Happy President's Day...
Because Presidents are awesome, and because I'm lazy:
Click here.
A Message About Tonight...
Ladies and Gentlemen...
I was born in Utah. I was raised in Utah. I moved out of Utah, but only by 7 miles. Really, it was the Utah part of Idaho. I graduated from Utah State University. Pretty much, all this Utah influence means that, yes, I am a Jazz fan.
I'll wait for you to finish laughing.
Anyway. The after beating the Clippers last night, the Jazz are riding a 9 game winning streak. Tonight, the Lakers come to Utah.
I hate the Lakers.
Not so much them personally, I just think that I hate the media love affair with the Lakers. Also, I hate people who cheer for them even though they have absolutely no ties to Los Angeles. I hate the fact that Kobe Bryant plays injured and everyone talks about how tough he is.
Which brings me to the point of this post.
The Lakers last game was in L.A. against the Spurs. Kobe didn't play. Tonight will be their last game before the All-Star break. And there are rumblings about Kobe coming out tonight to play against the Jazz.
Why is this news?
Now, a personal message directed to Kobe Bryant:
Dear Kobe,
Don't do it. What do you need to prove? You're team is in first place in the West. There will not be anyone who catches up to you. It's just not going to happen. So you don't need to step onto the floor tonight. Rest your weary body.
-BUT-
If you do decide to step on the floor tonight, be warned. I will hunt you down. I will be like a ghost. You will not see me coming. Because everyone knows that the scariest thing that a professional athlete has to deal with is a 5'10" History B.A. who doesn't own a firearm, or have any large friends who are willing to go to jail, or any money to buy a hit-man.
Long story short, I hate the Lakers. I hate Kobe Bryant.
Go Jazz!
Remembering Orangeburg...
Consider this my return to the blogosphere. However, this isn't going to be the feel good post of the year, so those of you who are looking for some witty sarcasm, you're really going to be disappointed. I promise my next post (and I'm planning on a Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule), will be more along the lines of what you'd expect. However, I spent a vast majority of last semester reading and writing about TODAY in history, realized that it would make an awesome Master's Thesis, and would feel a bit off if I neglected the importance of today.
I'll try to keep a Semester's worth of paper writing down and just hit the main points.
On February 8, 1968 Delano Middleton, Samuel Hammond Jr., and Henry Smith were shot and killed on the campus of South Carolina State University. 27 others were injured. All but two of the students were shot from the rear or the side. The shooting was done by members of the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division. Students were shot by law officials.
There was only one arrest made in connection with the Orangeburg Masscre. Cleveland Sellers, a representative of SNCC who was on campus trying to establish a Black Awareness group, was arrested and charged with arson, inciting a riot, assault and battery with intent to kill, destruction of personal property, damaging real property, housebreaking and grand larceny. His bail was set at $50,000, a staggering amount for the time.
Similar events, most notably the Kent State Shootings, came about after and evoked national attention, while Orangeburg was largely forgotten. One major reason: the students at Kent State were white. South Carolina State was a black university. The victims were black. In 1968, coming on the heals of the cry for Black Power, the shootings of black college students was ignored by the general public.
Every February 8 from 1969 onward, South Carolina State College (now University) has held a memorial for the slain students. This event should not be forgotten. Hammond, Middleton, and Smith are not as recognizable as Martin Luther King or Malcom X, but their story should still be told. There is an awesome documentary call "Scarred Justice: the Orangeburg Massacre 1968." My dad texted me the other day and said that it was being shown on UEN in conjunction with Black History Month. I have a copy if you want to read it. Jack Bass and Jack Nelson wrote the book on the massacre, called simply, The Orangeburg Massacre. I highly recommend it.
Sorry for the long post. Hopefully this little post will get stuck in the tubes of the interwebs so that there is my little take on Orangeburg. Thanks for making it this far. Until Wednesday...