Year in Review

New Year's Eve finale

For last year’s words belong to last year’s language, and next year’s words await another voice.” Thomas Stearns "T.S." Eliot, 20th Century British writer

Well, we've made it to the end of 2021 and as Miss Celie said in The Color Purple: “…I’m poor, Black, I may even be ugly, but Dear God I’m here!” 🙏

Before I watch college football this evening and the ball drop come midnight, I would be remiss if I did not thank my subscribers and readers for supporting the Hobbservation Point Newsletter in 2021!

I thank you all for the shares and "likes" on social media, and the support many of you have also shown to shows I've hosted or co-hosted including "Front & Center w/Chuck Hobbs," the "TCR Dialogues" for The Christian Recorder, Steel Sharpens Steel along with Tom Cunningham, Sharon Lettman-Hicks, and Joy Stephens, and "Conversations w/Nicole" (hosted by Nicole Everett).

I'm also grateful for the opportunities I was given this past year to wax philosphically on several podcasts including Real Talk with Andrew Gillum, The Sunday Forum with my cousin Walter Smith, The Rita Brent Report with rising comedic star Rita Brent; Better with Dr. Ericka (hosted by Ericka Goodwin, M.D.), and Thoughts & Moments (hosted by Joy Stephens and Ellis Dean). I humbly ask that you stay tuned and follow these and other great 'net based shows into 2022!

Looking Back—Looking Forward

When Charles Dickens inscribed "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" in his classic A Tale of Two Cities, I'm not sure whether he realized that his turn of phrase would be a fitting epitaph for every year's end from the date of publishing through time immemorial.

Indeed, 2021 certainly brought its share of best and worst times in every aspect of our shared human experiences, including:

***Covid-19 is still a scourge that has exacted a devastating toll across the world; yes, the vaccines have helped many of us avoid what once was a death sentence for those with certain co-morbidities, but the truth is that this menace remains—even for the vaccinated.

It is absolutely critical that we, the people, endeavor to do better in the year ahead by following the very basic instructions of wearing masks, washing hands, and staying home if you're coughing, sneezing, congested, achy; can't smell, taste, and/or are experiencing high fevers. 

***January 6th will be forever etched in the annals of American history as the day that thousands of Americans stormed the Capitol Complex in an effort to thwart the peaceful transition of power from then President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden. As Congressional committees continue to investigate the "how" of that day, lest we forget the "why," which essentially boils down to very easily manipulated citizens being duped into believing Mr. Trump's lies about having won the 2020 election--and his minions willingness to destroy Federal property, lives (six), and even go to prison over said lies.

As we head into the 2022 mid-term election year, it will be very interesting to see whether any lessons were learned that will prevent similar deplorable displays of dissatisfaction with electoral results, or whether the nadir that we collectively experienced last January will be the new normal—and the eventual end of the Republic as we know it...

***Following his inauguration last January, President Joe Biden surely has experienced the best and worst of times in office, including:

Best

-$1.9 trillion Covid relief deal…

-$1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill…

-72 percent of American adults fully vaccinated for Covid-19…

-Progressive Federal judges appointed and confirmed…

-Unemployment down to 4.2 percent!

Worst

-Approval ratings hovering around the high 30's low 40's range due to:

-Botched Afghanistan withdrawal…

-"Build Back Better” legislation in limbo…

-Voting-rights legislation in limbo…

-Vaccination rates stalling...

-Republican victories in Virginia...

-Delayed deliveries of imported goods...

Despite the historical praises heaped upon her last January, there's also the strong perception that Vice President Kamala Harris, the first woman and first person of Black and Indian descent to hold the position, is warming the bench instead of having an active role in the Biden administration; while both deny this charge, one area that the pair could take a cue from their predecessor Trump is in routinely sharing their policy messages and accomplishments via social media—albeit without the vitriol.

Last, with a nod to the old Sprite ad campaign that “Image is Everything,” the perception is that President Biden is aloof at best, or a few cards short of a full deck at worst, and those perceptions could cloud reality in the coming electoral months unless he projects better for skeptics.

***Justice was served for the late George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery and their killers, Officer Derek Chauvin and the Mcmichael/Bryan vigilante crew, were convicted and either sentenced to prison—or are facing long prison sentences.

While just results, we cannot rest on these laurels and must continue to clamor for justice in every case that finds unarmed citizens killed by the police or racist vigilantes! Especially considering the message that Kyle Rittenhouse's acquittal last month provides, which is that vigilantes can start trouble—and then use deadly force while claiming self-defense!

Killer Kyle

***Among the many domestic tragedies this year included the partial collapse of a 12-story condominium in Surfside, Florida this past June that killed 98 residents, and tornadoes across the South and Midwest that killed 91 people earlier this month.

While natural disasters like tornadoes are practically impossible to mitigate due to their random fury, the condo collapse was merely another example of how building some more residential units—that never ending push for greater wealth—often leads to shoddy workmanship that leaves good people dead due to others push for profits. 

***There is a renaissance of sorts happening with HBCU football and, love him or loathe him, Jackson State University Head Football Coach Deion Sanders, an NFL Hall of Famer who played college ball at Florida State University, is one of the key cogs in the movement. 

Sanders with his sons Shedeur (left), and Shilo

After winning the SWAC with an 11-1 record (and a narrow one point win over Florida A&M), Jackson dropped a 31-10 decision to S.C. State in the Celebration Bowl. While a disappointment for JSU, Coach Prime shocked the world by signing the #1 high school football player in the country, Travis Hunter.

For those unaware, Hunter had been committed to Florida State for over a year, but when he signed with Coach Sanders and Jackson State, some sportcasters and legions of fans became enraged by Hunter's decision and burned their Sanders paraphernalia while hurling insults at Black Colleges on social media.  

Travis Hunter

The week after Hunter's signing, the Rivals Sports Network took a poll of the top 25 juniors football players in America and 15 of the 25 said that they are now strongly considering signing with an HBCU.

FAMU lost to Jackson 7-6 in the season opener for both teams. The Big Payback is eight months away! 🐍

As I often write, stay tuned—and stay tuned for the rematch between FAMU and Jackson State next September in Miami!

In Memoriam 

Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them. Mary Ann Evans b/k/a George Eliot

While I watched or attended (with masks) many funerals this past year, and while my list is far from encompassing all of the pivotal figures who have transitioned, lest we forget the above luminaries who have departed their Earthly lives:

Gen. Colin Powell: U.S. Army Vietnam War veteran who served as the first Black Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (under Bush 41), and the first Black Secretary of State (Bush 43)

Bell Hooks: Prominent feminist scholar who penned essays about gender, race, and pop culture.

Sen. Max Cleland: Vietnam veteran who was severely wounded in combat circa 1968, Cleland rose to become a Democratic Senator from Georgia and for those of us who grew up in the Tri-State area in the 1980s, the voice of "Moments in Georgia History" as aired on television commercials and public broadcast networks.

Cicely Tyson: Veteran actress who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1972's Sounder, and Emmy Award winner for her title role in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. 

Bishop Desmond Tutu: The 1984 Nobel Prize winner, Tutu was a critical leader in the push to end Apartheid in South Africa in the 1980s. 

Hank Aaron: Legendary baseball star whose hitting prowess for the Milwaukee (later Atlanta) Braves led to his breaking Babe Ruth's supposedly unbreakable homerun record (715) in 1974. Aaron finished his career with 755 homeruns.

Michael K. Williams: Veteran movie and television actor best known for his role as the iconic drug dealer stick-up artist "Omar" in HBO's gritty inner city drama, The Wire.

DMX: Rapper, actor whose "Ruff Ryders Anthem," remains one of Ol' Hobbs's favorite 90'-Aughts selection, and his role in "Romeo Must Die," with the late Aaliyah Haughton and Jet Li, remains one of my favorite movies. 

Dr. Walter Smith: Seventh President of Florida A&M University whose efforts not only warded off Florida legislative attempts to merge the prominent HBCU with nearby Florida State University, but led FAMU during an unprecedented period of growth that found it doubling its schools and colleges, including the creation of the School of Journalism, School of Architecture, and FAMU/FSU College of Engineering, among others. 

Dr. Frederick Humphries: Eighth President of Florida A&M University whose groundbreaking "Life Gets Better" scholarship served as the underpinning of a golden era at FAMU where the University routinely beat Harvard and Yale for National Merit scholars, was named Time/Princeton Review College of the Year, and secured the return of the FAMU Law School after the original was closed and reopened at Florida State University in 1968. 

Adieu

I sincerely hope that each of you has a wonderful final day of 2021, and I look forward to experiencing our world with you in 2022. Happy New Year!