Daily Dose
Daily Dose: 12/18/17
Diddy wants to buy the ‘North’ Carolina Panthers
6:33 PMWell, what a day. Our president, John Skipper, stepped down, noting his own substance abuse issues as the reason. The Undefeated does not exist without Skipper, which is a plain fact. Going to miss that guy.
— Aesthetics + Art (@passionfuI) December 9, 2017
Tavis Smiley is fighting back. The longtime PBS host, who has built a career being one of the most prominent black faces in media, was suspended for allegations of sexual misconduct, which we’ve obviously seen a lot of in recent months. Now he’s attempting to defend himself in the public eye, but it appears he doesn’t fundamentally understand the nature of the problem. To claim that you have cards and letters that prove your relationships over the years were consensual, well, that’s not really the point here.
Prayers go out to Seattle. Earlier today, an Amtrak train derailed, killing multiple people. Perhaps as important, though, the optics of a train dangling off a bridge in a relatively big city in America, with seemingly no relief in sight, is really disheartening. How we feel about American infrastructure efforts is very much regulated by what we can see, and this is not good. The stories of what happened to the people actually on the train are extremely harrowing and worth a read.
George Zimmerman is back on his bull#!@. Now that Jay-Z is making a docuseries about the night that Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin, an incident that sparked a revival in the attention on the deaths of unarmed black people, particularly at the hands of people in positions of authority. Reminder: Zimmerman was a self-appointed neighborhood watch person. Not some officially appointed guy. Now he’s throwing shade at Jay, like he wants to get in a confrontation with him too. Yeah, that’s gross.
The situation with the Carolina Panthers is bad news. Owner Jerry Richardson has been accused of a whole lot of really foul things, including openly telling women to turn around so he could look at their behinds and allegedly requesting that a black employee apply suntan lotion to his face. Now, in an attempt to get away from it, he’s selling the team. Tina Becker is now running the team, and Diddy has said he wants to buy the squad, but he doesn’t know their name (he called them the “North Carolina Panthers” in a video) and he has no idea who the quarterback is.
Free Food
Coffee Break: There’s a new novel from Zora Neale Hurston coming out, and I could not possibly be happier about this. The legendary writer has long since left us, so the notion of new work coming from one of the best minds in human history is really exciting.
Snack Time: If you haven’t seen Star Wars: The Last Jedi, what are you doing with yourself? In all seriousness, though, check out this story of Kelly Marie Tran, who is the breakout star from the film.
Dessert: If you need something to zap your productivity, here you go.
Daily Dose
Daily Dose: 12/15/17
Black Thought is God’s gift to hip-hop fans this Christmas
5:11 PMWhat up, gang? I’m finally back home. It’s snowing, it’s grimy, but I saw Star Wars: The Last Jedi on Friday, so I’m happy.
Whys there always huge puddles on the ground under public male urinals? Lol people act like its a contested 3 instead of an open layup
— Jeremy Lin (@JLin7) December 14, 2017
When I first heard that Black Thought had a 10-minute freestyle on HOT97, I didn’t know what to think. I had just seen him at NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert a month or so ago, and it was great, so I didn’t want to ruin that memory with what was sure to be some over-the-top interview with Funkmaster Flex screaming and dropping bombs all over The Roots’ frontman’s flow. There’s always a place for that, but Thought is a god, and I don’t like seeing him disrespected. Then I watched it. And I watched it again. And again. Fam. It’s completely insane.
Now that weed is legal, so to speak, in many places, it’s hard to watch. There are entire facilities full of black and brown folks who sold weed, and it put them behind bars for the rest of their lives. It broke up their families, ruined communities and destroyed careers. Not because someone smoked marijuana, but because the so-called war on drugs was such a massive overplay from the government that was effectively rooted in racism. But now that it’s popular, oh, guess what? Weed is a luxury lifestyle. It’s borderline sickening, but it’s real.
In the early days of chat, there was but one beast. It was AOL Instant Messenger, the original app that got us all hooked on the concept of direct, private, instant communication. Well before texting was the thing, AIM was what people used not just to talk with each other but also to express themselves. It was customizable with colors, there were “away messages” — which were, in some ways, the earliest form of Twitter — and it was generally just vital to life. Now, it’s completely done. But we had to pay respect to the originator one last time.
Saturday night, a legendary New York Knicks player makes a return to Madison Square Garden. No, not Charles Oakley, I’m talking about Carmelo Anthony. The Oklahoma City Thunder, who picked up Melo along with Paul George this summer, are not in fact very good at all, but that’s beside the point. Anthony’s legacy in New York is an interesting one, as the team basically was not very good at all while he was there, and now that he’s gone they’re competitive again. Their new star, Kristaps Porzingis, thinks that the Garden should cheer him.
Free Food
Coffee Break: We’re at the point of the year that if you go to an all-Christmas music soundtrack in your home or office, no one could blame you. We’re 10 days out, so it’s officially time to crank out the carols and holiday cheer. Check out this thread of black Christmas songs.
Snack Time: Queen Latifah is very smart. She’s been in the game for quite a long time, and she knows the game very well. And she’s got a clause in all her movie contracts that says something very interesting.
Dessert: This man is my hero. Atlanta, stand up.
Daily Dose
Daily Dose: 12/14/17
Omarosa has officially left the building
5:15 PMWhat’s up, gang? I’m still in Bristol, Connecticut, where it snowed, so that was fun. It’s also another TV day, so be sure to tune in to Around the Horn at 5 p.m. EST on ESPN.
https://twitter.com/PrimeUzi/status/940628125221867521
The White House has officially gotten Omarosa Manigault Newman out of the paint. The onetime reality TV star, who then was given a job at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. that nobody could ever really define, was apparently escorted out of the building in D.C. recently, which is about as awkward an exit as you can muster. They say they just deactivated her pass, which is another hilarious move in the world of passive-aggressive power plays. But she’s got a story to tell, and it’s most likely going to be a fun one. Not shedding many tears.
Welp, say goodbye to net neutrality. The Federal Communications Commission voted Thursday to strip what are commonly known as net neutrality rules, meaning that depending on what an internet service provider wants to do, it can speed or slow your service, or really do anything it wants based on content. This matters because it allows the providers to become de facto content regulators, which is a dangerous precedent, many believe. If you’re wondering, yes, the politics within the FCC definitely matter in this scenario.
There are parts of the world where Santa Claus is not a white guy. Don’t ask Megyn Kelly about that, but I digress. For example, I remember when I grew up, Prince George’s (County) Plaza in Maryland was the place where you knew Black Santa was a thing. Parents from all around the region would bring their children to give them a positive experience of what Christmas is. But what is it really like being a black Santa Claus? Is Kris Kringle racism really something that has to be dealt with? Well, now you’ve got answers.
Scottie Pippen is tremendous. Am I saying that partially because I got to meet him this week at ESPN? Yes. Am I saying that because he still throws shade at Michael Jordan every now and again? Yes. Am I saying that because he was involved in a completely stupid feud with Future and came out looking like a classy person? Absolutely. He was on First Take on Thursday and basically said that LeBron James is better than Michael Jordan statistically. First off, we all knew that. But there’s something particularly terrific about Scottie saying it.
Free Food
Coffee Break: When it comes to journalism movies, I don’t play. As someone who’s worked in quite a few newsrooms over the years, getting that dynamic down is not an easy task, but it’s an important one. The fact that this list of great journalism movies doesn’t include The Paper is an outright travesty. Seriously, how?
Snack Time: Tavis Smiley is the latest powerful on-air news personality to have his reputation and career brought down by allegations of sexual misconduct. Alas.
Dessert: If you care about the media business, this is a huge deal.
Daily Dose
Daily Dose: 12/13/17
A sad tale of two firsts in San Francisco
4:37 PMWhat’s up gang? I’m in Bristol on Wednesday for an all-talent meeting. I got to catch up with friends and meet some people I hadn’t met whom I respect quite a bit. Here’s a recap.
Reminder: Roy Moore rides his horse to the polling station every election day. And that horse’s name is…SASSY.
— Jamie Benson (@jbensondc) December 12, 2017
It’s a sad day in San Francisco. Popular Mayor Ed Lee died this week after a heart attack while grocery shopping put him in the hospital. He was the city’s first Asian-American mayor and never particularly wanted the job, but was urged to run when the slot opened up. But in the aftermath of his death, a replacement has been named. Her name is London Breed, and she is San Francisco’s first black female mayor. So, after one first comes another, through tragedy. What a bittersweet story.
We’ve all had some pretty wild Uber rides. Whether it was a driver who got lost, thus sending you on a ride you both wanted to forget, or the ride that ended in tears, or maybe the time your friends ordered an SUV and a party limo showed up, drastically changing the course of the night. Hey, it happens. But for one guy who took a trip to the hospital in Toronto, the bill added up real quick. Like, $20K quick. We’re still not really sure how this happened, but thing is, the guy was visiting a sick friend, not even helping himself.
The NFL Network is in the news for the wrong reasons. A couple of former league players are the latest to be brought down by sexual misconduct allegations with details that will disturb many. Three players were suspended by the channel after they were named in a lawsuit by a former wardrobe stylist who says that she was subjected to years of abuse. She is also alleging that she was fired because of age discrimination, which in itself isn’t easy to prove. Two of the ex-players involved are now at ESPN and have been suspended as well.
Free Food
Coffee Break: If you’ve ever heard me on the radio, you know my love for The Bachelor. But it’s season 22, and the new cast is out. Yes, the guy playing The Bachelor is still a white guy, which means that The Bachelorette is the only brand in the business making real progress.
Snack Time: The Golden Globe nominations are out, and there are always snubs. Jada Pinkett Smith took to Twitter to defend Tiffany Haddish and Girls Trip, which got no love.
Dessert: In case you didn’t know this, it might rock your world.
I was the black kid who definitely thought this man was black. Lol this song is a classic pic.twitter.com/Ig3oKcXhvt
— Beyonce’s neo (@JB_Dior) December 12, 2017