Michael Burns

Play by Play Voice of Alabama A&M University Basketball. TV/Radio Producer & Director. Freelance Hero.

[Michael Burns @BMikemic]

FACTS!

[NOBUNAGA🇯🇵🏯_夏樹蒼依 @japan_nobunaga]

A doughnut shop called Krispy Kreme. I was driving past when a red sign in the window lit up.

HOT NOW.

I have served three lords. None of them ever gave me an order that direct.

HOT NOW. Not "hot soon." Not "hot, when it is convenient for you." Hot now. A command. From the building. To me.

I pulled across two lanes of traffic. So did three other cars, which told me the building commands them as well, and that I had joined an army without learning its name.

Inside, a woman handed me a single warm doughnut. The glaze had not yet hardened. I had done nothing to earn it. I had simply obeyed the sign.

"First one's free when the light's on," she said.

So this is the wage. You obey the sign, you receive the warm thing. Discipline, rewarded instantly. No lord I ever served paid this fast.

I ate it standing up. I will tell you plainly: it was the softest thing I have put in my mouth on this continent. I understood, in that moment, why the army comes when the sign calls. I would come too. I have been coming ever since.

There are three Krispy Kremes within an hour of my home. I have learned the hours their signs light. The first at six. The second at six thirty. The third at seven. A man who leaves home at five fifty can obey all three before the workday begins.

My wife has asked why I smell of sugar at dawn. I told her I have taken an oath. She asked to whom. I could not answer, because the honest answer is "a sign," and a man does not like to say aloud that he has sworn his mornings to a sign.

But the sign said HOT NOW. What was I supposed to do. Read it, and keep driving? I am not made of stone.

[Dawn Brown @DivaCoachAAMU]

Class of 2027!! ❤️

[Alabama A&M University @aamuedu]

Alabama A&M University has received a $600,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture to establish a new data science specialization within existing graduate programs in agricultural and bio-environmental sciences that will prepare students for careers at the intersection of agriculture, environmental sciences, data science and emerging technologies. #StartHere

More: https://t.co/qy8niQdmiO

[Michael Burns @BMikemic]

Y’all!!!

[Michael Burns @BMikemic]

@Deetroit_Dave Why do we love standing in line in front of a stranger’s trailer to buy food and eat it on a park bench while fighting flies and making plans to do it again next week? Lemme check my schedule.

[Alabama A&M Athletics @_AAMUAthletics]

𝗔𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀... 272 Student-Athletes Named to SWAC Commissioners Honor Roll

#DawgNation

https://t.co/vCvlOXs4PY

[Michael Burns @BMikemic]

@livforhoops Happy Birthday!

[Alabama A&M University @aamuedu]

Alabama A&M University alumna Dr. Ashley Hunt-Poole has transformed a pandemic-inspired idea into a nationally distributed brand, expanding her alcohol-free wine company into Walmart and Sam's Club stores across multiple states while exemplifying the Bulldog spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship. Hunt-Poole, a three-time Alabama A&M graduate and founder of HELLO MAMÁ, recently shared updates on the company's growth since partnering with Sam's Club in 2024. #StartHere

More: https://t.co/Fkc2taYYBO

[Alabama A&M University @aamuedu]

Open to high school juniors and seniors, Alabama A&M University's Dual Enrollment program gives students the opportunity to earn college credit, experience university coursework, and get a head start on their future. Learn more and apply at: https://t.co/K7wNyR67YB

[Rep. Terri A. Sewell @RepTerriSewell]

62 years ago today, peaceful demonstrators in Tuscaloosa were met with with violence while demanding an end to segregation. Though often overlooked, the events of Bloody Tuesday remain a vital part of Alabama's—and America's—history.

May we never forget the brave men and women who put their lives on the line in the name of equality. Their courage helped change our nation and reminds us that the fight for justice requires vigilance in every generation.

[Alabama A&M Athletics @_AAMUAthletics]

𝗪𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝗴 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲

#𝗗𝗮𝘄𝗴𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

https://t.co/KqCzmJNa4S

[Alabama A&M Athletics @_AAMUAthletics]

𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝗻... 𝗞𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗦𝗲𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝗔𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗮𝗺𝗮 𝗔&𝗠 𝗙𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻

#𝗗𝗮𝗖𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 | #𝗗𝗮�#𝗗𝗮𝘄𝗴𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 https://t

[Alabama A&M University @aamuedu]

🔬 It’s Day 1 for our AAMU STEM Explorers! Campers took the first step in their STEM journey on The Hill. We can’t wait to see what they discover, create, and achieve! #StartHere

[🤎 Brita No Filter🤎 @Brita_Be_Like]

Why am I shedding tears!??? 🥹

[Rodney Smith Jr @iamrodneysmith]

Family, the good people in Anderson Ford in Lincoln , NE have reached out, they are having the van towed there . They will take a look at everything & let me know . I will let you all know once I hear back from Anderson Ford this week . Once it’s fixed , I’ll fly back to get it .

Thank you all again to each of you for your support , it truly means a lot. I have booked a flight back to Alabama this afternoon & will get home later tonight .
Another big thank you again to the Coy family for having me & the van last night and brining me to the airport . Big thank you to Midwest Towing for picking up the van in Bellevue and taking it back to Lincoln . They covered the tow❤️ thank you beautiful people of Nebraska

[Smithsonian’s NMAAHC @NMAAHC]

#OnThisDay in 1921, one of the deadliest racial massacres in U.S. history began in the thriving Greenwood African American community of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Black Wall Street in Tulsa, OK, was destroyed by a mob. Explore: https://t.co/1urx2dCDTY. #APeoplesJourney #ANationsStory

[Be A King @BerniceKing]

This is what Greenwood looked like before it was attacked and destroyed. Before the smoke and flames, before the killing, there was a thriving Black community known as Black Wall Street, filled with Black owned businesses, homes, faith, dignity, and possibility.

What began on May 31, 1921 was an assault on one of the most prosperous Black communities in the nation, a place where Black enterprise, excellence, and self determination were visible in every block. The violence would continue into June 1 and leave that community devastated. More than 35 blocks were destroyed, hundreds were killed, and thousands were left homeless.

We must remember not only how Greenwood was destroyed, but what was stolen.

#TulsaRaceMassacre #BlackWallStreet #BelovedCommunity #Nonviolence365 #MLK

[SKI @skiistiredasf]

This has to be the most iconic HBCU graduation celebration I’ve seen this season. The aura wtf🔥👏🏽

[From The Hill Podcast @FromTheHill1875]

Come be a Bulldog and join @Coach_Sam_Shade football camp

[Typical African @Joe__Bassey]

Shoshana Johnson never set out to make history. At 25, broke in El Paso and dreaming of culinary school, she enlisted in the Army as a cook—hoping to save money and follow her father’s footsteps.

She became the first Black female prisoner of war in American history.

When her daughter Janelle was born, Shoshana transferred to Fort Bliss for what should have been safe duty: cooking for the 507th Maintenance Company. But after September 11, everything changed.

In March 2003, she kissed her two-year-old goodbye—“Mommy has to go to work”—and deployed. The 507th was supposed to stay in Kuwait. Instead, they joined a massive convoy into Iraq.

Three days later, lost in the desert, their vehicles drove straight into an ambush in Nasiriyah. Gunfire erupted. Shoshana scrambled under her truck, weapon jammed, sand choking the fight. Bullets tore through both ankles. She couldn’t run, stand, or fight.

Ninety minutes of chaos left eleven Americans dead, including her best friend Lori Piestewa—the first Native American woman killed in combat. Shoshana was captured.

For 22 days, she was beaten, paraded through hostile crowds, and moved from house to house. Alone, she prayed and imagined futures—love, more children, watching Janelle grow up—to stay alive.

On April 13, Marines stormed House 13 in Samarra. Shoshana was eating breakfast when the door exploded open. “MARINES!” She was free.

She returned to America on shattered ankles, walking off the plane through sheer determination. But another battle began. Disability ratings left her with far less support than fellow POW Jessica Lynch. Media attention faded. Shoshana was quietly forgotten.

The invisible wounds lingered—PTSD, depression, survivor’s guilt. In 2008, she checked herself into a psychiatric ward. Years of therapy followed. Slowly, she rebuilt.

She published a memoir in 2010. She watched Janelle graduate college. She found peace in cooking, yoga, family, and faith.

Today, at 52, she lives in El Paso. Spring is still hard—the anniversary of the ambush always brings memories—but she carries them with strength.

“I am a survivor, not a hero,” she says. “The heroes paid the ultimate price. The Marines risked everything to get us out. They had families waiting too. But they took that chance anyway.”

Shot through both ankles. Beaten in captivity. Held for 22 days. Forgotten by the media. Haunted by guilt. And still standing.

Shoshana Johnson never broke her promise to come home to her daughter. And that is her legacy.