Top Ten Black News Stories of 2023

(Baltimore, MD) It was a year when people felt less concerned about a pandemic and a return to normalcy. I can tell you there is a mood in the country where African-Americans are confident, concerned, shaking, and quietly nervous. No, the great recession didn’t have any energy, nor did the prosperity promise come true. There were glimmers of hope and yet there was this sense of foreboding we couldn’t shake.

War, as we know it isn’t confined to the places we know. In many instances, it showed up in a lot of places we didn’t know. As always, it’s tough to narrow the list to ten topics. This year is no different we had a tie at number six so we have a 6a.

If you go back to many of my list you will see I make sure to take a global view and an American view of stories with high impact. I don’t expect you to agree. It’s a part of this exercise to challenge you to re-think the year and what had an impact. Be pissed, but be smart. Those who would like to rearrange the chairs on the Titanic are coming for you. They want you to be ignorant and distracted by the moment.

10. Coup de tat’s in Africa – The overthrow of an aging dictator/presidents and unresponsive leaders is fertile ground for unrest on the continent of Africa. The latest to join this growing list of overthrows of government is Niger and Guinea.  

 Gen. Abdourahamne  Tiani, Interim Leader Niger

Adding to these overthrows was the Wagner Mercenary Group under the control of Russia Anarchist Yevgeny Prigozhin. A rough operator who had an army for you, if you were willing to pay. He came to the aid of elements in Africa that had resources (smuggled diamonds).

Prigozhin, may have over played his hand when he went after the generals of Russian President Vladimir Putin fighting in Ukraine. He called for a mobilization of his forces to march on Moscow. In the words of the series, “The Wire.” “If you come for the king, you bet not miss.”

The mercenary was killed in a plane crash on his way back to Russia.

9. Byron Allen’s  Media Empire – Allen Media Group (AMG), celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. The media empire he has amassed is varied and a force to be reckoned with by the powers that be. This year he added HBCU-GO. The brainchild of my good friend, Curtis Symonds. The areas he’s moving into means he gets a unique entry into business deals he wouldn’t be considered for in the past. Allen just offered 3.5 billion dollars to buy BET. I know he is not finished. Black entrepreneurs in media have always pushed the envelope (Roland Martin, Doni Glover and many more). I challenge those who own these properties to prove they can figure out a way to create news content, make it profitable, and accessible. “Am I pipe dreaming?” 

8. HBCU Enrollment – For the last three years many of the nation’s HBCU’s have seen record enrollment. The good news, a number of schools are attracting some of the brightest students and still offer those who need a chance the opportunity to get one. In some states, the additional cash has allowed them to offer in-demand classes. The downside, the schools are bursting at the stems. Lastly, the schools are being targeted by rough elements, with a number of them reporting shootings. Things are about to get tougher.

7. Athletic Comebacks – There is always a danger when you play certain sports. Football is controlled aggression. On a Monday Night, January 2, 2023, in Cincinnati, Ohio the Buffalo Bills squared off against the Bengals. The national televised game was watched by millions. Bill’s Safety Damar Hamlin had a collision with Bengals receiver Tee Higgins in the first half.

It appeared to be a routine play, except when Hamlin stood up he crumbled to the ground. As staff went to assist he was administered CPR. The players, the crowd and national audience was stunned. Hamlin was taken to a local hospital. The game was canceled  and the player spent a week in the cardiac unit in Cincinnati. He was released and came back to Buffalo. Hamlin became an inspiration and vowed to comeback. Hamlin presented the training staff that saved his life the 2023 ESPY’s Pat Tilman Award.

6. Stretching Stories for the Big and Small Screen – At the beginning of the year I attended a screening of “Chevalier.” An interesting take on the composer, Joseph Bologne. The mullato slave who comes of age at the end of the French Renaissance. He takes up fencing and violin. He becomes a composer in high society with Queen Marie Antoinette as his patron. When he is shunned by the aristocracy of France he becomes the darling of the French Revolution. His story is like a number of films which were released this year. Unknown heroes who got their treatment on big and small screens (Rustin, the story of Baynard Rustin.). A number of releases late in the year show promise,  American Fiction, and Origin. There are a number of movies that will gross major box office dollars such as: The Color Purple, The Equalizer 3 and Creed III.

I want to note the passing of two actors. Andre Braugher stared as Detective Frank Pemberton in the David Simons series Homicide: Life on the Streets based in Baltimore. Pemberton was a thinking mans cop. If you were in “the box” (interrogation room) with him, it was brutal.  The Shakespearean Actor was a part of the ensemble, which starred in the movie “Glory.” Many will know him as Captain Raymond Holt in the Fox/NBC police comedy series Brooklyn Nine-Nine. He lost his battle with lung cancer according to his publicists.

One of the actors who portrayed a character on The Wire also died this year.

Lance Reddick, who played Captain Cedric Daniels in The Wire was a native of Baltimore. The 60-year-old appeared in more than a dozen films and shows during his 25-year acting career

 Actor Michael K. Williams played th role of OMAR, a gay drug dealer who avenged the death of his “shorty” was remembered this year by the Baltimore Orioles. When Orioles closer Felix Bautista took to the field they played the haunting whistling of “The farmer in dell.” In The Wire that let everyone know, someone was going to die. 

6a. Hip-Hop at 50 – I was there at the beginning when a group of my New York friends showed up at a party and began rapping over me remixing “Good Times.” This is circa 1978. I was not impressed, but I am not a fool and watched as rapping became a new genre. It wasn’t just rapping, it was mixing, break dancing, fashion, graffiti, and culture. The term “Hip-Hop” may have started in New York but is a worldwide phenomenon fifty years later. Don’t let anyone tell you it was readily accepted. It kicked, screamed, and pissed people off in the early days. A number of outlets have missed the point. This is a historical and necessary inflection point, “we will take what you discarded and create something new.” Now, you are welcome to insert your favorite hip- hop artist/song.

5. Urban Violence – Living in an urban area isn’t easy. Crime has been on this list many times. In the 80’s, driving the criminal activity was “CRACK.” By the nineties it was heroin with a move to lace it with Fentanyl (deadly consequences) by 2000’s.

This time there is a single component which seems to link urban crime in each city, youthful offenders. The crimes are all over the place. Carjacking’s, “purge“ like activity (Philly) breaking into stories, and gang activity (West Coast) to rob high end stories and resell to an underground market.

I know for a fact, many those who are into this type of activity live(d) in a dysfunctional home(s). Some would call this the “Crack Baby Generation.” There is a sense amongst this group no one sees them, nor cares how they function. There are no silver bullets. 

4. Racial Attacks at the Ballot Box- A Supreme Court decision to decertify a congressional map drawn by the Alabama legislature was welcomed. Allen v. Milligan case decision gave hope to plaintiffs. It ruled maps passed by the Republican legislature had to be re-drawn. The courts eventually stepped in drawing a map giving the state’s African-American population in Alabama more representation in congress.

A number of southern states with Republican majorities are having their maps challenged. This has emboldened those who want to go backward. It is scary the arguments being put forward. The idea is simple, limit the electorate. 

3. Beyoncé – No I did not see Beyoncé live, but I have seen her three-hour movie, The Renaissance, on the event. This year Beyoncé’s Worldwide Tour is the new standard (no slight to Taylor Swift). So let me give you some observations:

·         The Bee Hive is real: These die-hard fans get it. Mrs. Shawn Carter is what she exclaims. “I’m a boss!!!.”

·         The remainder of the audience has always been in her corner, but their enthusiasm is different. They’ll tell you, “I see myself in her.” This drills down on one’s authentic self, uncompromised, and they see a glass half empty with future possibilities.

·         So let’s add a new tittle, Documentarian. She’s not the first to do it, but has mastered the ability to take you around the world.

I won’t get any brownie points for this but, there was cultist-like attitude about those who were there for the concert. You know all the words, the choreography, and the songs move you. Lastly, I expect “B” to challenge herself with a new project which might not be music.

2. Assault on Minority Business and Marginalization of anything Black – If you haven’t heard of the Fearless Fund get ready to be incensed by a court case which could end all help to minority businesses. There is a legal attempt to stop the Fearless Fund from running the Strivers Grant Contest in the Small Business Administration. The grant holds a contest which awards $20,000 to businesses that are at least 51% owned by Black women, among other requirements. Based in Atlanta, it’s given opportunity to women own businesses especially the Black ones.

Edward Blum, the conservative activist behind the two college admissions cases which struck down Affirmative Action in college admissions, has several pending lawsuits targeting private-sector DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) programs based on the ruling in admissions. Blum and his cohorts are raising millions of dollars to target the SBA.

“What does Edward Blum have to fear?” said CBC Chair, Congressman Steve Horsford (D) Nevada. The numbers from the Venture Capitalist, a group which tracks investment, sheds light on what’s at stake. In 2018, this group showed  $130 billon dollars was given to new American businesses. Of that total only 2.2 percent was given to female companies and less than 1% was given to women color according to Forbes Magazine and the Fearless Fund.

This demonization is real. If somehow the SCOTUS can revisit this issue there is a likelihood it could translate to groups who are currently marginalized and choke off funding underserved communities.

So let me cut to the chase. What I heard from the Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Chairman, Congressman Horsford did not give me confidence at the CBC’s approach. I believe CBC which has had a clarion call since its beginning to improve Black Business in America needs shock therapy.

1. Sickle Cell Treatment – I learn of this disease from my mom’s friend who lost two very young children to sickle cell. Recently, the promise of CRISPR was made real. The treatment, called exa-cel and made by the companies Vertex and CRISPR Therapeutics, edits a gene involved in red blood cell shape and function. The doctors who created CRISPR won the Noble Peace Prize. This new therapy will reshape some of medicines daunting challenges. I know there were a number of medical problems which could have leaped-frogged sickle cell disease. Early therapies showed promise in trials and now Black families have hope.  

Charles F. Robinson, III

C3 Media

 

Person of the Year 2023

This year there are a pair of individuals who deserve this award, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, the mother/daughter duo were Atlanta election workers. They were accused of voter election fraud in 2016 by Rudi Giuliani. This year they sued the former Mayor of New York. Giuliani admitted he lied in the civil suit.