J-Speaks: The NBA, Congress,' And Co-Host of "The View's" Stand Against the U.S. Capitol Breach And Police Brutality

 

This week saw the good and the ugly of the United States of America. It saw another police officer not be punished for shooting another unarmed African American. It saw the election of two Democratic U.S. Senators from the state of Georgia putting the Democratic Party as the lead in all three branches of the U.S. government. But then it saw the most egregious, disrespectful, and dishonorable act since 1812. The National Basketball Association (NBA), and those in the media world that know our country is better than what we all saw took place on Wednesday afternoon into the night stood up in unison and spoke there peace in the hopes for a better nation and world ahead in under 14 days from now.

When the NBA restarted the 2019-20 season in at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, FL back in July, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and the league allowed “Black Lives Matter” to be painted onto the courts. They approved social justice messages on the backs of each players’ jerseys. The league allowed its coaches and players to take a knee during the playing of the national anthem.

When the Women’s National Basketball Association held its season at IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL this past season, they were also allowed to have on the court they played on “Black Lives Matter” as well as have on the back of their jerseys the name of the woman who sparked them to speak out against social injustice against minorities, especially female minorities.

Throughout last season, the name they had on the back of their jerseys was a 26-year-old EMT of Louisville, KY Breonna Taylor, whose was fatally shot in her apartment on Mar. 13, 2020 by Louisville Metro Police officers who forced their way into her apartment as part of an investigation into a drug deal operation.

While both league’s collective activism as well as their play on the hardwood got the attention of the nation as well as the world, their efforts got severely tested in late August after another unarmed African American in 29-year-old Kenosha, WI native Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back on Aug. 23, 2020 by police officer Rusten Sheskey, in front of three of Mr. Blakes children that left him paralyzed from the waist down. It was all captured on video.”

An incident that occurred exactly 90 days after Minneapolis, MN police officer Derek Chauvin killed 47-year-old George Floyd, born in Houston, TX by putting his knee on his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds back in May 2020 that killed him.

In an effort to really get the attention of the nation that behavior of this nature by those in law enforcement would no longer stand, the NBA beginning with the Milwaukee Bucks decided not to play Game 5 of their First-Round series against the Orlando Magic on Aug. 26, 2020. The league in total postponed three days of the 2020 NBA Playoffs after the Bucks refused to take the floor three nights after that shooting.

The Bucks organization released a statement of what took place in their state that said, “The Bucks organization is praying for the recovery of Jacob Blake, who was shot multiple times in the back by a police officer at point blank range in Kenosha, Wisconsin yesterday. Our hearts go out to his family and friends.”

“We stand firmly against reoccurring issues of excessive use of force and immediate escalation when engaging the black community.”

“Our organization will continue to stand for all black lives as we demand accountability and systemic change on behalf of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Sylville Smith, Ernest Lacy, Dontre Hamilton, Tony Robinson, Joel Acevedo, and countless other victims. We will work to enact policy change so these incidents no longer exist.”

Major League Baseball (MLB) postponing 14 of their games. The WNBA took things a step further by shutting down their regular-season schedule for close to a full week.

The only images of the WNBA players taking the hardwood during that time was when 17 of the players in white shirts stood shoulder to shoulder with the letters of Jacob Blake’s name flanked on both side of the number seven representing the number of times Mr. Blake was shot. There was another image of those players joined by their peers holding hands wearing “Black Lives Matter” shirts and shirts that had on the back seven bullet holes displaying how Mr. Blake nearly lost his life.

That stoppage of play and planning between the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association led to teams opening up their stadiums/arenas to be used as polling places for early voting and General Election Day voting back on Nov. 3, 2020. That resulted in the country voting President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence out of the White House and kept the House of Representative barely in Democratic hands. However, those in law enforcement being held accountable for the mistreatment of minorities, like what happened to Mr. Blake has yet to happen.

On Tuesday however, the Kenosha (WI) County District Attorney Michael Graveley announced that no charges were coming against the officer that shot Mr. Blake in the back seven times.

This news elicited a wide range of emotions from the sports world on Tuesday evening.

Four-time NBA champion and four-time Kia MVP of the Los Angeles Lakers LeBron James said in his virtual postgame presser following his team’s 94-92 win at the Memphis Grizzlies that the Mr. Blake not getting any justice “sucks.”

“It’s a blow to our community once again. And we’ve been here. We’ve been here before. We feel sorry for this family and for that community itself and we just want better,” James added. “We want better, and hopefully we can get that.”

James’ teammate and former Bucks player Wesley Matthews, who grew up in Wisconsin and went to college and Marquette University said of the decision is “upsetting” not just as a native of Wisconsin but also as a human being that “justice isn’t justice.”

“But it can’t knock us off the path that we’re trying to get to, which is equality, and simply right and wrong. Just humanity,” Matthews added. “That’s all it is.”

Utah Jazz All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell said of the ruling after the team’s 111-96 loss at the Brooklyn Nets of how it is “sad” and “upsetting” of the continued brutality by certain law enforcement against minorities with no justice to follow has become “a thing.” How it doesn’t matter if you are the most famous African American person in the world or just a citizen.

That led the Bucks to make another statement that said on their Twitter page @Bucks/Twitter on Jan. 5, “The Bucks organization remains firmly against excessive use of force by law enforcement. This past year shed a light on the ongoing racial injustices facing our African American and other marginalized communities. Reoccurring instances of excessive use of force and immediate escalation when engaging the Black community must stop. We will continue to work to enact policy change so these incidents no longer exist. As an organization, we remain strongly committed to address issues of social injustice and anti-racism and to make meaningful change for African Americans and all marginalized members of our community.”

Prior to their game against the University of Connecticut Huskies, the University of Marquette Golden Eagles men’s basketball team dawned “Black Lives Matter” shirts in support of Mr. Blake as well as not stand for the playing of the national anthem. They instead kneeled in protest.

In a statement, the Golden Eagles said of the decision to not prosecute the officers that shot Mr. Blake, “This is another reminder that just because racial and social injustice haven’t received as much attention recently doesn’t mean the need to fight against it has gone away.”

The Wednesday night NBA contest between the Detroit Pistons and the Milwaukee Bucks, both teams took a knee after tip-off on each team’s first possession of the game for seven seconds, which signified the seven times Mr. Blake was shot by Kenosha Police from point blank range, and as mentioned in front of three of his children.

A big step towards that meaningful change came about on Tuesday when in the special run-off election in the state of Georgia, where control of the United States Senate was at stake, was won by the Democrats as Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff overtook incumbent U.S. Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler to give control to the U.S. Senate to the Democrats.

While the U.S. Senate has an equal number of Senators of 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans, because former Vice President Joe Biden (D-DE) was elected as our 46^th President officially on Nov. 7, 2020, the Democrats control the Senate thanks to Vice President and now former U.S. Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) represents the tie breaking vote.

While former candidate for Governor of Georgia Stacey Abrams and Latasha Brown of “Black Voters Matter” played a major role in Rev. Warnock winning for the Democrats now having control of the U.S. Senate, the WNBA’s players support for now Senator Warnock after former Senator Loeffler, beginning back in the summer also played a part in him defeating now former Senator Loeffler, who is also the co-owner of the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream.

They decided though that Loeffler was not someone who represents the best of who they are in denouncing the “Black Lives Matter,” especially after what she said about the movement to FOX News back in July 2020.   

“The WNBA has embraced the ‘Black Lives Matter” political organization,” Loeffler said. “This is a very divisive organization based on marquise principles that seeks to destroy American principles, and I had to draw the line.”

From that point on, many WNBA players, including those that played for the dream wore warmup shirts that backed Loeffler’s opponent in Senator Warnock, which raised his profile to the point that he gained not only recognition in the state of Georgia but the entire country.

That push rose him from being an after thought in his race against Loeffler to where he became not only the first African American to win a race to represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate but only the 11^th African American to be elected to the U.S. Senate.

To put how the WNBA players rose Rev. Warnock’s platform that ultimately led to his victory, he was polling at nine percent in Aug. 2020 before the Dream and the WNBA decided to throw their support behind Warnock, which led to the rise in his platform on a national level.

What made this achievement by the WNBA is a majority of the players, even with the new Collective Bargaining Agreement that was achieved in the late spring of 2020, they do not have multi-million contracts.

That said, the WNBA players felt that Loeffler’s false statement about the “BLM” was so false that she needed to be removed from federal office.

The WNBA now though has a major problem on their hands, and it is not “Black Lives Matter.” It is Loeffler, who has clearly shown that she is against the principles of what WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert’s league has always been about. Opportunity, diversity, and now for “BLM.”

James did offer a solution, which may not be immediate but something to look forward to down the road saying on his Twitter page in the middle of this week @KingJames,” Think I’m gone put together an ownership group for The Dream. Whose In?” #BlackVotesMatter.

More than anything, the players of the WNBA, especially of the Dream do not like her or want her a part of the league anymore. That was made clear in how the citizens of Georgia voted on Tuesday that they did not want Loeffler to be a part of the lawmaking process that needs major repairs and adjustments.

The jubilation of that major victory by Ossoff and Rev. Warnock was short lived because on Wednesday afternoon, the day that the Electoral College results were supposed to be certified by Congress, supporters of President Trump gathered in Washington for a “Save America” march not far from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. to protest President Trump’s defeat in the November 2020 election for U.S. President, just 14 days before the President-Elect Joe Biden swearing in.

The crowd was first meet by Trump’s children in Eric, Donald, Jr. and Ivanka, who drummed up the crowd with the same divisive rhetoric that Mr. Trump used during his run to the White House and after he was elected four years ago.

“This is Donald Trump’s Republican Party,” Donald, Jr. said to his father’s supporters.

Eric Trump’s wife of six years Laura followed by saying, “We are in this fight to the bitter end. We are going to take our country back.”

An hour later, Mr. Trump took the stage and continued to rile up the crowd full of anger and decent about an election, which he lost by seven million votes, that Mr. Trump says was rigged and needed to be overturned, despite not having any real proof. 

“We will never give up. We will never concede. It doesn’t happen,” Mr. Trump said. “You don’t concede when there’s theft involved.” 

“We’re going to walk down, anyone you want. But I think right here. We’re going to walk down to the Capitol. You’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.

By 1 p.m., the much-anticipated joint session of Congress began. When the state of Arizona, Republican representative from that state Paul Gosar stood up to object. That objection led to the separation of the House and Senate for deliberation.

A half our later, then Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) bluntly confronted his Senate Republican colleagues about their objections to the election results.

“The voters, the courts, and the states have all spoken,” Mr. McConnell said. “If we overrule them, it would damage our Republic forever.”

As the debate continued inside the Capitol Building, Mr. Trumps supporters arrived.

At close to 2 p.m., they breached the U.S. Capitol by climbing the walls and going through windows that they broke through. They bull rushed through the front barricades of the Capitol that were occupied by Capitol Hill police. They then bull rushed the front doors of the Capitol building, where they went through the rotunda of the Capitol Building carrying Trump 2020 Flags as well as Confederate Flags.

Senators and Congress people on both sides were forced to either seek shelter in their offices or closets. Some hid in the chambers ducking under chairs while they were being protected by the building’s security that barricaded the entrance while drawing their guns.

One person even broke into the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and sat in her chair. Another person even made of with her podium, while someone else got into the Senate chamber and sat in the main chair saying that President Trump won the General Election. 

This heartbreaking moment in the history of the United States came as a result of Vice President Pence calling President Trump would not aide the overturning of the Electoral College results of Joe Biden winning the November 2020 election for President of the United States.

In the early part of Tuesday morning, President Trump said on his now permanently deleted Twitter page @realDonaldTrump, “If Vice President @Mike_Pence comes through for us, we will win the Presidency. Many States want to decertify the mistake they made in certifying incorrect & even fraudulent numbers in a process NOT approved by their State Legislatures (which it must be). Mike can send it back!”

President Trump continued by saying later that morning on Twitter, “States went to correct their votes, which they now know were based on irregularities and fraud, plus corrupt process never received legislative approval. All Mike Pence has to do is send them back to the States, AND WE WIN. Do it Mike, this is the time for extreme courage!”

Instead, Vice President Pence, who was evacuated by the Secret Service when all hell was breaking lose decided to respect his oath and the rule of law by helping to certify the results of the 2020 Presidential Election, which took place later that evening once it was safe for the Senators and Congress people to return to their respective chambers.

“It is my considered judgment that my oath to support and defend the Constitution constrains me from claiming unilateral authority to determine which electoral votes should be counted and which should not,” Vice President Pence said in a statement later on Tuesday.

That led to Trump saying on his Twitter account later that afternoon before he set his followers lose on the Capitol saying, “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!”

The truth of the matter is that it took nearly two hours before the National Guard was called in to restore order. The Capitol Police were very laid back in halting those individuals that stepped foot into the house of the American people and made themselves at home. Some members of law enforcement were seen taking cell phone pictures with the law breakers. Other members of law enforcement welcomed them into the Capitol.

Compared to the “Black Lives Matter” movement where back in the summer 2020 National Guard troops and law enforcement were out in full force.

It was a terrible day in the history of our nation that is at the feet of President Trump and those that enabled his behavior like Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX); Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA); Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA); Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), who rose his fist in support of Trump mob; former New York City Mayor and President Trump’s personal attorney Rudi Guiliani (R) that started a fight that seemingly has turned into a civil war just for their own self-interest.

The images, video footage from social, local, and national news media of the breaching of the U.S. Capitol elicited strong reaction from the NBA community, that also brought into question about the visible double standard that exist between law enforcement deals with Caucasian Americans and those of color.

The ESPN tilt between the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat was nearly cancelled after what took place in D.C. earlier Wednesday.

Celtics head coach Brad Stevens said postgame after his team’s 107-105 win that his squad scrapped warmups and talked in the locker room.

Coach Stevens said after he and the assistant coaches left the locker room while the players still talked that he called his wife and said that she did not feel they were going to play that night. Ten minutes later after the players meet on their own, the game was played. Before they played though, the Celtics and Heat took kneeled during the national anthem, while locking arms.  

Before the tilt between the Toronto Raptors and the Phoenix Suns, they formed a circle and center court and locked arms during the playing of the national anthem.

The back end of the ESPN’s double header between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Golden State Warriors, both teams also took a knee during the playing of the national anthem. Several of the players wore T-Shirts that said, “Black Lives Matter.”

While Clippers perennial All-Star Paul George was all for the league postponing play for the night because of what happened in D.C., his teammate Marcus Morris, Sr. said in his virtual postgame presser that they made the decision as a team to “take a knee,” which he thought personally was “not enough.”

During the virtual postgame pressers, NBA players and coaches got really specific about their feelings of there being no justice for Mr. Blake, but also what the U.S. Capitol breach by Trump protestors, where four people lost their lives. One was killed after being shot by police and three others in medical emergencies.

Philadelphia 76ers head coach Glenn “Doc” Rivers called those images “pretty disturbing,” and “sad.”

“Could you imagine today if those were all black people storming the Capitol and what would have happened? So that, to me, is a picture that’s worth a thousand words for all of us to see, and probably something for us to reckon with,” Rivers added. “Again, you know, no police dogs turned on people, no billy clubs hitting people; people being escorted out of the Capitol.”

Warriors All-Star forward Draymond Green said that Wednesday showed the whole country the policing system was built against black and brown people, and that is the reason why the reactions of minorities are different, as opposed to Caucasian Americans being allowed to trample through a sacred place like the U.S. Capitol and not be meet with any real resistance. How someone can put their feat up on as mentioned House Speaker Pelosi’s desk and not face any real consequences.

Green’s head coach Steve Kerr said that Wednesday showed a “blatant contrast” in the way people are treated in this country based on the color of their skin. That thousands Caucasian Americans can storm the Capitol, who Coach Kerr called “traitors” and not face any resistance from some serious obstruction by the police. But someone like Florida native in 17-year-old Trayvon Martin or 12-year-old Illinois native Tamir Rice lose their lives in the case of Rice because they carried a toy gun or from a so-called neighborhood watchman who thought he was carrying a weapon in his pocket, but instead was a bag of candy and some juice.     

“This has been the same America that it’s been. It’s no different,” Green added. “Ironically, the news that’s come out of Kenosha [WI] and these places, you know, within the same 24-hour span as that happens, and you kind of see that it’s just like a slap in the face and a [expletive] to every Black person in America who goes through these things.”

“It’s almost like, they [Caucasian] America want to show you that they have power. And, you know, want to show you that I can say [expletive] you and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“And so, I mean, that’s just what this country is, and what this country has been. And like I said before, that’s where this country probably will stay.” 

Warriors swingman, Canadian native, and 2015 Kia Rookie of the Year Andrew Wiggins said that minorities get the worst end of the stick when they peacefully protest, and he hopes what happened in D.C. “wakes up the world” to be better from how we treat each other to how we vote to who represents us from the local, state, and federal level.

Sacramento Kings’ rookie guard Tyrese Haliburton called what took place on Wednesday as a non-funny “joke.” 

“For these human beings to come out and act like their being discriminated against because they lost a fair election or they have to wear mask is a complete joke,” Haliburton added. “To be honest, I’m 20 years old, I feel like this is as American as it gets. I think today of my lifetime was probably the biggest flex of white power and white privilege that there is.”

Heat five-time All-Star forward Jimmy Butler said postgame that Wednesday displayed the two U.S.A.’s that we live when, which he too called “sad.”

“We know what it is. You can’t fool us,” he added. “You’re not fooling nobody else. But like I said, it’s just sad, man. And everybody sees it. Everybody knows it now. You can’t say you don’t understand it.”  

Celtics forward Jaylen Brown echoed those same feelings saying how Dr. Martin Luther King once said that there are two split different Americas where in one you get killed by sleeping in your car or selling cigarettes referencing to how Atlanta, GA native Rayshard Brooks and Staten Island, NY native Eric Garner had their lives taken by law enforcement on June 12, 2020 and on July 17, 2014. In the other America, you can storm the U.S. Capitol without having tear gas thrown at you or have massive arrest take place.

“So, I think it’s obvious, it’s 2021. I don’t think anything’s changed. We still want to acknowledge that,” Brown said. “We still want to push for the change that we’re looking for. But as of yet, we have not seen it.”

Brown’s teammate in All-Star Jayson Tatum backed up his words by saying he is not “surprised” of what has been seen on television, and that what has been seen is the “world we live in.”

“I just feel like the same energy should be kept as, you know, we see our people, you know, peacefully protesting for things that we see—our people getting murdered on TV and live, and videos. And they’re [Trump supporters] protesting the Capitol or rioting the Capitol for losing an election.”

“It’s two different things, and I want the same energy on TV, you know, to be if they’re thugs and criminals, the same term they use, you know, when they see our people protesting for losing their lives.”  

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff tweeted @jbbickerstaff_ after his team’s 105-94 loss at the Memphis Grizzlies about Wednesday’s awful events, “Today was a deeply saddening day. My 8-year-old lil girl told my wife she was scared to do to sleep because of fear that those bad people in DC would come to Cleveland. No matter your politics that ain’t America. That is treason!”

Suns perennial All-Star guard and President of the National Basketball Players Association Chris Paul said that seeing no justice for Mr. Blake and what took place on Capitol Hill is “not a laughing matter,” and said it is a “damn shame,” that is happens continuously.

In the span of 48 hours, we saw the worst, then the best, and the worst of our nation. Another African American in Jacob Blake was nearly killed by law enforcement and they were not held to account. The state of Georgia elected two new Democratic Senators in Jon Ossoff and Reve. Raphael Warnock, putting the U.S. Senate as well as the House of Representatives and The White House in Democratic Hands. But then the U.S. Capitol was breached on Wednesday after being egged on by President Donald Trump because he still felt that the 2020 Presidential Election was rigged, which led to his defeat.

What this past week showed us is that we have a serious divide in our country that has led to a Pandemic in the Coronavirus (COVID-19) that has gone global that has paralyzed our nation economically, physically, and spiritually. We have a government that is also divided, which led to the storming of the U.S. Capitol that revealed how Caucasian America and minorities in this country are treated by law enforcement.

On Jan. 20 we will have a new President in Joe Biden and Vice President in Kamala Harris. We will have a new U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. Even with that, we will still have the same divide that will take all of us to close. It will not happen overnight. I will not happen probably another election cycle.

More than anything, we all have to come to grips with the fact that those individuals that stormed the Capitol on orders from the soon to be former leader of the free world do not, as well as all those in our federal government that enabled Mr. Trump’s behavior not from the moment, he became a presidential candidate to how is finishing his presidency should be called out and held to account.

“These people are not Americans,” comedian Jimmy Kimmel, host of ABC’s late-night show “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” said in his opening monologue on Wednesday night. “There no ‘We the People.’ There’s ‘Me the People.’”

“You are not Patriots. You do not represent America,” is what Co-host of ABC’s “The View,” and daughter of the late longtime Senator John McCain (R-AZ) Meghan McCain said of those who stormed the U.S. Capitol.

“You are the scum of the Earth, who are using and abusing, and bastardizing all that I love, and have grown up with for you own sick agenda. And that agenda has been directly sent by President Trump….”

“I am a Patriot. I come from a Patriotic family. I come from a family of service… You are hurting our country. You are becoming a national embarrassment and we have to get him [Mr. Trump] out immediately because this cannot stand…We cannot take this anymore.”

Information and quotations are courtesy of 8/24/2020 www.nba.com press release by the Milwaukee Bucks, “Bucks Issue Statement on Jacob Blake;” 1/6/2021 2 a.m. ESPN’s “Sportscenter” with Michael Eaves and Nabil Karim; 1/6/2021 3 p.m. “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Jackie MacMullan, Kendrick Perkins, and Eric Woodyard; 1/6/2021 11:35 p.m. “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” with Jimmy Kimmel on ABC; 1/7/2021 12:37 a.m. edition of ABC News’ “Nightline” with Juju Chang and Byron Pitts, with reports from Terry Moran, and Jonathan Karl; 1/7/2021 11 a.m. edition of ABC’s “The View” with Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Meghan McCain, Sunny Hostin, and Sarah Haines; 1/7/2021 2:30 a.m. ESPN’s “Sportscenter” from Los Angeles, CA with Stan Verrett; 1/7/2021 3 p.m. “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Vince Carter, and Kendrick Perkins; 1/7/2021 www.nba.com story, “NBA Coaches, Players React to Breach of U.S. Capitol,” by Michael C. Wright; 1/7/2021 11:30 p.m. “Cari & Jemele (Won’t) Stick To Sports,” with Cari Champion and Jemele Hill on Vice Network; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Breonna_Taylor; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Floyd;  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Jacob_Blake; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Eric_Garner; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Rayshard_Brooks.