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Deandre Hopkins’ Anti-Vaccine Comments and the Problem with Living in Fear

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Deandre Hopkins

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Are you living a fear-based reality?

Star NFL wide receiver Deandre Hopkins is not down with the COVID-19 vaccine, and has gone so far as to question his NFL future in light of his unwillingness to take it. While whether to take the vaccine is a matter of personal choice, your issues with it may reveal the fact that you live a fear-based reality. Living in a constant state of fear is problematic for anyone with goals and ambitions, and if you continue to do so, you’ll never be great.

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How Race IS A FACTOR in the NBA Fan and Player Interactions

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Photo: Elise Amendola, AP

Are fans who show disrespect toward NBA players motivated by race?

During the first round of the 2021 NBA playoffs, several negative interactions between fans and players took place involving spit, alleged racial language, water bottles and popcorn. Because the optics are white fans and black players, the conversation immediately jumped to whether race has anything to do with the incidences. While race does play a role in these situations, the question as to whether the fans are racially motivated in their behavior is a different issue entirely. Race does have something to do with this, and it involves an understanding of the current – and historically ongoing – economic climate of America.

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Kyrie Irving is Making a Mistake By Not Talking Basketball to the Media

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Photo: Michael Conroy, Associated Press

When keeping it smart goes wrong.

During a Brooklyn Nets postgame press conference, NBA star Kyrie Irving declared to the media that he would no longer be answering questions about basketball – something he is contractually obligated to do – because basketball isn’t the most important thing to him and he only wants to talk about societal issues that he is impassioned about. This is a mistake. Kyrie is painting himself as a social elitist who is smarter than everyone else, all the while undermining awareness of his causes and alienating potential allies. People should not replicate this strategy. This is what happens when keeping it smart goes wrong.

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YFN Lucci’s Legal Troubles Represent a Larger Cultural Problem with Our Actions, Decisions, and Role Models

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Photo: Getty Images

YFN Lucci’s recent run-in with the law serves as a lens through which we can view our continued commitment to bad decisions and the need for us to become more culturally multi-faceted, and not be so tethered to hip-hop imagery and tropes.

Hip-hop star YFN Lucci is now in legal trouble after being arrested for his alleged participation in a shooting in Atlanta that left one man dead. The question isn’t whether he is innocent or not, but why he willfully made the decision to involve himself in this type of situation. This represents a greater societal issue with people of color making similar decisions and clinging to certain aspects of what we perceive to be our culture; decisions that lead to incarceration, and in more serious cases, death. We discuss that aspect of our culture, as well as our thoughts on how to incorporate more balance into our culture so that more of us can lead productive lives, make better decisions AND embrace who we are through cultural pride.

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What the Washington D.C. Capitol Insurrection TEACHES Us About Practical Solutions

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Photo: Shannon Stapleton, Reuters

Although high emotions are understandable, let’s not allow what happened at the Capitol to stop us from continuing to discuss PRACTICAL solutions to social and racial inequality.

The January 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol building in Washington D.C. spurred a racial conversation as to the difference in the way that people of color would be treated versus the way that the insurrectionists were treated. For us, this served as a reminder that there are practical ways to approach the conversation around combatting racial inequality, and there are impractical ways to do so. We want to talk about those practical ways.

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Domonique Foxworth’s Josh Allen Comments EXPOSE a Problem with the Mainstream Media

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Photo: ESPN Images

The mainstream media, including ESPN, is in the socio-political game. This is just fine, as long as all REASONABLE sides are afforded the same platform.

ESPN Commentator Domonique Foxworth’s comments about NFL QB Josh Allen’s fanbase are representative of the one-sided climate of social discourse in today’s mainstream media, as well as among the people. The only way things are going to become more cooperative is if ALL reasonable viewpoints, not just those of the social justice variety, are afforded platforms to be heard. BE REASONABLE PEOPLE!

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Dave Chappelle Urges Fans to Not Watch “Chappelle’s Show”. Ownership Matters!

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Photo: Mathieu Bitton, Netflix

Dave Chappelle is another cautionary tale on the importance of knowing your worth and having an ownership mentality.

During a recent stand-up set, comedian Dave Chappelle took some time to plead with his fans to not watch reruns of his early-2000s sketch-comedy show “Chappelle’s Show” because he does not own a piece of it, and thus is not paid royalties for the work that he created. This prompted us to continue our ongoing conversation about the importance of ownership, and how it is the key to freedom in life. This is also the first episode in which we have a guest contributor to the platform – local artist and friend of the channel Titaness Writes! Follow “Tite” on the channels below for everything she has going on musically and otherwise!

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What to Learn from Kanye West’s Comments on the Music Industry and Modern-Day Slavery

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Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris 2016

Why are Kanye’s comments about modern-day slavery and the need for ownership so important?

Kanye West took to Twitter to tweet out several comments on the importance of ownership. He also likened the music industry to modern-day slavery. We discuss his comments, as well as how important it is that black and brown people prioritize the notion of ownership to attain true freedom.

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Nick Cannon and Why Cancel Culture Has to Go

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Photo: Bryan Bedder, Getty Images for MTV

Why can’t we be mindful of one’s body of work and use mistakes as a teachable moment, rather than resorting to ‘Cancel Culture’?

We discuss the fallout from Nick Cannon’s antisemitic remarks during his podcast and his subsequent firing by CBS/Viacom. We also get into the value of teachable moments, why “cancel culture” is a problem that needs to go away, and why we should be reasonable enough to consider a person’s body of work before becoming cyber bullies who want to cancel someone who has done positive things throughout their career.

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Kyrie Irving Does Not Want to Resume NBA Play to Keep Focus on Black Lives Matter – Our Thoughts

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Photo: Mike Strobe, Getty Images

Is opting not to play the most practical way for NBA players to help keep the focus on Black Lives Matter?

Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving recently expressed not supporting the NBA resuming play via a “bubble” setup at Disney World because he fears it will distract from Black Lives Matter. We discuss whether there is merit to this concern, or whether it actually makes more sense to play in order to keep the focus where he believes it should be.

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