web presence and social media marketing? Click here to find out how we can help you!

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