Ryan Coogler, the powerful Hollywood movie director who has brought certified hits like Fruitvale Station, Black Panther, and Creed (the sequels to the Rocky franchise) to the big screen in recent years, was briefly detained at an Atlanta Bank of America after a clerk concluded that his masked request to withdraw $12,000 from his personal account was a robbery in progress.
What makes ZERO sense to me about this detention in the year 2022 is:
1. We have been wearing masks for 24 long months. In fact, today is the second anniversary of the date that I learned that Florida's courts would close to the public due to the Coronavirus. Which means that by now, EVERYONE should be used to seeing others wearing masks and NOT assume that some crime is in process simply because someone is wearing a protective mask.
2. Anyone who has banked at a major institution like Bank of America or Wells Fargo knows that to withdraw money, one has to produce picture identification and an ATM card. Which means that by the time the clerk started her histrionics, she could have asked herself "when was the last time a robber produced identification and an ATM card instead of a firearm with a note (or saying) ‘fill the bags and don't lag’?" Yes, a moment of reflection might have made her calm down and realize how offensive her thoughts and actions were to Coogler, the patron.
3. As to point two, I have never observed a single bank robbery case where the threat of violence was not THE issue. In fact, a critical element of "robbery" as a criminal offense is that the "taking" of something “of value” must have occurred due to the victim being placed "in fear" of some form of “bodily harm (or death).”
So, what, precisely, did Coogler do to instill such fear into the teller? Not a got damned thing, I submit!
4. Over the past 24-hours I’ve read: "Well, Coogler could have called ahead," or, "Surely a rich man like Coogler should have a private banker" blah, blah, blah. Well, while "could have" and "should have" are part and parcel of Monday Morning quarterbacking, lest we forget that Coogler, while very rich and prominent, is a customer of Bank of America, an institution that derives great profits from his account(s). Emphasis, again, on HIS accounts! Which means that Coogler, like any customer, deserves to be treated with respect—not as a suspect for bank robbery.
Seriously, at what point do we stop blaming the wanton disrespect of Black people on the grammatically flawed "well, so-and-so should have did this, that, or the third" type mindset, when the simple truth is that the bank teller should have done her job and if she lacked the authority to release funds over $2,000, which is the typical standard at my own bank (Wells Fargo), then she should have asked her supervisor to come and do the override so that Brother Coogler could have been on his way.
5. While race is not an issue on the surface of this situation because most of the actors (no pun intended) were Black, racism is still the underlying theme because the "systemic" part of "systemic racism" has always seeped down into the oppressed trying to impress the oppressors. From Black overseers beating the flesh off of fellow enslaved Blacks during slavery, to the quisling Black field hands that showed up with white racists Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam to abduct, beat, and lynch Emmett Till in 1955; to the poignant words of Ice Cube in NWA's classic hit F*ck the Police, "...and on the other hand, without a gun they can't get none, but don't let it be a Black (cop) and a white one, they'll slam you down to the street top, Black po-lice showing out for the white cop," time and again, some Black folks stay doing the most to protect what they perceive to be "Massa's" property.
But again, the property in question was Coogler's, and something deep in my soul says that filmmakers like George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, or Francis Ford Coppolla wouldn't have to endure such indignities at any bank in America.
As for Coogler, while he remained cool, calm, and collected during the short but regrettable ordeal, there's a part of me that keeps wondering what would have happened had he expressed righteous indignation or understandable outrage? Or, if he had encountered some trigger happy cops instead of consumate professionals? This whole scene could have ended in a bloody mess, a fact that reminds me of an old axiom that rings so very true: "Never 'assume' because it makes an ‘Ass' out of 'U' and ‘Me.'"
Steel Sharpens Steel Family Reunion
Last night, the Coogler detention and the war in Ukraine were front and center during a dinner conversation with my old friend and Steel Sharpens Steel co-host Sharon Lettman-Hicks and her wonderful family as we dined on one of the best barbecue meals that I've had in a "month of Sundays!"
I was finally blessed to meet some of Sharon's extended family members, including her mother, Barbara Lettman, as well as her sister and brother-in-law, Vivian Ferguson Nash and Mike Nash!
Kudos to Master Sgt. (Ret) Alvin Hicks and Mike Nash for the delectable pulled pork, pork bellies, dirty rice, “Tata” salad, regular salad (filled with avocados to my delight), and to Jennifer Young, owner of TC Bakery, for the peach cobbler that capped a wonderful evening of fellowship and stimulating conversations!
The Force is with Us
If you know me in real life or have followed my writings for any length of time, then you know that I am a Star Wars fanatic. This May, as I turn 50 years old, the Star Wars Franchise will turn 45; I saw the original film, "A New Hope," in 1977 at the Landover Mall in Maryland and was mesmerized from the very moment that Darth Vader strode through the portal of that Alderaanian Cruiser inspecting dead rebel bodies while looking for the stolen plans to the Death Star!
To my delight, this coming May, Disney+ will debut the Obi Wan Kenobi series that was originally slated to be a feature film, but was extended to a mini-series so that the chronicles of Kenobi's life during the so-called "Jedi Purge" under Emperor Shiv Palpatine and Darth Vader can be carefully weighed and not rushed. The series will reunite Ewan MacGregor and Hayden Christensen as Obi Wan and Darth Vader on the small screen, while introducing a host of new characters, including a yet to be revealed one played by Oshea Jackson, Jr., son of the aforementioned Ice Cube of NWA fame!
Yesterday, Disney dropped the following new trailer and, well, Ol' Hobbs has watched it at least 20 times already this morning! Ok, more like 25 😆…
Enjoy:
Thank you for subscribing to the Hobbservation Point—have a wonderful weekend!
Talk about being questioned, I have to reconfirm myself everytime I want to leave a comment! Anyways, great points as usual. The bank thing, which I hadn't heard about, was completely idiotic. Saw Star Wars in Murray, KY with a cousin and aunt that are long gone. Had no clue of the movie and wow! Yes, those of us who lived it from beginning, we know. I wish I could say all the star wars content has been good enough to capture that old magic. I think it is almost impossible to capture lightening in a bottle twice. And don't post meal pictures like that without an invitation. Whatever was in the tinfoil platter looked quite good. Of course you know we need to lose some poundage.
My first job after college was as a bank teller. And after reading everything presented regarding Ryan Coogler, all I could think is there was nothing that would make me indicate that I was being robbed. Of course the teller would require authorization and tax forms because the withdrawal is greater than $10,000. That should’ve been the only “hold up“. The bank I worked for had branches in Texas. And there was an occasion where a player from the Dallas Cowboys happened to be in Montgomery and made a withdrawal. I completed his transaction and didn’t say a word until after he left. That is what should’ve happened in this case .
Talk about being questioned, I have to reconfirm myself everytime I want to leave a comment! Anyways, great points as usual. The bank thing, which I hadn't heard about, was completely idiotic. Saw Star Wars in Murray, KY with a cousin and aunt that are long gone. Had no clue of the movie and wow! Yes, those of us who lived it from beginning, we know. I wish I could say all the star wars content has been good enough to capture that old magic. I think it is almost impossible to capture lightening in a bottle twice. And don't post meal pictures like that without an invitation. Whatever was in the tinfoil platter looked quite good. Of course you know we need to lose some poundage.
My first job after college was as a bank teller. And after reading everything presented regarding Ryan Coogler, all I could think is there was nothing that would make me indicate that I was being robbed. Of course the teller would require authorization and tax forms because the withdrawal is greater than $10,000. That should’ve been the only “hold up“. The bank I worked for had branches in Texas. And there was an occasion where a player from the Dallas Cowboys happened to be in Montgomery and made a withdrawal. I completed his transaction and didn’t say a word until after he left. That is what should’ve happened in this case .