Daily Dose
Daily Dose: 5/2/17
Adam Jones says he was taunted by fans using the N-word at Fenway Park
12:31 PMIf you didn’t listen to Bronzeville, the podcast, you should. But if you’ve already knocked it out, check out this bonus interview with Tamron Hall, Laurence Fishburne and Larenz Tate. It’s a fun convo about a great show.
Hey, guess what? Police officers change accounts all the time to make themselves look better. You know what doesn’t happen a lot? The authorities actually admitting to it. Of course, in the case of Jordan Edwards, a 15-year-old in suburban Dallas, that won’t bring his life back. In one of the scarier cases of brutality we’ve seen in a while, a high school kid was shot in the head by cops while a passenger in a car at a party. Turns out the kids were driving away from them, not barreling toward them with a vehicle, as initially stated.
Want to hear something terrifying? Last month at President Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago resort, he was dropping bombs on Syria while hosting Chinese president Xi Jinping. Even beyond that, the people who were there are telling stories about the night as if the situation was supposed to be funny. Such is the case with Commerce secretary Wilbur Ross, who, while speaking at the Milken Institute Global Conference on Monday, made a rather offhanded comment, calling the airstrikes “after-dinner entertainment.”
If you work in the news business, there are quite a few things that can get you fired. No.1 is making up stories. Nobody wants that, it’s unethical and it ruins the public trust. Yet, without getting too far down the list of fireable offenses for journos, let’s talk about the most basic one: Don’t use the N-word if you’re not black. Particularly if you’re in a public forum. But Atlanta reporter and CNN veteran Valerie Hoff decided that she was exempt from said guideline and slid into someone’s direct messages on Twitter for a story, only to end up resigning.
Hey, Boston, let’s talk. You know what doesn’t help the city’s reputation as a place where black people feel uncomfortable? Yelling racial slurs at opposing players from the crowd of a Major League Baseball game. You know what else doesn’t help: immediate defensive claims of “that’s not what we’re about,” as if a) that matters and b) it changes anything. On Monday night, Baltimore Orioles center fielder Adam Jones said he encountered racist taunts from the Fenway Park crowd. Puts a little more context around this GIF.
Gold Glove performances all around tonight!
FINAL: #Orioles 5, Red Sox 2. #Birdland pic.twitter.com/Z2lCGu5aJS
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) May 2, 2017
Free Food
Coffee Break: Eminem doesn’t play around when it comes to using his brand. So if you’re planning on inserting any of his music into your little advertising campaign, you’d better be prepared to fight him in court. You’d also better be prepared to have a group full of people listen to “Lose Yourself” in a courtroom. On camera. In silence.
Snack Time: Late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel is nothing if not honest. If you haven’t seen it, watch his heartfelt story about the birth of his son and how that related to this country’s health care system.
Dessert: There are apparently plenty of black folks who DON’T want Confederate monuments removed. Oookay.
Daily Dose
Daily Dose: 5/1/17
Hasan Minhaj wins the weekend at White House correspondents’ dinner
2:23 PMIt was extremely busy last week and over the weekend. I filled in for Bomani Jones on The Right Time on ESPN Radio. Then on Sunday we did The Morning Roast, which was fun. Then this tweet destroyed my mentions.
The president is back at it. Monday, he released audio of an interview in which he exposed himself as being completely unaware of American history, which is shocking to exactly zero people. What continues to be surprising is how brazenly he just states things that are completely incorrect and seems to think that just saying them will make it so. Not the case. Andrew Jackson wasn’t alive for the Civil War. That’s a fact. Also, it’s extremely not OK to call Sen. Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas,” for multiple reasons.
Pres. Trump insinuates that he might be running against Sen. Warren for the presidency in 2020: "It may be Pocahontas, remember that." pic.twitter.com/tlVPhxj9As
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) April 28, 2017
Speaking of the president, he skipped the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Again, that came as no surprise. The annual event that turns D.C. into a raging zoo of celebrity and politics still went on, however, and it was probably better that he wasn’t present, as basically every single person who took the stage was there to let him know exactly how little they think of him. But comedian Hasan Minhaj was clearly the star of the show, stinging the media crowd with a scathing plea to do better while dropping some of the smartest jokes that event’s seen in years.
If you haven’t heard about the Fyre Festival, lucky you. Basically, Ja Rule and a guy whom many people consider to be a scam artist put together a week full of programming that was supposed to blow the festival circuit away in terms of scale, luxury and exclusiveness. All this came at price tags that got up into the tens of thousands of dollars. Seriously. Then, it completely fell apart. Literally. And people were stuck in the Bahamas with no food and no shelter. Total debacle. Now they’re getting sued for $100M, accused of fraud. Life comes at you fast.
The Big3 appears to officially be here. I have to admit, when this idea first came up, I didn’t exactly think it would last. Sure, Ice Cube was involved, but I figured he might lose interest or some other snag would come up that didn’t get it off the ground. I was WAY wrong about that. Over the weekend they league held its draft, which is pretty cool. It’s a 3-on-3 hoops league with former NBA stars, so I don’t know how much good basketball we’ll get, but it’ll certainly have star power. The top pick was Rashad McCants, which is … interesting.
Free Food
Coffee Break: If you don’t know who Francesca Ramsey is, you will soon. The comedian and Comedy Central star is soon getting her own late night show, which is very special in America, as she’s a black woman. But with that opportunity comes a lot of pressure, never mind responsibility, to a certain extent. It won’t be easy, but we’re glad she’s there.
Snack Time: If you’re wondering, Rep. Maxine Waters is still about that action when it comes to talking about the commander in chief. She laid it out again over the weekend, calling him disgusting and disrespectful.
Dessert: This will make you laugh. Guaranteed.
Daily Dose
Daily Dose: 4/28/17
LaVar Ball overplays his hand
11:42 AMWe all know how much President Donald Trump loves Twitter. It’s basically his main mode of expression, which is a tad concerning for the man leading the free world, but it is what it is at this point. The funny thing is that if you go back and read his history, there’s basically a tweet outlining a stance that is completely contradictory to what he’s doing now that he’s in office. It’s genuinely quite remarkable. That said, we’re nearing the 100-day mark, so let’s take a look back at that time in his social media feed.
The franchise of Dear White People holds an important space in the cultural landscape. The film, released in 2014, was an eye-opening look at what black college life can be like at predominantly white colleges, which is basically all of them that aren’t historically black universities. The film clearly made waves in the mainstream, mainly because of the title, which automatically put a lot of people off. They’re back with a new series for Netflix, which is a fantastic evolution for this story. We need this show.
DWP Season is officially here. #DearWhitePeople
Counting down to 4/28. pic.twitter.com/3DNwp5iiKO
— James Jolly (jo lee) (@jamesjolly) April 24, 2017
If you’re wondering, Michelle Obama will not be running for office. It’s been a strange pipe dream for quite a few of her fans who seem to think, understandably, that she would make an excellent public official. But one would think family time would be a priority after eight years in the White House. Getting involved in an election is a time commitment that takes over your life — never mind doing the actual job. Can’t imagine she’s looking to uproot all that anytime soon. But she was more definitive than Chelsea Clinton is about it, recently.
LaVar Ball is finally dealing with the big boys. For all of the entertainment he’s provided from a media and meme standpoint, his antics are not looked upon well by major corporations. Which, ultimately, was everyone’s concern to begin with: that he might actually be hurting his children’s ability to earn money at this point. Well, that’s exactly what’s happened. Nike, Under Armour and Adidas have all said that they don’t want to sign Lonzo Ball, who could potentially be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. Mega wow.
Free Food
Coffee Break: The 25th anniversary of the L.A. riots is this week, which is kind of wild to think about. It feels like far longer ago. But from a media standpoint, that moment in history was made all the more intense by the fact that we had so much footage of everything. It was early in the 24-hour-news lifetime, and video really shaped a lot.
Snack Time: We use Slack at our office. Most people do. It’s a fun little chat system that, when utilized well, really can improve productivity. Why a dating service needs to be integrated with it, we have no idea.
Dessert: New Gorillaz. Get on it.
Daily Dose
Daily Dose: 4/27/17
Gift Ngoepe breaks new ground in MLB
12:45 PMAll right, kiddos, the NFL draft is Thursday night, and if you’re looking for something to do in the hours leading up to it, The Morning Roast crew has you covered from 4-7 p.m. EST, filling in for Bomani Jones. For Friday tho? I have a surprise.
If you say you’re going to do something and you don’t, there’s an easy out. It’s called apologizing, and if you’re an earnest person, it’s really not impossible to do. Whether you mean it is a different discussion, but for the purposes of other people’s feelings, saying, “I’m sorry” can be a valuable resource for maintaining relationships. But that’s not how President Donald Trump rolls, alas. So when he said he was going to blow up NAFTA, well, Mexico and Canada were like, nah. Now, he just says his plan is delayed. Easier option: My bad.
Remember that situation with SheaMoisture from earlier this week? Controversies like that crop up because people don’t have a clear understanding of just how weaponized black hair is. So when a company that has been largely supported by black folks suddenly seems to turn on its base, people feel betrayed. Why? Because of things like what happened in Texas this week, where a kid was nearly suspended from school for having two freaking lines in his hair. You can’t fix fly, pleighboi.
Rick Ross is one of my favorite rappers of all time. Not because I’m superfond of his lyricism, though I do enjoy that, but because as a dude, he just strikes me as the kind of person whom I would want to be around, for various reasons. Now he’s on his health kick, and he’s letting the world know that seizures are not the move, if you can avoid them. He’s also got a new album out, but he made an appearance on Desus & Mero, and it might be the best interview they’ve ever done.
You all know how much I love baseball. You also know how much I enjoy the game being exposed to various new cultures so more people can play and enjoy the sport as I do. That said, Wednesday night in Pittsburgh was an incredible moment. For a quick backdrop, the Pirates earlier this week pitched Dovydas Neverauskas, the first Lithuanian-born player in the bigs. Then, on Wednesday night, Gift Ngoepe came into the game to play second base — and got a base hit in his first at-bat. He’s the first African player in the MLB, so, yeah, cue all the tears.
Free Food
Coffee Break: Wednesday was a brutal day to be an ESPN employee. Many colleagues and friends lost their positions because of layoffs, and at the end of the day, nobody wants to see that. So salute to everyone who helped make this company a better place.
Snack Time: Today is Take Your Child To Work Day. We see all your fun pictures and goofy updates, but look, there is only one of these that matters. It is this one. You know this.
#takeyourchildtoworkday pic.twitter.com/o9a6VRS9bz
— Meredith Frost (@MeredithFrost) April 27, 2017
Dessert: I’m just going to go ahead and blindly be happy about this photo.