THE ENEMY FROM WITHIN

The world we all live in is a complicated and difficult landscape to navigate.We are all challenged everyday to fight the good fight and walk the right path. To deny that racism and prejudice exists in the world is naive and ignorant, and to say that it is not a problem is just plain stupid. The only thing that is worse than being racist is someone who chooses to fan the flames of racism with little regard for the truth or objectivity. Stephen A Smith has a history of prejudicial and inflammatory comments. He is a divisive voice in the arena. Most recently he stated “that if you hit a woman, it’s Ok, because sometimes she might have deserved it.”And we thought male chauvinism was dead. But the most common theme for him is his racism. He is constantly taking non prejudicial situations and trying to make them racially charged. He often says their are never enough black coaches in pro sports. Whatever grains of truth that comment may represent his commentary ignores the progress that has been made in that area and paints all the world as black hating zealots. Not a good way to move the needle .He has most recently trashed Chip Kelly of the Eagles for cutting 2 black players and keeping supposedly an inferior white player. He stated this was strictly a racially motivated decision, forget the fact that maybe it’s due to salary cap issues or more to the point a bad fit for the team. He’s pumping the race card, no surprise for him. His newest commentary is about Randy Gregory and his potential loss of draft status as a result of his drug use. In Smith’s most recent venture into non objectivity, he rails about the fact that Gregory is singled out only because he is black. When the truth is he has been busted twice before in 2014 for drug use. Obviously this is not a new issue for Mr Gregory, but regardless Mr Smith continues to exhibit his propensity for defending the black community at all costs and making everything a racial issue. ESPN cannot hide in the background. They know he is controversial and yet continue to provide a platform for him to spew his garbage. People that have a public platform and have this skewed a perspective are not only inflammatory but undermine the process of making things better by people who really understand the problems of race. If you look at the world and all you ever see are racist people maybe they are not the problem....

Thanks Jon, It's Been Real

It's very rare that an individual can create a new genre, and at the same time impact a generation the way Jon Stewart has. He became not only the voice of a generation but its truth seeker and it's conscience. He brought millions of young people to the table. He became the voice of reason in a society gone mad. Politics, war, genocide,  apartheid, dictatorships, racism, and more were all targets for Stewart's wit and criticism. He helped us all feel less despair and in the process realize there were still voices of reason in the world. One of which being his. Nothing was untouchable for Jon Stewart. The truth about issues always screams the loudest and his commitment to that made him unique and special to all of us whether you agreed with his perspective or not. His commitment to the greater good was always his strength. After listening to his analysis of current issues one would wonder why everyone is so confused, when it was so clear to us. His mission was simple but difficult, to help simplify all the spin and no one did it better. The  issues he tackled on his show were hot buttons for the country and the world; but never did I feel he ever had his own agenda or did it with any hatred or vitriol. A very special person indeed. His generosity to his brethren is seen with his shows alumni dotting the television landscape everywhere. Truly a gracious leader. His show really put Comedy Central on the map and he made us all think a little harder and hopefully a little better. So Thank You Jon Stewart. Your show had value and left a mark. A hell of a legacy. My guess is we will be hearing more from Jon Stewart. To his legion of fans he might say "keep the faith" or more than likely “Are you kidding me”.