I just caught up to this post which I wanted to thank you for. Very insightful… and unfortunate…

But now, the HBCUs have been producing some of the best and brightest and handing them over as gifts to the Bank of Americas and Wachovias and Citibanks…….meanwhile Citizens Trust in Atlanta and Douglass National in St Louis still trudging along, still dwarfed by the banks and firms that were created 25 years after they were.

The School of Business at FAMU’s goal (or it was when I was there), was to product the perfect corporate middle manager. Golf was a required class. We had to dress in the strictest of requirements, perfect our speaking skills, we did everything that we believed was required to assimilate as perfect corporate middle-managers. From the top of our heads to the tips of our shoes we were the perfect little black drones. Building and/or strengthening business in our own communities was never discussed. Hell, it was never discussed what the corporations we were interning at, and eventually hired permanently, did FOR our communities…that might have been grounds to go see Dean Mobley….we were perfect black corporate robots for Wall Street…social consciousness was not well-received.

“I’m not saying that Marbury is the greatest guy in the world, but when it comes to issues that need to be addressed, at least he’s in the mix.”

Marbury is more than in the mix. He is the truth! I don’t give a shit what went down with Isiah this year, there is not even a close second when it comes to athletes who contribute and see the big picture… it’s a damn shame that MSM is too busy hating than praising…

Amen…and lets not think somehow that the HBCU’s are doing so much more than any other school. I’m a graduate of Florida A&M University and I can attest that just as many educated fools are graduating from that institution as there are at Florida State.

I know you know this – but it is imperative that we understand and begin to operate from the fact that non-blacks actively work to ensure that blacks DO NOT know the complete story. If we knew our story, it would be a wrap.

These athletes are duped into believing that they go to good schools. There is no such thing as a good school for a free-thinking Black person if you can SUCCEED and GRADUATE without knowing a thing about your self. These institutions are designed to miseducate – designed to mislead – designed to falsify information and also to falsify information about information.

Our children CANNOT be expected to defend themselves and thrive in these institutions when it comes to self-knowledge. If we passed out grades in that category, most of our so-called “brightest minds” would be abject failures.

I think one of the first place start is with our griots at SOMM, Temple3 and all the other individual blogs. I think Mizzo bringing a collective together is asuredly a fantastic thing. The more of us coming on board, expanding the TSF in to a starting fifteen would go along way to capturing the mind and hearts of the strayed ones.

As an aside Miranda and GAM institutional education is but one route to awareness, there are countless brick and stone, cyber and organic road signs to overstanding. Before instituional education, we need the reconditioning of the spirit – not religion- that smashes the cult of personality and materialism and put them in their right full place.

I just found out that David Aldridge has resigned from the Philly Inquirer….damn…I just spoke with him last night.

It’s up to us: Ron Glover, Anthony Gilbert, Vincent Goodwill, Vincent Thomas, Alex Reed, Anthony Carter, Dwil, Sankofa, Diallo, Co Co, Jacinta Howard, Jemele Hill, Scoop Jax, Chris Murray, Donald Hunt, Nate Jones, Jordi, HG, Dave Zirin, Delinda Lombardo, Percy Allen, Bill Rhoden, Black Quarterback, Urban Sports Talk, AOBFS, MC Bias, Signal2Noise, Carolyn from And One, InkogNegro, Sportaphile, Liberado Wright, Tim Hopkins, Modi, Temple3 and anyone relevant I haven’t named to stand up judge yourselves accordingly.

None of this bitchassness from our people is acceptable anymore.

Anyway back to my point..If athletes get asked the same damn shit game in and game out every year of their career, what should we expect? Writers have to do their part as well. I was speaking with Antonio McDyess last night about just this and he gushed when he had a chance to reminisce of those he grew up watching. That shit hit me.

We all are accountable.

I make these cats think when my mic is in front of their face. I can’t do it alone.

Athletes today have no idea what the history is of the games they play. They just know today, not yesterday, not even tomorrow…they just know today.

Consider that the black athlete in the 60′s and 70′s had to speak out for SURVIVAL. Carlos and Smith were making a statement about their survival as second class citizens in the U.S. Now I am not here to argue whether blacks are still to be considered second class citizens today, but rather, that the pro atheltes have it better than most, black or white. 40 million slave talk notwithstanding, let’s face it. You can get pretty comfortable in that Maybach and $5 million home.

Just a suggestion to add to the mix. Also, is there an arguement to be made that the black athlete of the 60′s and 70′s was in fact, significantly more educated than the current incarnation? Consider that back then, most athletes went to college for 4 years and this in almost certainly tended to make them the most educated men in their communities. Today’s athlete (most) is in college strictly to make it to the league (I am not cecesaarily criticising, but let’s look at the evidence). The brothers who are trying to educate themselves for 4 years, they tend not to be good enough that anyone cares what they have to say.

No disrespect to Derrick Rose and Mike Beasley, but I don’t think anyone here would argue that their life perspectives don’t fall significantly short of those Bill Russel and Oscar and Wilt accumulated; or what John and Tommie gained at their respective schools).

Add the fact that these young men have been trained since boyhood (and the corrupt AAU circuit) to be monolithic basketball drones that can only achieve self-worth via athletic prowess) HS Football is just as bad in its own way) and I think their minds are being stiffled.

I know, I know, Ali had no college at all and the man is a lengend for his politics, but this is definitely worth considering.

A well educated young black men can be a dangerous weapon. A well educated young black man with a platform to speak…..well, I guess that’s what we’re trying to figure out.

You know I’m with you on this one. It seems money and fame are more important then pride and caring about those left behind.