On war, sports racism, mid-term elections, and College Jeopardy!
The Hump Day Hot Topics
Nobody asked me but...
***I arose this morning to learn that the Russian Defense Ministry claimed over night that heavy artillery, tanks, and troops are being removed from the Ukraine border amid an effort to cool down tensions. President Joe Biden responded by intimating that his adminstration "distrusts" and “has yet to verify" whether the RDM's claim is true, which is a play on former President Ronald Reagan's "trust, but verify" words from nearly 40 years ago.
While I agree with the president's sentiments that the world must remain vigilant until the majority of the Russian invasion force is pulled back, lest we forget that Hobbstradamus has predicted in recent weeks that Russia will not invade Ukraine!
Why not?
Simply stated, Russia today is a shell of its old Soviet Union self; the Kremlin is struggling financially and cannot withstand the costs that warfare and crippling economic sanctions would engender should its attention starved leader, Vladimir Putin, start a regional (or world) war.
I reiterate that Putin talks the bully talk well—but there's little real menace in that "mien" mug that that he wears on the world stage.
***On principle, I agree with Sha'Carri Richardson that the very fact that she was banned from participating in the Summer Olympics last year because she smoked marijuana after learning of her mother's death, but Russian 15-year-old skater Kamila Valieva used a performance enhancing drug, trimetazidine, and still skated this winter, is unfair.
Yes, I know that different regulatory agencies made distinctly different decisions between the two world-class athletes, but again, on principle, the fact that one used drugs that gave her a competitive advantage and was still allowed to compete (Valieva), while the other smoked a substance that does not give any advantages and could not compete (Richardson), is wrong—period!
The right solution, from my point of vantage, was for Valieva to be disqualified as well. But as history has shown time and again, the racial double standards across the globe are pronounced—and problematic.
***So, you probably have already figured that Florida U.S. Rep. Val Demings has the backing of the Hobbservation Point in her U.S. Senate race against incumbent Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) If so, you’re 100 percent accurate! I mean, after all, Demings is a member of Delta Sigma Theta like my momma, aunties, cousins 'nem; Demings is a proud member of the African Methodist Episcopal Denomination like the Hobbs Clan and, two years ago, sat down for one of the most engaging interviews that I've ever conducted as a national co-host of The Christian Recorder Dialogues for the AME Church!
That said, the latest data from Mason-Dixon Polling show that Rubio holds a 49 percent to 42 percent advantage at this point—with nine percent of voters still undecided. Rubio's lead, mind you, is not insurmountable, but it will take money and elbow grease to send Sister Demings to the Senate! Thus, my request that those so willing contribute to the cause today.
Click on the following link!
Black History Hobbservation: Paul L. Dunbar
Paul Laurence Dunbar was born in 1872 to former slaves in Dayton, Ohio and during his high school days in that city, edited the Tattler, a newspaper for African Americans that was published by his schoolmate (and future aviation pioneer) Orville Wright. Dunbar also began writing poetry and upon graduation, supported himself as an elevator operator to allow time for his creativity to shine.
In 1893, Dunbar published his first collection of poems entitled Oak and Ivy, and later that year, he traveled to the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, where Frederick Douglass allowed him to publicly read his poem The Colored Soldiers. Dunbar published his second book of poems, Majors and Minors, in 1895 and with it, exposed a facility with Negro dialect that prompted literary critic William Dean Howell to remark that Dunbar was the first "man of pure African blood and of American civilization to feel the Negro life aesthetically and express it lyrically."
In 1896, Dunbar published Lyrics of Lowly Life and with its success, toured England for a year before returning home to work at the Library of Congress. Dunbar remained at the Library for only a year as he quit his position to work full time at his writing craft—a move that provided financial success which included his penning lyrics for musical compositions such as his 1899 collaboration with Will Marion Cook on the musical Clorindy: The Origin of the Cakewalk.
Dunbar is perhaps best known for the poem We Wear the Mask which includes the oft quoted lines, "We wear the mask that grins and lies/It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes/This debt we pay to human guile/With torn and bleeding hearts we smile."
Dunbar died in 1906 at the age of 34 from tuberculosis.
Black College Feature
Each day during Black History Month, I will feature one of America's leading HBCUs.
Next up: Norfolk State University
History: Norfolk State University was originally founded as the Norfolk campus of Virginia Union University, another proud HBCU, on September 18, 1935. Under the tutelage of Mr. Samuel Fischer Scott, a Virginia Union graduate, eighty-five students comprised the original entering class.
In 1942, the school separated from Virginia Union and became known as Norfolk Polytechnic College. In 1944, the Virginia Legislature made Norfolk Polytech an extension of another proud HBCU, Virginia State College (now VSU).
By 1950, the 15th anniversary of the college founding, the school had an enrollment of over 1000 students, 50 faculty members and adopted the "Spartan" name as its mascot. In 1956, the school—formerly a two-year institution—granted its first four year baccalaureate degrees and in 1969, the college separated from Virginia State College and became known as Norfolk State College. The name changed one last time, to Norfolk State University, per Virginia legislative fiat in 1979.
Academics: Per U.S. News & World Report, Norfolk State University is currently ranked #22 among HBCUs, and is consistently ranked among the Top 25 academically by the same publication. The University offers 36 undergraduate and 17 graduate degrees within its School of Business, School of Education, College of Liberal Arts, College of Engineering, Science & Technology, School of Social Work, School of Extended Learning, Honors College and Graduate School.
Norfolk State won the 1992 Honda Campus All- Star Challenge (Quiz Bowl) National Championship as televised in BET.
Motto: "We see the future in you"
Colors: Behold! The Green and Gold
Mascot: Spartans
Athletics: Norfolk State was once a dominant basketball power in the CIAA, an NCAA Division II HBCU league, having won 12 conference basketball championships and three football crowns before moving up to Division I and joining the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), an HBCU conference, where the Spartans won the 2012 MEAC men's basketball championship.
Famous Alumni/Figures: Lawyer/human rights activist Randall Robinson, founder of TransAfrica; journalist Nathan McCall, author of the award winning classic "Make Me Wanna Holler;" Actor/comedian Tim Reid; former Norfolk State professor, author and psychologist Dr. Naim Akbar; educator and current University President Dr. Melvin Stith, author Andrew Warren; Yvonne Miller, the first Black woman elected to the Virginia legislature; Violinist Karen Briggs; Olympic Gold Medalist (Bahamas) Chandra Sturrup; former NFL star Ray Jarvis, former NFL star Ron Bolton, former NFL star Ken Reaves, former NFL star Leroy Jones; NBA Hall of Famer Bob Dandridge, former college basketball star/druglord/motivational speaker/actor Pee Wee Kirkland, actor/comedian J.B. Smoove (co-star of HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm")
Jeopardy! College Tournament
Speaking of quiz bowls, tonight, Claire Jackson, an English and Spanish major who plays on the Spelman College HCASC quiz bowl team, will appear on the Jeopardy! National College Championship on ABC.
Jackson will join 36 of America’s sharpest undergrads in this popular collegiate competition and has the opportunity to win the $250,000 grand prize.
Best wishes, young Spelman Sister!
Thank you for subscribing to the Hobbservation Point—have a great day!