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Heroes Of The Week!

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Tunis Campbell (1812-1891) | New Georgia Encyclopedia

(Tunis Campbell- 1812-1891)

As we draw ever closer to a national election no one seems aware is going to be taking place in the fall, I’m rocking some news we shouldn’t be ignoring. Of course I’m still digging on the yin and yang of our weekly trend, so you’ll pardon me for letting the mulligans swim right alongside the magnifique? Coo . . .

Let’s plate it, kids . . .

Boomer Esiason on GHS: Chiefs opening a lot of eyes around league ...

First up is radio gas bag Norman “Boomer” Esiason. The former NFL quarterback who almost beat Joe Montana in a Super Bowl back in the day (proving that anything is possible) always manages to outdo himself when it comes to saying stupid shit. Boomer recently speculated as to whether big time college athletes were getting COVID-19 on purpose, so they’d be good to go for the fall. This is where I’m supposed to expound on how out of touch guys like Boomer are, but hey . . he did it for me!

They bonded over lox and bagels and music, then Covid-19 hit. Now ...

DOROT is a non-profit organization that serves as a bridge for an aging population. It fosters connections, which is a precious commodity these days. Ben Goldstein is a thirty year old volunteer for DOROT, and he’s Zoom pals with Robert Brajer- an 82 year old Holocaust survivor. They talk about everything from politics to pop culture while chowing down on lox and bagels. Brajer says it helps to know he’s not alone, and Goldstein gets a regular history lesson. That’s called win meeting win.

Stephen Jackson defends Eagles' DeSean Jackson over anti-Semitic post

And not for nothing, but DeSean Jackson might have done well to educate himself before posting to social media. Jackson did apologize for his antisemitic comments, and yet that didn’t stop Stephen Jackson from doubling down (you read that right) on the subject. The ignorance shown by these two men serves no good purpose as society continues to struggle with the divide created by prejudice. They know better, and society deserves better.

This next story is a twin bill of the forgettable being cut off at the pass by a fantastic response. I’ll begin with the former . . .

Michael Lofthouse is the CEO of Solid8- a cloud computing firm out of San Francisco. But it’s not his expert acumen that is getting talked about these days, but rather, his Trumpian outburst at Lucia Restaurant in Carmel Valley, California on July 4th. His ignorant fuse got lit when a family had the audacity to celebrate a relative’s birthday with song. Lofthouse told them to get lost, but he didn’t stop there. After flipping them the bird, he followed it up by calling one member of the clan an “Asian piece of shit,” and following that up with “You fuckers need to leave!” before finishing his vitriolic rant by exclaiming that “Trump is going to fuck you!”. And it proves to me how wrong I was to think my vote doesn’t count come November. Because that opinion will ensure more of the same . . .

About Gennica Cochran, the lady who raised her voice against ...

So thank God for Gennica Cochran- a server at Lucia- who stepped in to diffuse the situation by telling Lofthouse to hit the bricks. Cochran didn’t hesitate to let this asshole know that he had to leave, immediately.

“I felt very protective of them,” Cochran said. “You don’t come in here and say those kinds of things to people. Especially people feel so raw coming out of quarantine. Most of these people, this is the first time that they’ve been out to dinner, and then you have someone attacking them, it was just no, no, I don’t have time for this.”

Go Fund Me pages for Cochran have sprouted up all over the place as a result of her actions. Like flowers, replacing the weed she pulled out.

Shawn Dromgoole and people from nearby neighborhoods who participated in "Walk With Shawn."

This last story was brought to us by Monika over at Tails Around The Ranch. And it is the kind of story that helps us to see the forest through all these wicked trees. Because to appreciate the differences rather than vilify each other is how we grow those trees that help us breathe in a better reality.

Born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, Shawn Dromgoole felt like a stranger in his own hometown.

“Once upon a time that entire neighborhood was our family,” Dromgoole says. “Years later property taxes ran our people out of the neighborhood, they moved out and new people moved in and all of a sudden we didn’t belong. We knew none of our neighbors, which is okay unless you’re a Black American.”

After Ahmaud Arbery was shot and killed while jogging in Glynn County, Georgia, Shawn says he was afraid to even go for a walk through his neighborhood. Imagine feeling as if you’re a suspect . . like, all the time. And so Shawn posted these thoughts on social media, and then his neighbors? Well, they showed up.

Hundreds of people in Nashville are now joining the Walks With Shawn.

To think how a simple post grew into Walks With Shawn, in which hundreds of people from the area do just that. And to think of the impact one young man’s life has had on the community around him. One voice, leading a thousand feet into the kind of movement that has branches. Strong ones.

Shawn Dromgoole and his mother, Lynetra Dunn, on one of their walks.

And so now, Shawn is planning on taking this idea on the road. He wants to walk the same streets in Georgia that took the life of Ahmaud Arbery. And Miami Gardens, Florida, where Trayvon Martin was shot and killed. And Cleveland Ohio, where Tamir Rice was stolen by a bullet before his life even got started.

This is a story about how fear drove one young man to find his purpose in life. And what he came to learn was that the differences in us do not require fences or walls. We are better than all those many ugly places we have been witness to over the past few months, and years, and lifetimes.

“I want people to realize that everyone is someone’s neighbor and we don’t need to be harming each other because of preconceived notions and biases.” Shawn says.

It’s time to walk the walk, for all of us.

 

 

 

 

56 thoughts on “Heroes Of The Week!”

  1. B,

    You know Iove the mix of Snark and Sweet, so keep on keeping on (when it strikes you, of course!)

    Esiason – yanno, when you think about it, he just stupidly voiced what many probably thought. Just not smart of a celebrity to do so…

    DOROT is a beautiful thing.

    Ah damn. I hate when links are to The Washington Post because I won’t subscribe (I’ve got enough that I barely read already) I can’t read the article. So all I can say is if you want to avoid embarrassment by apologising after being a dick, don’t be so in the first place. Anti-semitism, racism, all the other isms have to stop already.

    Again, Lofthouse, your apologies after the fact don’t dismiss your lack of judgment in the first place. I wonder what the hell possessed him to do such a thing? Oh yeah… racism and a feeling of superiority? He’s lucky the family have forgiven him.

    And kudos to Gennica Cochran for not putting up with his shit! Wow that GoFundMe pages have sprouted – I wonder the whys of that, though. Is she in dire need? Is she going to use it for something else? It’s great though.

    I love the Dromgoole story. I had read about it and it definitely deserves its place in this venerable post! That his neighbours just showed up to walk with Shawn is a beautiful thing but that he is going to take this idea on the road? Beautiful. I love when love gets spread like this and also gives a person a new purpose in life.

    Excellent musical choice as per (and I love that it is a Marion Anderson version, to boot.

    You rock these, Marc. I love that you give voice to these stories.

    Q

    Liked by 1 person

    • Q

      I ain’t gonna lie, I like the yin and yang aspect as well. I also like the new format. Both!

      Boomer has never been known for his smarts when it comes to important issues, sad to say.

      I love what I read about that organization. How cool, to connect people like that and give them a window into the other generation.

      I don’t want to “cancel” DeSean Jackson out. That’s the new culture buzz . . to cancel peeps out for saying something they shouldn’t be saying. Rather, I would think the kid will learn from this. Stephen Jackson doubling down on the comment was absurd, but again, we gotta stop kicking people to the curb and we gotta all come together, dust off and say, let’s reset and let’s discuss.

      Lofthouse is doing a lot of CYA right now but really, what he did was horrific. Cancel him out as CEO and let him go and learn how to be a human being.

      Cochran is a beautiful and tough young lady.

      Monika picked a great one, didn’t she? Glad I didn’t miss it. 🙂

      I had to come up with something special, and what could be more special than Marion Anderson?

      Thank you for the azucar, as per.

      B

      Liked by 1 person

      • I ain’t gonna lie, I love the yin and yang.

        I can see that. Boomer, maybe just keep quiet, eh?

        I think it is beneficial for both the youngsters and the older folk. I always say we should surround ourselves with more than our own age group. We learn so much.

        I’ll have to agree with you on the Jackson-Jackson thing as I couldn’t read the story.

        Lofthouse is disgusting.

        She is!

        Monika definitely won with this one.

        You done did. Marion Anderson, for all the right reasons,

        Always, you know that.

        Liked by 1 person

  2. Boomer continues to be a classic example of two left feet in one mouth. The man just defies good sense. Repeatedly. Just in case it isn’t apparent…NOT a Boomer fan. After his last walk onto the field, he needed to go mute. Nobody wants to hear his garbage.

    Thanks for the shout-out. Every single time I see the Dromgoole story, I get tears of happiness at the way the story evolved and have watched it frequently. We need more neighbors like Shawn’s spread all over the country. Maybe their message will take root rather than the vile despicable hate filled ones that seem to pop up as if they were fertilized weeds.

    Cheers for a lovely weekend. Try to stay cool. 🍺

    Liked by 1 person

  3. I remember when Boomer appeared as a contributor on the Don Imus show in the ’90s. He was a doofus then and I guess the tradition holds. All good stories, Pilgrim. I just love how these slimeballs berate folks on camera and then apologize later. The guy is trying to hang on to his business so he does a mea culpa. How about trying that before you open your mouth butthead. Cochran is a hero. The two anti-Semitic comments are so incredibly stupid you have to question what happened to these two to form that opinion? Walk with Shawn is what most of us would do. (Despite what you see in the media) Thanks for posting that one.

    Liked by 1 person

    • He’s an idiot. Good player, but a ten cent brain, tell you what.

      And Lofthouse needs to go. Let him start over, and by that I mean go hiking in Tibet and come back as a human being and not a Trumpeter.

      But it does show the sick influence Trump has over so many.

      Cochran is a beauty, inside and out.

      And those guys need a reset. I’m more shocked by Stephen Jackson doubling down actually. I mean, really. All that he has done for the BLM movement, it has been compromised.

      Monika gifted me a beauty with that story about Shawn.

      Thank you Boss

      Liked by 1 person

  4. Wise words, as usual. Always an uplifting end to the week, reading your posts. The Zoom chats story is just beautiful. The power of simple things, isn’t it. And the racist tech asshole and his non- apology for ‘losing control’. Wow. Thanks again, man

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Dude this was beautiful! The DOROT nonprofit is a great thing! Win-win meeting for sure! Oh that sounds great I’ve got to look into that. And Walks With Shawn what a great story of people stepping up after someone had the courage to put himself out there. I LOVE THAT ONE. That one right there gives me hope, makes me forget about all the racist and stupid tantrums people are having in the middle of grocery stores, sidewalks, parks, and restaurants. Walk with Shawn is the cure for all the ugliness everywhere else. Thanks for sharing that one! Sunshine and waves buddy!

    Liked by 1 person

  8. On so many levels, there is something special about the DOROT story. I haven’t heard of them before but what a terrific organization. Bridging the generations like that is such a great opportunity for the young to learn and understand what providing the older population a chance to connect, speak about their lives and just converse about everyday life. There is so much to learn about each other and this shows all of us that age shouldn’t be a factor in learning and compassion. Terrific!

    Liked by 1 person

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