Must respect to GQ Magazine for choosin’ Colin Kaepernick as their Citizen of the Year in their upcomin’ December issue. As they explain in the piece they wanted to “reclaim the narrative of his protest.” Y’all know the drill bruh. Ole boy decided to sit down and then he eventually took a knee to protest police brutality, racial and social injustice. However, duns have completely changed the narrative to “he’s disrespectin’ the flag and the military.”
That was easily done because most people don’t think for themselves and they don’t have a clue as to what the flag or the military actually represent. Ask 10 people what the First Amendment says and they couldn’t tell you if their lives depended upon it. Ask 10 people what makes America such a great place to live and they couldn’t tell you. It’s the freedoms that are supposed to be granted to ALL Americans that’s “supposed” to make it great. Unfortunately, it hasn’t lived up to it’s creed for all Americans, especially it’s citizens of color.
Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! Big shout to GQ for realizin’ that what Kaepernick started was historic in the sense of creatin’ yet another movement to push this country forward again. When the NAACP decided to get Rosa Parks, a secretary at the local branch, to refuse to give up her seat on the bus. It started the Montgomery Bus Boycott that lasted for more than a year from December 5, 1955 to December 20, 1956.
When David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr. and Joseph McNeil decided to sit down at the Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C. on February 1, 1960 to protest segregation it started a movement that eventually tore down the walls of segregation in this country.
When 700 of the 1300 black sanitation workers in Memphis decided to strike in protest of poor and dangerous workin’ conditions that led to the deaths of Echole Cole and Robert Walker in garbage compactors. It shed an international light on racism and discrimination in this country because it was the reason that Martin Luther King Jr. was in town the day he was killed.
I could name hundreds of people that sat down, stood up or stood out against the norm to make this country better for black folks but you get my point. Just as there were those that took a stance against injustice there were just as many people fightin’ against the change that was destined to take place.
Let me put it where the goats can get it. When Abraham Lincoln told boyz that he had to free the slaves in the south to keep the union from splittin’ up there were people just as defiant on keepin’ slaves in bondage. When Brown verses the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas ruled that it was unlawful to keep schools segregated there were people standin’ in the doorway to progress tryin’ to literally keep kids from enrollin’ in schools all over this country.
It wasn’t until 1965 that the the Voters Rights Act was signed that prohibited racial discrimination in votin’ and believe it or not there were folks outraged at the fact that ALL people could freely vote. When the Civil Rights Act was signed in 1964 that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin duns were mad about that. OUTRAGED!!!
Just like boyz are mad about people takin’ a knee today to push this country forward yet again. What kills me are the excuses people give for bein’ outraged though. “They’re ruinin’ my Sunday! I just want to watch the game!”
Ruinin’ your Sunday? Why don’t you ask that momma, wife or fatherless child how their day was ruined when they received the phone call that their loved one was shot and killed by a police officer while on a routine traffic stop and they had no gun or weapon? How about the phone call that the family of Eric Garner got when he was choked to death by NYC police for sellin’ loose cigarettes in front of a convenience store in broad daylight. Ask Treyvon Martin’s family how their Sunday was ruined when their son was killed for walkin’ down the street with his hoodie on mindin’ his own business.
Ask Tamir Rice’s family how it felt to hear that their 12 year old child was shot to death by Cleveland police while he was playin’ with a toy gun in the park by himself. They didn’t ask him to drop what looked like a real weapon bruh. They simply drove up and shot him to death without hesitation. Ask all of these families how their days were ruined while you’re complainin’ that someone’s ruinin’ your Sunday because they took a knee durin’ the national anthem to protest the ill treatment of black folks in this country?
Stop makin’ excuses for not carin’ about the plight of other people. It’s no different than the knuckleheads in the 1860’s or 1960’s fightin’ against progress because they would love nothin’ more than to keep things comfortable for them ONLY.
I’m just glad to see publications like GQ Magazine that fully understand that progress is both inevitable and mandatory so either you can get on the train or get run over by it. Salute!!! Stop me when I start lyin’!
Playas Thesaurus:
1) Dun: noun – the person in question, dude, guy, etc. It’s whoever I’m talkin’ about and its non-gender specific.
2) Put it where the goats can get it: verb phrase – to make it as elementary as possible. To put it at ground level so everyone can understand it.
The G is excluded from the endings of all words because the G is near and dear to my heart because I’m from “The G” which is Gary, Indiana. So I only use the G when I’m talkin’ about “The G!”
The caption under the photo isn’t real but its real talk!