Dirk Scribbler's Guide to Being a 97 Percent Raiders Fan, Part 2

As explained in Part 1, part of what drives my love for the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders is my subconscious infatuation with California.  However, my conscious decision to make the Raiders my AFC team ran even deeper than Tecmo Super Bowl, fierce team colors or the love for anything Compton native Kendrick Lamar laid out in "The Recipe".  From a social and political standpoint, neither Oakland nor Los Angeles have not been kind to people of color, especially in regards to police brutality.  The Black Panther Party, who were formed in Oakland in 1966, served as enforcers of justice specifically for Black and Brown people around the country against systemic racism despite perceived and actual controversy.  Although I've never seen any of them in Raiders paraphernalia, they wore all black as a sign of solidarity and empowerment.  So in Part 2 of "Dirk Scribbler's Guide to Being a 97 Percent Raiders Fan", I dig deeper than football to speak about how the Raiders became the inadvertent symbol of a new era which included yours truly...

Dirk Scribbler's Guide to Being a 97 Percent Raiders Fan, Part 1

In 2014, a BrainFall quiz titled "Which U.S. City Should You Live In" required answering questions about new restaurant openings, cost of living and favorite topics of discussion, and in my "You Should Live in Los Angeles" result, the summary read:

Perhaps best known for Hollywood, Los Angeles is the perfect place for aspiring artists.  There is no denying it's a playground for the stars, but even before you make your millions in the entertainment industry, you'll still be able to afford a bad-a** burrito.

Nearly three weeks later, I took a PlayBuzz quiz titled "Which American Accent Do You Actually Have" and having to pronounce words like "lawyer" or the trifecta of "Mary, merry and marry", I apparently have a Western accent.  Considering how folks never think I'm from D.C.--I've gotten New York and Philly the most--this explanation made sense of it all:

The west was the last area in the United States to be settled during the westward expansion of English-speaking people and it's full of linguistic patterns from other regions.  Your accent is general that no one knows exactly where you're from.  Your accent is perfect for public speaking, news broadcasting, acting, advertisements, etc.!

As I ponder the music, TV shows, fashion and even the weather toward which I've always gravitated, California has always seemed like the most perfect place on Earth and is the No. 1 state to visit on my bucket list.  Thus, despite being born and raised in Ward 8 D.C. and a fan of Washington's NFL team for the majority of my life, it only makes sense my AFC team (because most NFL fans have a favorite team from the opposite conference) since the mid to late 80s would be the Oakland/Los Angeles/back to Oakland Raiders...