The illusion of "liberty, and justice for all..."
The Hump Day Hot Topics!
Running off at the Android….
*** While I often disagree with his politics and his refusal to disagree with former President Donald Trump during his term in the Oval Office, I extend kudos to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) for pushing back against Trump's claims this week that Graham is a "RINO"-“Republican In Name Only," due to the fact that Graham took issue with Trump's promise that if he is elected in 2024, that he will pardon anyone convicted of participating in the January 6th MAGA Riots that left five people dead and millions of dollars in damages at the Capitol Complex.
Graham said, “I stand with the police officers who protect our streets, federal courthouses, and the United States Capitol against rioters..."
So, too, does the Hobbservation Point, Sen. Graham! We also believe that the former president's comments are a form of witness tampering in that by promising a pardon should he win, such could inspire witnesses and defendants to stop cooperating with investigations into that regrettable day. In any other court system with any other defendants, tampering charges would already have been levied but, as has been written in this blog before, there's a huge hesitancy among the ruling elite in America to check one of their own—even when members of the opposing party.
***Former Miami Dolphins Coach Brian Flores guided a hapless franchise to winning seasons—and still got fired!
Yesterday, on the first day of Black History Month no less, Flores filed a racial discrimination lawsuit that he says is "much bigger" than just coaching in a league that he also says is operated "much like a plantation." The core of the suit alleges that the NFL's “32 owners — none of whom are Black — profit substantially from the labor of NFL players, 70 percent of whom are Black."
When I read the lawsuit early this morning, and saw the above picture online, I wrote the following post on my main Facebook page: "I know this look (on Coach Flores's face)...I respect this look...Some call it "The Unit," others call it the "Mean Mug," but there's so many words behind this expression...We all know that more than 70 percent of the NFL's players are Black...We all know that despite having the "Rooney Rule" that in theory, should mean that talented Black coaches get hired and promoted, that such is not the case...We see white coaches displaying their mediocrity as assistants, only to display more mediocrity as head coaches, and when their mediocrity leads to below average results, they get fired and then re-hired by some other team because they have the right complexion for the protection...Which leads back to the look on Coach Flores's face, the unit that I imagine was on his face as he told his story of being discriminated against and provided the receipts to back his cause...the unit I imagine that was on his face when he realized that despite being a talented young coach, that he was receiving the run around from the NFL powers that be who love to pay Black men to run, pass, catch, block, and tackle, but are disinterested in paying Black men to teach others how to run, pass, catch, block, tackle, game plan, or lead into battle on any given Sunday or Monday night...Coach Flores knows "the game," the real game, one that's old and lame, the one that every adult Black person in every profession in the United States is fully aware of, which is that systemic racism is still very much alive and wicked and an impediment to equal opportunities...
There will be some who ask "how's that racist," but those who do are the descendants of those who believed that the souls of Black folks were happy during slavery and Jim Crow...No, the cause isn't to provide sight to the willfully blind, but to challenge the lukewarm general manager and team owner that knows that there is rank inequality that is pervasive in the NFL hierarchy, and that boasting about how highly paid the players are in the league for three or so years on average means nothing if they know that they are not deemed worthy to earn millions over multiple decades while wearing the coaching headsets or sitting in the boardrooms of NFL franchises or the league's headquarters."
Stay tuned...
Black History Figure: Allen Bolling, First Black Lawyer
Allen Macon Bolling was born a free man in Indiana on August 4, 1816. Having taught himself to read and write English, in his early 20s, Bolling moved to Portland, Maine, where he began the formal study of law and accepted a law clerk position for General Samuel Fessenden, a local lawyer and abolitionist.
When Bolling passed the Maine Bar Examination on July 3, 1844, he became the first Black man granted a formal license to practice law. Racism and the paucity of Blacks living in Maine made finding lucrative work virtually impossible, so Bolling moved to Boston, Massachusetts in 1845. Due to a lack of transportation, Bolling had to walk 50 miles to the testing site for the Massachusetts Bar Examination and despite his fatigue, he passed the same and went on to join with another Black lawyer, Robert Morris, to form the first Black law firm in US History.
Racism, again, would prevent Bolling and Morris from obtaining lucre from their legal efforts, so Bolling sat for the qualifying examination to become a Justice of the Peace and in 1848, he was named a Justice of the Peace for Middlesex County, Massachusetts. What renders this achievement amazing is at the time, free blacks were not considered United States citizens, a fact that would be hammered home less than a decade later when the US Supreme Court rendered its Dred Scott decision that ended any confusion as to this point.
Bolling would continue to practice law and serve as a judicial officer in Massachussetts until after the Civil War, where he later moved to Charleston, South Carolina and was elected probate judge in 1874. After Reconstruction ended in the South in 1877 and former Confederate officers systematically began to remove Black public servants per the newly established Jim Crow laws, Bolling moved to Washington DC, where he became a lawyer for the Land and Improvement Association.
Bolling died at the age of 78 in 1894.
Black College Spotlight
Each day during Black History Month, I will feature one of America's top HBCU's. Today's feature is my graduate school alma mater—Florida A&M University (FAMU)!
FAMU Facts
Founded: 1887 as the State Normal College for Colored Students in Tallahassee, the state's capital and at the time, home to the largest black population in Florida. Subsequent name changes included the State Normal and Industrial College for Colored Students, Florida A&M College and since 1953, Florida A&M University. The University operated a full-service hospital during Jim Crow, which closed in 1971 after the last legal challenges to "separate but equal" had ended.
Enrollment: Coed, 85% Black
Motto: "Excellence with Caring"
Academic Honors: Under the leadership of legendary President Frederick Humphries, throughout the late 1980s, early 90s and 2000s, FAMU perennially finished among the nation's leaders in the enrollment of National Merit Scholars and in 1992, 1995, and 1997, beat Harvard to finish in first place in enrolling NM scholars. In 1997, FAMU was the first school named Time/Princeton Review's College of the Year. Top academic programs include the Schools of Business and Industry, Pharmacy, Journalism and Architecture.
In 1985, the world renowned FAMU Marching 100 Band won the coveted Sudler Award—the only HBCU to hold such distinction. In 1989, the 100rd represented the United States in Paris during the bicentennial of the French Revolution. Since 1991, the University has won eight Honda Campus All Star Challenge National Championships under the leadership of Dr. Vivian Hobbs (my momma).
Mascot: Rattlers
Colors: Orange & Green
Conference Affiliation: SWAC
Sports Honors: The FAMU football program has won 11 Black College National Championships, and one Division 1-AA (now FCS) National Championship. Legendary Coaches Jake Gaither, Billy Joe, and Joe Taylor are College Football Hall of Fame members.
Famous Alumni/Rattlers: Olympic Gold Medalist and NFL Hall of Fame member "Bullet" Bob Hayes; Florida Democratic Gubernatorial nominee and former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, St. Paul, Minnesota Mayor Melvin Carter, Congressional Black Caucus Director Vince Evans, U.S. Reps. Alcee Hastings, Al Lawson, Carrie Meek and Kendrick Meek; Microsoft Chairman John W. Thompson; Dr. LeSalle Lefall, the first black president of the American Cancer Society and American College of Surgeons; Tennis legend Althea Gibson, Baseball Hall of Famer Andre Dawson, NFL star cornerback Ken Riley; Hollywood movie moguls Rob Hardy and Will "Power" Packer, Tony award winning actress Anika Noni Rose, actress Kelsey Scott, rapper/actor Common, singer K. Michelle; Civil Rights Leader Patricia Stephens Due.
Thank you for subscribing to the Hobbservation Point—have a great Wednesday!
Shedding a lot of light on Black history. Thank you.
Coach Flores reminds of Tomlin in that look. Tomlin may be the best coach beside Bilicheck right now. I think those two are the longest tenured. Certainly need more diversity in coaching but not sure this is the entire case with Flores. He may be a bit of a head case. I think the Chargers coach Lynn from last year was cut off too soon and would be a great choice. I'd take him for my Jags before Leftwich.