News

Atlanta Falcons Headed To Super Bowl 51, City Gives Sports Lesson For Oakland

Published

7 years ago

January 22, 2017

The Atlanta Falcons beat the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta 44 to 21, and are headed to their second Super Bowl game, Super Bowl 51. While the winner of the AFC Championship Game is to be determined, it’s time to stop and congratulate and celebrate the victory. The reason is because Atlanta is a model NFL city with a model NFL owner in Arthur Blank (Zennie Abraham vlog at Zennie62 on YouTube).

Oh, and before we take a look at Atlanta the City, we have to shout out the Atlanta Falcons. Head Coach Dan Quinn came in from the Seattle Seahawks, and with a blueprint based very much on what he learned from the legendary former USC and now Seattle head coach, Pete Carroll – a plan based on the assembly and training of a very fast defense and a ball-control offense. That was certainly the message this blogger got when interviewing Coach Quinn at the 2015 NFL Annual Meeting in Arizona.

In building the Falcons to fit his ideals, Quinn resisted the temptation to replace Falcons Quarterback Matt Ryan. The former Boston College star was always considered a good passer, but the Atlanta media constantly talked about the big games he lost with bad throws and interceptions. Not this time. Now, Matt Ryan can finally bask in the glow afforded an elite NFL signal-caller in the Super Bowl Game – a win would cement the title for Ryan. (Against the Packers, Ryan was 27 of 38 for 392 yards and 4 tocuhdowns, and one TD running.) It would also give Atlanta something it’s never had: an NFL Champion.

Atlanta is a great city on the rise. According to Sustainable Atlanta, Georgia, the Capital of The South added 40,000 new residents between 2010 and 2015. It’s gained back almost half the residents it lost during what is called the great exodus of the 1980s, when 100,000 Atlantans departed for the suburbs. And Atlanta and the North Georgia region have grown to become one of the entertainment production hubs of America.

Film LA reports that Georgia is number five in the World for film production behind only California, New York, and two international locations. Spending by film companies in Georgia has increased to $1.7 billion in 2015 and that’s up by 500 percent over the year 2008.

And what this blogger likes most is that Atlanta is a city that appreciates sports as economic development, and has plans for the retention of its teams, rather than reacting to any threat to move – there is none. Atlanta is also a city that is unapologetically Southern and black, yet is the growing tech hub of the South.

Oakland can learn a lot from Atlanta: from how to keep its sports teams, to how to embrace, not fear, black culture, to how to maintain affordable housing in the face of rampant growth, to how to be a top place for women in the workforce. Thanks to the Falcons NFC Championship Game win and trip to Super Bowl 51, and President Donald Trump’s ill-advised tweets against it, Atlanta now has the World’s attention and it deserves every bit of it.

Oakland Post

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Barbara Lee

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Issues Statement on Deaths of Humanitarian Aid Volunteers in Gaza 

On April 2, a day after an Israeli airstrike erroneously killed seven employees of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a humanitarian organization delivering aid in the Gaza Strip, a statement was release by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12). “This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

Published

15 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Congresswoman Barbara Lee

By California Black Media

“This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

The same day, it was confirmed by the organization that the humanitarian aid volunteers were killed in a strike carried out by Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Prior to the incident, members of the team had been travelling in two armored vehicles marked with the WCF logo and they had been coordinating their movements with the IDF. The group had successfully delivered 10 tons of humanitarian food in a deconflicted zone when its convoy was struck.

“This is not only an attack against WCK. This is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the direst situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” said Erin Gore, chief executive officer of World Central Kitchen.

The seven victims included a U.S. citizen as well as others from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Palestine.

Lee has been a vocal advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza and has supported actions by President Joe Biden to airdrop humanitarian aid in the area.

“Far too many civilians have lost their lives as a result of Benjamin Netanyahu’s reprehensible military offensive. The U.S. must join with our allies and demand an immediate, permanent ceasefire – it’s long overdue,” Lee said.

Oakland Post

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Commentary

Commentary: Republican Votes Are Threatening American Democracy

In many ways, it was great that the Iowa Caucuses were on the same day as Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We needed to know the blunt truth. The takeaway message after the Iowa Caucuses where Donald Trump finished more than 30 points in front of Florida Gov. De Santis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley boils down to this: Our democracy is threatened, for real.

Published

1 day ago

April 16, 2024

Oakland Post

It was strange for Iowans to caucus on MLK day. It had a self-cancelling effect. The day that honored America’s civil rights and anti-discrimination hero was negated by evening. That’s when one of the least diverse states in the nation let the world know that white Americans absolutely love Donald Trump. No ifs, ands or buts.

By Emil Guillermo

In many ways, it was great that the Iowa Caucuses were on the same day as Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

We needed to know the blunt truth.

The takeaway message after the Iowa Caucuses where Donald Trump finished more than 30 points in front of Florida Gov. De Santis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley boils down to this: Our democracy is threatened, for real.

And to save it will require all hands on deck.

It was strange for Iowans to caucus on MLK day. It had a self-cancelling effect. The day that honored America’s civil rights and anti-discrimination hero was negated by evening.

That’s when one of the least diverse states in the nation let the world know that white Americans absolutely love Donald Trump. No ifs, ands or buts.

No man is above the law? To the majority of his supporters, it seems Trump is.

It’s an anti-democracy loyalty that has spread like a political virus.

No matter what he does, Trump’s their guy. Trump received 51% of caucus-goers votes to beat Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who garnered 21.2%, and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who got 19.1%.

The Asian flash in the pan Vivek Ramaswamy finished way behind and dropped out. Perhaps to get in the VP line. Don’t count on it.

According to CNN’s entrance polls, when caucus-goers were asked if they were a part of the “MAGA movement,” nearly half — 46% — said yes. More revealing: “Do you think Biden legitimately won in 2020?”

Only 29% said “yes.”

That means an overwhelming 66% said “no,” thus showing the deep roots in Iowa of the “Big Lie,” the belief in a falsehood that Trump was a victim of election theft.

Even more revealing and posing a direct threat to our democracy was the question of whether Trump was fit for the presidency, even if convicted of a crime.

Sixty-five percent said “yes.”

Who says that about anyone of color indicted on 91 criminal felony counts?

Would a BIPOC executive found liable for business fraud in civil court be given a pass?

How about a BIPOC person found liable for sexual assault?

Iowans have debased the phrase, “no man is above the law.” It’s a mindset that would vote in an American dictatorship.

Compare Iowa with voters in Asia last weekend. Taiwan rejected threats from authoritarian Beijing and elected pro-democracy Taiwanese vice president Lai Ching-te as its new president.

Meanwhile, in our country, which supposedly knows a thing or two about democracy, the Iowa caucuses show how Americans feel about authoritarianism.

Some Americans actually like it even more than the Constitution allows.

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. He does a mini-talk show on YouTube.com/@emilamok1.