Stand Your Ground...But Not If Your Black: Race, Road Rage and Criminal "Justice"

I honestly had no plan to write about the tragic shooting death of former New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs running back Joe McKnight in Terrytown, Louisiana by 54-year-old Ronald Gasser.  In fact, once my fellow writer and friend at Evenin' Tea did this excellent piece, I assumed my thoughts were all covered.  According to several eyewitness accounts, McKnight got out of his vehicle and tried apologizing to Gasser before Gasser pulled out a semi-automatic handgun and shooting the former NFL player multiple times--including one witness who said Gasser stood over McKnight after he shot him, said "I told you not to f--k with me" and shot him again.  He waited for the police to arrive, was arrested and then released.  That's right, boys and girls...not held with or without a bond...set free after murdering someone.  Perhaps an even bigger umbrella to the obvious race factor and what drove me to write about this incident is the controversial "Stand Your Ground Law" and how this could potentially be a defense for Gasser as his case moves forward.  However, I will discuss how this law seems to apply to anyone who isn't Black and how it could be a smack in the face to McKnight's family and his memory as they seek some semblance of justice...

Views from the Nosebleeds: 2016 NFL Regular Season, Week 13

When doing this week's edition of "Views from the Nosebleeds", the natural choice of a lead story was last week's senseless murder of former Jets running back Joe McKnight in an alleged road rage incident with 54-year-old Ronald Gasser at an intersection in Terrytown, Louisiana right outside of New Orleans.  However, because of the racial, social and political layers involved, I decided to make that a post unto itself.  Furthermore, as a Black man in America whose spirit has grown weary from constantly being reminded the lives and memories of people who look like me don't matter--see the mistrial in the Walter Scott case as further evidence--I have too much frustration in my heart to take away from what is intended to be a half-serious, half-light-hearted series about my favorite sport.  Since these posts are already long enough on their own, there is plenty of good and not-so-good football to discuss, so let's kick things off with two not-so-good, but-not-as-heavy stories...

Scribbler's "Get Out of My Brain!" Countdown of the Month (December 2016)

So here are three things to note about this month's edition of the "'Get Out of My Brain!' Countdown of the Month".  First and foremost, given the lack of girl power on the November edition of "In Heavy Rotation", I apologize to the ladies and don't want y'all to think I'm slighting y'all one bit; however, the songs which rule my brain space unfortunately control me and not the other way around.  Trust me, y'all will be better represented later this month.  Second, I have developed a more-exact-but-still-inexact science for tracking all of this: I simply note the amount of times a song comes to mind and about how long I'm thinking about it.  It ain't perfect, but it's a much better system to make sure folks don't get cheated out of the opportunity to make this countdown like no other.  (I doubt most of these folks care that much, but still.)  Third, this edition will feature songs either belonging to "The Blame Game" in which I blame specific people and/or things for my mental repetitiveness, "NPT HitstoryMakers" for artists and songs who and which boldly go where no others have gone before or stand on their own two category-less feet.  Since you have been prepared and briefed probably more than you wanted to be, let's get to the madness...

Views from the Nosebleeds: 2016 NFL Regular Season, Week 12

Although I looked forward to family coming from Pennsylvania and enjoying Mrs. Scribbler's scrumptuous cooking, one of the biggest incentives to toiling through purchasing a car note's worth of food and almost passing out from heat and exhaustion while grocery shopping was being the stereotypical patriarch and watching Thanksgiving Day football all day long.  However, despite not being a card-carrying Skins fan anymore but still having plenty of residual Burgundy and Gold blood running through me, "Dallas Week" still annoyed me because normally-grating Cowboys fans become even more insufferable--especially when their team is not only winning this year, but also have the league's best record.  In fact, I was bewildered in finding out three of my family members are Cowboys fans, but they're the less obnoxious types who I can tolerate more than the vast majority of them.  (I still need holy oil for our doorpost.)  Unfortunately, I swear I heard a janitor once the clock struck triple zeros, saw an "F" by the score and I wasn't pleased--knowing the onslaught of incessant trash talking was on the horizon in what hasn't felt like a true rivalry since the early 90s. As much as I could stall, let's address the inevitable...

In Heavy Rotation (November 2016)

What I've come to appreciate about doing "In Heavy Rotation" is how I can go into a month planning to listen to one set of five albums.  However, between putting off giving my take on certain projects, being pleasantly surprised when others are released, watching TV and getting ideas for picks or hanging around folks whose musical palates exceed their foodie tendencies, it forces me as an avid music lover and constantly-evolving human being to 1) always remain open to change and 2) adapt to said change as deemed necessary.  Also, I've learned to go with the flow, i.e., instead of trying so hard to ensure I have a balanced representation of hip hop and rock, male and female artists or Black folks and everybody else, simply share what speaks the most to me in that particular month.  After all, it is my blog series, so that means I don't always follow the rules--even when I set them myself.  With that said, it's time to unveil some of this good music I've been bumping...