Paying $7.99 for an app isn’t why fans complain.
If you’re going to blame the fans or question whether we appreciate battle rap, let’s have the full conversation.
Events starting five hours late.
An hour or more between battles.
Standing for 12+ hours with little to no seating, food, or sometimes even water.
Then the cancellations. Finding out the day of, or even the night of, after fans have already paid for flights, hotels, rental cars, and event tickets.
Rappers showing up unprepared, choking, stumbling, throwing up (I had to 🤭), and not even finishing their rounds.
Booking the same artists over and over despite them repeatedly showing up unprepared or not showing up at all.
Fans are expected to keep showing up, spending money, and staying loyal while our time and money continue to be treated like they don’t matter.
There’s little to no accountability for the leagues or the battlers.
But somehow… the fans are the problem?
NBA sources believe Jaylen Brown thinks he’s the smartest person in the room, per @colincowherd
“I had two NBA sources … two people in the league, one an executive, one a scout, say that Jaylen Brown has — it’s a disease. He suddenly thinks he’s the smartest guy in every room he’s in … You make a lot of money, suddenly you’re absolutely sure, you don’t wanna listen to your bosses, you don’t wanna listen to consultants, you don’t wanna listen to teammates.”
(h/t @TheNBABase & @Fullcourtpass )
The DSA momentum isn’t about the DSA, it’s about people.
I see all the quibbling and bickering, but not a lot of understanding.
People in NY cast votes for candidates they think actually care about what they’re going through. Same way they did for Mamdani.
But instead of reflecting, the establishment continues to project. We’ve seen it before, it’s partly how we got here.
I don’t imagine that what happened in New York could happen in Baton Rouge … yet. And when I say yet I mean YET. If a people first, economic liberation movement finds its political stride in South, its curtains.
It’s hard for a lot of Black southerners I know to critique the Dems, an elder of mine recently told me she votes Democrat OUT OF RESPECT FOR DR KING.
(I told her Dr. King might’ve been DSA, because he held some very strident anti-capitalist/anti imperialist views. She then told me to worry about my weight and not about Dr King’s legacy. That actually happened 😂😂😂😂😂😂)
I’m not saying that’s going to change, but I am saying those same people I talk to (particularly the ones under 45) aren’t frustrated. They’re tired. Frustrated needs a rally. Tired needs a change. They’re ripe for new voices.
The best outcome here would be a meeting of the minds. It would Robin reminding Batman of the ideals he started with, and Batman educating Robin on the structural realities of the world we live in, and how we make allies in that world. They then shake hands and vandalize the Joker’s reflecting pool.
That won’t happen though. Political intractability is by design. Politicians fight for their existence while forgetting about yours.
You do not matter. Threats to power matter. Threats to systems matter. They built it the way they wanted it, they’ve been milking it for years. They want their milk cheap while yours gets more expensive.
We say politics is a beauty pageant, but in actuality, it’s a slaughterhouse. You think you’re the butcher, when really, you’re the cow.
But man. Somewhere there’s a candidate that just wants you to have a living wage and healthcare. Just wants your kid not have to die in a foreign war. Maybe they can’t even get it done, but that’s sincerely what they want.
I hope you get to vote for them.
On June 19, 1865, African American communities in Galveston, Texas, finally learned of their freedom from slavery — two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation took effect.
For 161 years, Juneteenth has been a day of remembrance for the freedom that was delayed. It is also a celebration of the joy and resilience that flourished despite that delay.
The contributions of African Americans, whose struggle for freedom shaped our nation, are immeasurable. Yet too many Black families continue to bear the brunt of an affordability crisis that has pushed them out of the neighborhoods and communities they've built.
True freedom has a tangible impact on daily life: the ability to afford housing, earn a living wage, put food on the table, support a family, and create a future for generations to come.
As we celebrate today, we must recommit ourselves to ensuring this freedom is fully realized.
Happy Juneteenth, New York City.
FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 53 YEARS, THE KNICKS ARE NBA CHAMPIONS 🏆
New York defeats San Antonio 4-1 in the NBA Finals, capturing their third championship in franchise history!