The Week in Review

Get the Point!

Warnock wins!

Kudos are in order for Sen. Raphael Warnock, the Morehouse Man and longtime pastor of Atkanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church who won re-election this past week in a close win over Republican challenger Herschel Walker. 

I noticed immediately on social media that the margin of victory—50.8 % to 49.2 %—was too close for comfort for many Georgia voters who cast ballots for Warnock, and interested viewers who supported his candidacy across the country. I understand that sentiment because to be perfectly honest, I, too, was on pins and needles Tuesday night with worry that Bro. Warnock would not prevail. 

But he did prevail, which leaves me to remind that Georgia is still very much the Old South and, like its Southern Sister states, has been ruby Republican red for nearly two decades.

When you look at the map above, it is clear that Georgia has small pockets of Blue counties surrounded by what I call a vast ocean of red—which means that any Democratic statewide win is a monumental achievement!

Thank you, Stacy Abrams et al

While Democrat Stacy Abrams did not prevail in her gubernatorial rematch against Republican Gov. Brian Kemp this past November, lest we forget that it was her organizational skills and indefatigable efforts to register and educate Democrats over the past four years that helped make victories possible for Georgia's two Democratic Senators, Raphael Warnock and Jon Osoff, over the past two election cycles.

Indeed, kudos are in order for Spelman Sister Abrams and many thousands of volunteers who knocked on doors, stood out in public, staffed phone banks, and watched the polls to ensure a fair and democratic result.

The blueprint that Sister Abrams has set out MUST be followed by Democrats across the Deep South so that the increasingly far right white nationalistic tones of the modern Republican Party can be finely tuned into a more balanced melody, one which recognizes that America has never been a homogenous "melting pot," but a gumbo in which the individual ingredients each maintain their distinctive flavor within a singular dish!

Brittney Griner is Free!

Yesterday, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris announced that after nearly 300 days in captivity, that WNBA star Brittney Griner, convicted of possessing a minuscule amount of cannabis oil and sentenced to 10 years in prison earlier this year, was free and en route to the United States!

In exchange for Griner's freedom, America freed convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, a man known as the "Merchant of Death," who was about 15 years into a 25 year sentence in Federal prison. 

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were joined Cherelle Griner, Brittney's wife, at yesterday's news conference.

On cue, many Americans took to social media to express their approval—or their anger—at the prisoner exchange. Well, I spent some time yesterday expressing why I approved and am ecstatic that Griner has come home.

First, while it is true that Griner exercised poor judgment in having such a small amount of CBD on her person in Russia, the "crime” and “punishment" for the crime, in homage to the Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky, simply did not fit.

Be clear—the amount of CBD at issue is a minor offense in Russia the same as in parts of America; when I was a supervising prosecutor in the misdemeanor division back in the day, back when all forms of cannabis possession were illegal, Griner's minor amount would have earned her a sentence of 10 hours of community service—and a $150 fine. Thus, one need not be Ralph Bunche or have advanced degrees in foreign policy to understand that Griner's sentence was so excessive only to make her a useful tool in Vladimir Putin's desire to get Viktor Bout back home. 

Still, I am glad that the Biden administration made the deal, a sentiment echoed by former Marine and Russian detainee Paul Whelan (below) and his family.

Whelan, as you may recall, was sentenced on trumped up charges of espionage back in 2018 and, to his and his family's chagrin, former President Donald Trump refused to intervene in any way, shape, or form on his behalf. 

President Biden, on the contrary, did try to broker a deal for both Griner and Whelan, but was only successful in securing Griner's release; the President indicated that his negotiation team will continue to fight for Whelan's release—and I wish them well in that endeavor in the weeks ahead!

Jackson State University's critics

In this column space last week, I gave my opinions about what was then Coach Deion "Primetime" Sanders's rumored move to the University of Colorado. Well, less than 12 hours after that column hit, "Coach Prime" won a second consecutive SWAC Championship on the field—and announced his departure to Colorado minutes later in a post-game meeting with his team. 

In the time since, the debate as to whether Coach Prime should have stayed at Jackson State or left for Colorado has raged incessantly on TV, radio, podcasts, and social media. Folks are cussing each other out, exercising their options to block and delete offenders, while calling each other "Uncle Tom," "sellout," and all sorts of cuss words in these social media streets. I get the passion, because this is not a mere sporting issue, but one that raises old, deep, and painful issues about systemic inequality, racism, Black self-hatred, Black financial upward mobility, and all sorts of topics that often go unmentioned—lest folks want to pull up and go to blows. 

While I suspect the chatter will wind down as the holidays approach and other news topics take center stage, there are two things that have really irked me that I will end this week by addressing:

1. As far as I can tell, most people, particularly those Black people and non-Black allies who are disappointed that Coach Prime left Jackson State after two years (and three winning seasons), are not mad, jealous, or "hating" on him because he "secured the bag," a euphemism for all those unaware that means "get paid." No, the concern that I have, one that I have seen and heard many people express, is that Prime, from day one, cast himself as the "Moses" of HBCU football—one who would lead Jackson State and sister HBCU's into the billion dollar promised land of FBS/Power Five football. Prime, to the surprise of some, was seemingly on his way to doing just that by winning games on the field, winning top shelf recruits that the biggest Power Five Schools coveted, and creating a media buzz that HBCU football hadn't experienced since the late Steve McNair was dominating the game at Alcorn State in the 1990's. 

Now, I can never be mad at any person for doing what they feel that they must do to provide for themselves and their families, as Coach Prime has done by signing with CU. This, especially after Prime used his money and contacts to fill in budget gaps for the Jackson State program.

Congrats!

But I also understand the collective angst among many HBCU alumni and supporters that the deference and altruism towards "the culture" that Prime proclaimed to have back when Jackson State hired him in 2020, that just when recruiting, TV exposure, and the "why not us” actually started happening for Black College football, the minute that one of the worst programs (Colorado) in arguably the weakest Power 5 conference (Pac 12) came calling, that Prime literally "jetted" on the first thing smoking to Colorado, a school with single digit Black enrollment in a city that's whiter than the frozen tundra in Alaska. This all while still proclaiming at Colorado that, because he is Black, that he will continue to focus on uplifting Black achievement.

One could argue that such sentiments would have made more logical sense at an FBS/Power 5 school in the Deep South, like the Georgia Tech, Auburn, and South Florida jobs that Prime was linked to, jobs in areas surrounded by millions of Black folks and potential Black players. But in Boulder, Colorado? Well, we will see...

2. I also take STRONG issue with the allegations, all without concrete evidence, that Jackson State was "stealing" money from the football team—and that the crime rate in Jackson ultimately is what sent Coach Prime packing to Colorado. That's complete and utter BULLSHIT, or Buffalo shit to be consistent with Colorado's mascot, and I would be remiss if I didn't call it out before moving on from this topic. 

To be clear, those who are quick to believe such allegations about a leading HBCU without blinking, including a good number of well educated Black folks who are suspending their own discernment out of allegiance to Prime's celebrity, self hate, or both, is that on some deep level, many Americans, Black and white alike, have ZERO respect or love for HBCU's and act as if PWI's are bastions of perfection.

Well, news flash: financial mismanagement and crime occur at predominantly white institutions (PWI) the same as they do at HBCU's! From Pell Grant scandals (Miami Hurricanes 1990's), to academic cheating scandals (Florida State, 2009-13; North Carolina, 2017), to rape scandals (Penn State child rapes by former Coach Jerry Sandusky; Baylor football rapes under former Coach Art Briles; Michigan State Olympics sports rapes by former Dr. Larry Nasser; University of Michigan student athlete rapes by former school physician Robert Anderson; LSU football sexual assaults under Coach Ed Orgeron), Power 5 schools and conferences are not crime free zones by any stretch of the imagination.

Further, when you add the myriad thefts, burglaries, robberies, date rapes, drug trafficking and use, gun charges, and the occasional murders and mass shootings, sadly, crime rates are NO better at PWI's than they are at HBCU's.

But to let some folks tell it, because Coach Prime took to Instagram to angrily express concerns about some missing property at Jackson State during his first season, the "see, you can't trust them Black colleges" sentiments get expressed—as if his property can’t be stolen at a PWI. 

On this point, I remember back when I was a 4th grader at 99 % Black FAMU High School (K-12), one of my classmates was talking at recess one day and said "my momma told me that you shouldn't go to a Black doctor because she heard that one left some scissors inside of his patient after surgery." Now, it doesn't take a legal scholar, board certified lawyer, or wise jurist to know that medical malpractice is real—and that doctors of all races have been, and will continue to be, hit with malpractice claims when medical negligence arises. 

But the idea that my then 9-year old (and very intelligent) classmate had that day bordered on histrionics that made me laugh so hard that I almost choked on my juice box, and when she asked/declared "Chuckie why are you laughing—I'm for real," I simply replied, "I'm not saying that you're not being for real, but that doesn't mean that ALL Black doctors are bad just because your momma says that that she “heard” that one Black doctor was bad!” (Nota Bene: At the time, I wanted to be a pediatrician when I grew up, but thinking back on my response, the makings of a future lawyer and opinion writer were already in play on the playground 😆).

My logic back then holds true even now for HBCU's, and the "perception" that the same are incubators for—and more susceptible to—financial fraud, mismanagement, and crime than their PWI counterparts—especially when the evidence on social media memes is no more competent than what my childhood friend's momma "heard" about Black medical professionals way back in 1981, must be refuted by all who know better.