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COMMENTARY: Soul Stealers… Let’s be Honest — College Football is a Business, with Money Everywhere

ATLANTA DAILY WORLD — On September 12, 1970, USC fullback Sam Cunningham and the USC Trojans routed the University of Alabama at Legion Field in Birmingham by the score of 42-21. The following year Alabama Head Coach, Paul “Bear” Bryant, featured two Black players, junior college transfer John Mitchell and Wilbur Jackson. According to Mike Puma’s biography of Bryant on ESPN.com “By 1973, one-third of Alabama’s starters were Black. That same year, Alabama went 9-0-1 and won its third national championship.” Segregation forever, yeah right. Alabama admitted Black players under “diluted” scholarships knowing that educating these athletes was at the very bottom of their list of priorities. It would take decades before the University of Alabama would tailor their student body admission policies for racial inclusion.
The post COMMENTARY: Soul Stealers… Let’s be Honest — College Football is a Business, with Money Everywhere first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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2 years ago

December 12, 2023

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By Aubrey Bruce | Atlanta Daily World

I must begin this column by putting all the readers on high alert because this is not, nor do I intend it to be, a Black History moment. This piece is strictly dedicated to Black sports reality. On June 11, 2023, author Debra Bell posted an article on usnews.com titled: “George Wallace Stood in a Doorway at the University of Alabama 50 Years Ago Today.” The following quote is an excerpt from the article.

“In January of 1963, following his election as Governor of Alabama, George Wallace famously stated in his inaugural address: ‘segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.’ The staunch conservative demonstrated his loyalty to the cause on June 11, 1963, when black students Vivian Malone and James A. Hood showed up at the University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa to attend class. In what historians often refer to as the ‘Stand in the Schoolhouse Door,’ the governor literally stood in the doorway as federal authorities tried to allow the students to enter.”

On September 12, 1970, USC fullback Sam Cunningham and the USC Trojans routed the University of Alabama at Legion Field in Birmingham by the score of 42-21. The following year Alabama Head Coach, Paul “Bear” Bryant, featured two Black players, junior college transfer John Mitchell and Wilbur Jackson. According to Mike Puma’s biography of Bryant on ESPN.com “By 1973, one-third of Alabama’s starters were Black. That same year, Alabama went 9-0-1 and won its third national championship.”

Segregation forever, yeah right. Alabama admitted Black players under “diluted” scholarships knowing that educating these athletes was at the very bottom of their list of priorities. It would take decades before the University of Alabama would tailor their student body admission policies for racial inclusion.

Since the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Abe Lincoln, young men of color and their families could no longer “legally” be expected to provide free labor in the cotton fields, the new modus operandi shifted to obtaining cost-free labor from the football fields. The NCAA became the new “overseer” making and supervising laws to penalize young athletes for receiving such petty allowances as a free meal, a plane ticket, or a lousy T-shirt. However, the NCAA refused to acknowledge and address the “unsportsmanlike conduct” of many of the “ethnically insensitive” and even blatantly racist policies that have at times and in many cases continued to govern college football. On October 15, 2018, the college portal transfer program was officially launched, ending the decades-old tradition of a college athlete being forced to sit out a year before being permitted to transfer to another school. However, coaches were allowed to resign and accept higher-paid and more lucrative positions at other colleges and universities without even the blink of an eye. On June 30, 2021, ESPN staff writer Dan Murphy posted the following on espn.com. “The doors to a new era of college sports officially opened Thursday. For the first time, all NCAA athletes are now able to make money from a wide variety of business ventures without losing their eligibility. A mixture of state laws and NCAA rule changes have removed prohibitions that prevented athletes from selling the rights to their names, images and likenesses (NIL). The transformative shift comes after more than a decade of legal, political, and public pressure to give athletes access to a bigger piece of the billions of dollars generated by college sports each year.”

What about a piece of the “Vegas Pie?” Ya know, “FanDuel” and the remainder of the numbers runners.

That means less than five years ago, if a college athlete accepted a plane ticket to go home for the holidays, that athlete could be punished or even expelled from that university. That policy was and has always been a crock. Please allow me to explain why.

Recently, Texas A&M Coach Jimbo Fisher was awarded a $77 million buyout for his “lack of performance” as the head coach. It was also reported on cnn.com that: “When Fisher was first named head football coach at Texas A&M in 2017, the university said he had agreed to a 10-year contract worth $75 million, adding no ‘state-appropriated funds’ would be used toward his salary. The finances behind the decision to fire the coach are ‘monumental,’ Ross Bjork, Texas A&M director of athletics, said during a news conference. ‘As the contract states, there is a buyout provision in coach Fisher’s contract and those details will be worked out,’ Bjork continued on saying: ‘We will use unrestricted contributions within the 12th Man Foundation for the first one-time payments and the athletic department will fund the annual payments for the remaining portion by growing our revenues and adjusting our annual operating budget accordingly.’ 12th Man Foundation may appear to be a not-for-profit organization. This is not the case.”

This next scenario is not a fantasy but a stark reality. Jimbo Fisher is being paid for not doing his job, whereas walk-on players must earn their scholarships. This man is being paid to sit in the back of his mansion by the pool, sipping on mint juleps, while checking his bank account and watching the interest grow on that $77 million. A lot of folks are screaming at the top of their lungs about welfare reform. How about corporate welfare reform? Who is going to emancipate our children from this indentured servant athletic system? Well, I guess we are going to have to wait and see.

The post Soul Stealers…Let’s be honest — college football is a business, with money everywhere appeared first on Atlanta Daily World.

The post COMMENTARY: Soul Stealers… Let’s be Honest — College Football is a Business, with Money Everywhere first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring Review — Is This $136K EV Sedan Worth It?

AUTONETWORK ON BLACKPRESSUSA — Finished in Stellar White Metallic with the Tahoe Grand Touring interior, this Lucid makes a strong first impression. The shape is sleek and low, but it still feels elegant instead of trying too hard. Features like soft-close doors, powered illuminated door handles, 20-inch Aero Lite wheels, and the Glass Canopy Roof help the car feel expensive before you even start it.

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3 weeks ago

May 3, 2026

Oakland Post

The 2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring is the kind of luxury EV that makes people stop and ask a simple question: Is this really better than a Tesla Model S, Mercedes EQS, or BMW i7? At $136,150, it has to do more than look futuristic. It has to feel special every time you get in it.

Finished in Stellar White Metallic with the Tahoe Grand Touring interior, this Lucid makes a strong first impression. The shape is sleek and low, yet it still feels elegant rather than trying too hard. Features like soft-close doors, powered illuminated door handles, 20-inch Aero Lite wheels, and the Glass Canopy Roof help the car feel expensive before you even start it.

Inside is where the Air Grand Touring really makes its case. The 34-inch Glass Cockpit Display and retractable Pilot Panel screen give the cabin a clean, modern look that still feels different from other EVs. The Tahoe Extended Leather and Lucid Black Alcantara headliner lifts the sense of occasion, and the front seats are a highlight. They are 20-way power-adjustable, heated, ventilated, and include massage. That matters because luxury buyers at this price expect comfort first.

Rear passengers are not ignored either. You get 5-zone heated rear seating, a rear center console display, and power rear and rear side window sunshades. Add in the Surreal Sound Pro system with 21 speakers, and the Air feels like a true long-distance luxury sedan.

Lucid also gives this car serious EV hardware. The dual-motor all-wheel-drive system, 900V+ charging architecture, and Wunderbox onboard charger are big talking points. Buyers in this segment care about range, charging speed, and everyday ease, not just raw performance. That is where the Lucid continues to stand out.

On the technology side, the Air Grand Touring includes DreamDrive Premium, with 3D Surround View Monitoring, Blind Spot Warning, Automatic Park In and Out, Automatic Emergency Braking, and a Driver Monitoring System with distracted and drowsy driver alerts. This one also has DreamDrive Pro, which adds future-capable ADAS hardware.

There are still some real-world annoyances. Based on your notes, the windshield wiper control is hard to find and use, and that matters more than people think in a high-tech car. When controls become less intuitive, even a beautiful interior can feel frustrating.

Still, the 2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring succeeds where it matters most. It feels luxurious, advanced, comfortable, and thoughtfully engineered. For buyers who want an EV sedan that feels truly premium and less common than the usual choices, this Lucid makes a very strong case.

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Snoop Dogg Celebrates 10 Til’ Midnight at the Compound

LOS ANGELES SENTINEL — The album is paired with a film that stars Snoop Dogg, Hitta J3, G Perico, and Ray Vaughn, and one of the strongest elements of the whole project is that the production stayed rooted right here in Los Angeles.

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3 weeks ago

May 3, 2026

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Snoop Dogg celebrated the premiere of 10 Til’ Midnight at his Inglewood recording studio & multipurpose facility, The Compound, but the night felt like much more than an album release. It felt like Los Angeles. It felt like legacy. And it felt like another major move from one of the city’s greatest cultural architects as he continues to prove that he is not just dropping music — he is building moments, shaping narratives, and pushing the culture forward in real time.

What made the event so powerful was the clarity behind the vision. During a panel conversation with DJ Hed, Snoop opened up about the heart behind 10 Til’ Midnight, explaining that the project was created to help bridge older and younger generations while also speaking to the long-standing divisions between Bloods and Crips in a unique way through film. That alone gave the project a different kind of weight. This was not just about songs. This was about using creativity as a tool for connection. This was about taking a story rooted in Los Angeles and telling it in a way that could bring people together.

Snoop Congratulated By Rapper & Fellow 10 Til Midnight Cast Member G Perico (CreativeLB/KreativeKapturez)

The album is paired with a film that stars Snoop Dogg, Hitta J3, G Perico, and Ray Vaughn, and one of the strongest elements of the whole project is that the production stayed rooted right here in Los Angeles. The film was shot in the city, including at WePlay Studios in Inglewood, which gave the entire project an even deeper hometown feel. It was not just a West Coast story in content — it was a Los Angeles-made production from the ground up.

That matters because, in a city like this, authenticity still carries weight. Snoop understands how to make sure that what he creates does not just represent Los Angeles on the surface, but actually comes from it.

What also makes 10 Til’ Midnight significant is that it represents another major step in Snoop’s evolution as both an artist and executive. Public reporting around the project identifies it as his 22nd studio album, but the bigger story is what it represents in this season of his life. This is one of several consecutive moves he has made in his 50s that show he is still building, still expanding, and still finding new ways to reinvent what the next chapter looks like.

Snoop Dogg at the Premiere of 10 Til Midnight (CreativeLB/KreativeKapturez)

Now, as the head of Death Row Records and the newly aligned leader of Death Row Pictures, he is taking the brand into a new dimension. That is what made this moment feel bigger than music. Snoop is not just protecting the legacy of Death Row — he is stretching it. He is expanding it beyond records and into film, visual storytelling, and larger creative worlds that can continue carrying the label’s impact forward. Public reporting has noted that this project arrives as part of that broader cinematic push.

That is a major Los Angeles move because the city has always been built on the intersection of music, film, neighborhood identity, and cultural storytelling. With 10 Til’ Midnight, Snoop is leaning all the way into that intersection.

The room at The Compound reflected that. It felt like a private premiere, but it also felt like a statement — a reminder that Snoop Dogg’s staying power has never been based only on nostalgia. It comes from his ability to remain connected, remain visionary, and remain in tune with how to move the culture without losing the essence of who he is.

That is why this premiere mattered. It was not just about celebrating another album. It was about witnessing a Los Angeles legend continue to evolve, continue to unify, and continue to use art to tell stories that hit deeper than entertainment alone.

In that sense, 10 Til’ Midnight became more than a project launch. It became another example of how Snoop Dogg is still taking Los Angeles to the next level — using music, film, and legacy together to build something bigger than a moment.

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OP-ED: Small Businesses Need Minnesota to Act on Pass-Through Tax Policy

MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN RECORDER — A Twin Cities immigrant entrepreneur who built several businesses including grocery stores in underserved neighborhoods is calling on Minnesota lawmakers to extend the Pass-Through Entity tax option before it expires, warning that its loss would hit small businesses already recovering from Operation Metro Surge with higher federal tax bills.

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3 weeks ago

May 3, 2026

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A Twin Cities Small Business Owner Is Urging Minnesota to Extend a Tax Policy That Could Save Thousands of Businesses

By Daniel Hernandez | Minnesota Spokesman Recorder

I came to the United States as a teenager with a clear goal: to build something meaningful through hard work. I put in long days in construction, restaurants, and landscaping; doing whatever it took to learn, save, and eventually start my own business.

Over time, I built and ran several successful ventures, including an event photography company, a magazine, a tax and accounting firm, and now grocery stores serving neighborhoods across the Twin Cities where other retailers chose not to invest. I’ve created jobs, supported families, and committed to communities that deserve stability and opportunity.

That’s why I’m speaking out now.

Small business owners in Minneapolis and the communities we serve are recovering from serious disruptions, including the impacts of Operation Metro Surge. That event hit immigrant communities especially hard. In my own case, I lost nearly half of my 60 employees and saw revenue drop by about 85%. While I worked to provide competitive wages, health benefits, and paid time off, the real hardship fell on the people who lost their jobs and income.

Even as we rebuild, small businesses are facing another challenge. The Minnesota Legislature is considering letting an important tax policy expire: the Pass-Through Entity tax option.

Here’s what that means in plain terms.

Many small businesses, including mine, are pass-through businesses. That means the business itself doesn’t pay income tax. Instead, the owners report the income on their personal tax returns. But under current federal rules, there’s a limit on how much state tax we can deduct. That often leads to higher federal tax bills.

The Pass-Through Entity option fixes that. It allows the business to pay the state tax directly, which means the business can fully deduct those taxes on its federal return and lower the total amount of income taxed federally. The result is straightforward: small business owners pay less in federal taxes, without reducing what the state collects.

This policy is not new or controversial. Thirty-six states already offer it. It doesn’t cost Minnesota anything, it’s revenue neutral. And it benefits more than 66,000 businesses across the state.

In a state where the cost of doing business is already high, it’s hard to understand why we wouldn’t offer the same basic tax treatment as states like California and Illinois.

Small businesses have carried a heavy load in recent years, through a pandemic, rising costs and public safety disruptions. We’ve adapted, reinvested and stayed committed to our communities. What we need now are practical policies that support that work, not make it harder.

If the Minnesota House does not act soon, many businesses will face significantly higher federal tax bills. That’s money that could otherwise be used to hire workers, raise wages or reinvest in local neighborhoods.

I urge Gov. Tim Walz and members of the House Tax Committee to pass House File 3127 and extend the Pass-Through Entity election.

Small businesses are the backbone of our communities. We’ve proven our resilience. Now we need our state leaders to show the same commitment to us.

Daniel Hernandez is the owner of Colonial Market located at 2100 E. Lake St.

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