Critical Race Reality
The Friday Flashpoints!
Nobody asked me but...
***I am looking forward to seeing what justice actually looks like in South Georgia as Travis McMichael, 35, Gregory McMichael, 66, William "Roddie" Bryan, 52, each convicted for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, 26, will learn today how much time they will get in prison.
I'm not a betting man but if I was, I'd bet on the longest stretches for the McMichael Boys due to their chasing down and killing Arbery, with Bryan getting a long stretch but fewer years than the other two due to his lesser role in the crime.
Stay tuned...
***As a historian who has studied and written numerous papers and articles about Emmett Till, I was very impressed with last night's ABC film Women of the Movement, produced by entertainment stars Will Smith and Sean "Jay-Z" Carter. Last night's first episode chronicled 14-year-old Emmett's fateful trip to Missisippi during the summer of 1955, one in which he was brutally lynched by Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam for allegedly being "uppity" towards "Missy" Carolyn Bryant. Episode 2, which will air next week, will focus on the murder trial and aftermath.
To me, the sign of a great film based on historical events is when I already know the outcome—but still have sweaty palms and rapid heart beats as the film proceeds. Much like the movie Titanic had me cheering for Jack and Rose and the other passengers even though I knew that most would die, I was glued to the TV last night wishing that Emmett had stayed in Chicago or, per his Mississippi cousin's warnings, not even gone inside of the Bryant store where Missy Carolyn was the clerk. But alas, he did, and in his regrettable death, pushed what would become known as the Civil Rights Movement into overdrive.
What's worse is knowing that Carolyn Bryant, 85, is still very much alive and living in North Carolina; I hope and pray that she will get indicted as a principal to murder and spend her final years in a cold, dank jail cell to ponder how her lies led to Emmett's lying in a grave for nearly seven decades.
Lest we forget…
***Americans, for the most part, have been really cavalier about the Coronavirus even despite the presence of an Omicron variant that is highly contagious (albeit less deadly than other strains). When I read headlines that schools and colleges are reinstating mask wearing mandates, all that I can do is shake my head and conclude that mask wearing never should have stopped! It seems like hardly a day goes by that I don't see folks standing around, maskless, just exposing themselves and their families to the phantom menace. Trust, I get everyone's frustration as Covid has infected multiple family members and friends just in the past 30 days so yes, I'm sick of this Pandemic, too. But I remind, once more, that we can't just throw caution to the wind and do as we wish; mask up, wash up your hands, and maintain safe distances in public settings and among those who have been exposed!
*** Speaking of Covid, The Hill is reporting this morning that Moderna Phamraceuticals CEO Stephane Bancel predicted yesterday that a fourth booster will be necessary later this year. Regarding the original inoculation and first booster's efficacy, Bancel said: "I will be surprised when we get that data in the coming weeks that it's holding nicely over time...I would expect that it's not going to hold great...I still believe we're going to need boosters in the fall of '22 and forward."
I bet! The cynic in me notes that Moderna, like every other member of Big Pharma, is looking to reap great profits once more this year. The pragmatist in me believes that the vaccines to date have protected those inoculated from death and, because of that, if they tell me that I must take a shot once per month, trust when I say that I will be there to get mine with no delay!
***I was not surprised that my social media feeds were mostly indifferent towards the anniversary of the January 6th MAGA Riots. I've lived long enough to know that far too many of my fellow Americans, both white and Black, are quicker to condemn a racial minority that has committed a crime or in recent headlines, acted out like now former Tampa Bay receiver Antonio Brown, while remaining eerily quiet about rich and wealthy white men and women who act out and by so acting, leave democracy or the economy hanging in the balance.
Accordingly, the national indifference to January 6th that was on deplorable display yesterday—as Republicans avoided business in the Capitol—is only underscored by news that former President Donald Trump is taking yet another stab at creating a social media company, this time via his Trump Media & Technology Group's app dubiously called "Truth Social."
Around this time last year, Trump devotees that were upset that their beloved leader had his Twitter and Facebook privileges permanently suspended for lying about the election results beat their chests and gnashed their teeth with dramatic "I'm leaving Facebook and Twitter for Parler" posts. Weeks later, most of those self-exiles were right back on Facebook...and Twitter. Then, the former President launched his own blog around the same time I launched this blog last May; I'm still writing and Hobbservation Point is growing each day, while the Trump blog ended barely three weeks into its existence.
You see, there was a time when I worried about the ideological rigidity in news sharing and telling, but I've come to conclude that ours is no longer a battle of different opinions based upon commonly agreed facts, but a test of wills over what constitutes fact or fiction. That's a game I no longer play about any subject, as I've grown older and way too tired to debate the undebatable with the willfully blind and deliberately ignorant—I ask you to join me in avoiding long discourse with the same and blast the truth loudly and proudly no matter who it offends—all the while avoiding “whataboutism” based on nonsense.
For those who missed it, check out my January 6th anniversary post here…
Thank you for subscribing to the Hobbservation Point—have a great weekend!
Excellent post, despite the ridiculous warning by You Know Who.