Marion Jones is likely going to serve nominal time and pay a fine, forfeit endorsement skrilla, forfeit her soul. Now, some of you might howl, seeing that George W. Bush and the CEO of Blackwater are still roaming free, but this is the such is the world we have made. Notice I didn't say the world as it is, I said the world we have made. It's a world where we pedestal'd Barack Obama as our new winged Mercury, our new school brown JFK...and he's proven to be an utter lightweight. Yeah, I said it!A prominent writer is upset that I plan to make a comic book hero out one of his relatives. I say we need heroes now. Is it any wonder that our kids and teens and twentysomethings--African Americans or in the general public--read the garbage books they read, listen to garbage music they listen to, have the attitudes they display?
Marion was supposed to be a soldier in the fight against this crap. She was the real deal. She had the added bonus of having a husband who was Da White Man's/Mr. Charlie's/Our Favorite Hobgoblin the Man's wet dream. He was dark skinned, big, scary. She dumped him. He was a "liability" so likely said the white PR flacks. What hay was made over that, folks. What a true "universal" (e.g., for the masses on The Today Show ) heroine she became for kicking that evil scary spook to the curb, eh? Now she's the female Mike Vick in some folk's eyes.
But hell, even opprobrium is more bullshit showbiz now. Imagine if Shoeless Joe Jackson were (1) black and/or (2) living in the media-rich (media with a lower case "m") late 20th/early 21st century?
We live in a culture where turds like Lebron James roll into a Cleveland Indians playoff game wearing a New York Yankee lid--then tells the fans...his "home" fans...to f- off. Like he's entitled to do whatever he likes because he's getting paid. Getting paid makes him the hero in his mind, and in the mind of too many kids. I'm not picking on sports, I'm just saying such is the world we have made.
I want heroes. They are all around us but there are a few I want to elevate into a new Legion of Superheroes--beyond what Gary Phillips and I are gving you in The Darker Mask soon enough. Beyond whatI am doing with this writer's family member. Not "flawed." Just human. What Marion did was human in a way. The bullshit comes when the fame started flowing in. I'm sick of giving Mr. Charlie or disturbed individuals like Clarence Thomas (and his wife) more ammo. want to put my foot deeply and wetly into Mr. Charlie's fundament. I will. Despite my flaws, despite Marion's and a whole host of other black folks who are more concerned with bullshit than reality...
9 comments:
I understand your point regarding the Yankee cap, but anyone who would court Lebron James for hero status is misguided.
Marion was a cheater. Most folks in the know had that down. But she was such media godsend that everyone backburnered the murmurs. Sort of like the Mack versus Sammy Sosa homerun duel fueled the monster, and when we all woke up we realized it was all, in your word "Bullshit."
Heroes. Unfortunately, you have to take them as you find them. Inventing them is fine for movies, and for children, but that won't endure.
What about Marion's despondency? She looks rocked and pained by the lies and likey always was!
Sure, we need heroes. But do we need athletic heroes? How about the brothers and sisters that wake up every single day to provide for their families despite external and internal forces that attempt to grind them into dust? Perhaps it's time we alter the Hero configuration.
When was your Clarence Thomas-Kevin Merida post?
Marion got off easy. Flo-Jo died.
Now she's F. Murray Abraham. "Fuck" Murray Abraham.
1. Lebron is free to wear his Yankees hat if he wants. I applaud loyalty, if that's his team, that's his team. But he should improve his people skills. He can wear the hat by humbly letting people know he's been a fan all his life and say complementary things about the Indians. It's all PR. You can't say "FU". These are the same people buying your jerseys.
2. Marion Jones.........ah, where do I start? I might hold off and read your other post first. Such a shame.
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