(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Black Kos, Week In review ~ Angel Reese will be Rookie of the Year & she is nobody's sidekick [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-21 Commentary by Black Kos editor JoanMar Some sixty years ago, James Baldwin famously said, “To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.” He told no lies. His statement was true then, and with the advent of social media and MAGAism, it’s become even more true today — infuriatingly, blood pressure-elevatingly, disgustingly true. As a Black woman, going on Twitter — especially since it was taken over by ApartheidMan with his ill-gotten gains — requires forearming yourself with sturdy protective armor. The platform has become a battleground with racists competing to see who can throw the most dehumanizing, hateful, deliberately cruel bile at Black women. Their newest target is 22-year-old basketball player Angel Reese. The criticism and condemnation of this young woman is so ugly as to be gut-churningly unbearable. And when they are not actively tearing her to shreds, she’s only mentioned as some insignificant planetary object orbiting the Caitlin Clark’s sun. Those who deal in facts and not racist fantasy know that it is Angel Reese who has a national championship. It’s Angel Reese who has already broken a WNBA record, and it is Angel Reese who’s on pace to become the coveted 2024 Rookie of Year. From CNN: Angel Reese set a new WNBA record by becoming the first rookie in history to record seven consecutive double-doubles. The former LSU star had 16 points and a career-high 18 rebounds as she helped the Chicago Sky cruise to an 83-72 win over the Dallas Wings to end a four-game losing streak. Candace Parker has the all-time WNBA record of 12 straight double-doubles, a realistic target for Reese to aim for given she is averaging 12.4 points per game and 10.8 rebounds per game. Only two-time MVP A’ja Wilson is averaging more rebounds per game than Reese. x Angel Reese has 102 rebounds this month. The next closest player has 77. pic.twitter.com/SwwkIFYXYc — StatMamba (@StatMamba) June 20, 2024 x Angel Reese passes Tina Charles and Cindy Brown for most consecutive games with a double-double by a WNBA rookie 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ug6mqYgAGR — ESPN (@espn) June 20, 2024 x We love you ❤️❤️❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/sFcQJ6mkZg — Tyrone H. (@Tyronehworld) June 20, 2024 x New nickname: Double-Double Barbie! ANGEL REESE HAS 7 STRAIGHT DOUBLE-DOUBLES! SHE IS THE ONLY ROOKIE TO DO IT!#DoubleDoubleBarbie #WNBA pic.twitter.com/NN6sTBBp9b — The Reese Effect 👑 (@TheReeseEffect) June 20, 2024 With all the overwhelming, nonstop hype, you’d be forgiven if you thought that Caitlin “The Great White Hope” Clarke (not fair to CC) is the most dynamic player in the WNBA. No, she’s not. Not by a long, long shot. That honor belongs to another Black woman: the phenomenal 27-year-old A’ja Wilson. So, sorry to disappoint you racists, but as much as you wanna wish otherwise, Eminem is not the greatest rapper of all time, Vanilla Ice was not the greatest rapper of the nineties, Elvis Presley is not the King of Rock and Roll, Babe Ruth never was the best baseball player, VonShitzNPantz is not now and never was a great businessman, and Caitlin Clarke is not the best player in the WNBA and will not be the rookie of the year. That honor will belong to Angel Reese. Deal with it. Nobody says it better. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gerald Watkins watched Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and other New York Yankees wade through stalks of corn onto an Iowa field in 2021, near the filming site for the 1989 baseball movie “Field of Dreams.” Watkins thought about Rickwood Field, the 114-year-old ballpark in his hometown Birmingham, Alabama, and he called Major League Baseball with a pitch. “The Field of Dreams is really cool,” Watkins, 68, said, “but we have a real Field of Dreams here. This is a place where Willie Mays, among others, was standing in the outfield dreaming about being in the big leagues.” Now, the big leagues are coming to Birmingham. Rickwood Field, the oldest professional ballpark in the U.S. and former home to baseball Hall of Famer Willie Mays and the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues, [hosted] an MLB game between the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants on Thursday. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Did you know there is a Juneteenth flag? It holds the same significance today as it did when it was created 27 years ago. The Grio: The nuanced symbols of freedom most of us miss in the Juneteenth flag ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are a few things Black people love: a color-themed party (usually white), a good cookout, and symbols of freedom/resistance. From the raised “Black Power” fist to the North Star, symbolism continues to play a significant role in Black history and culture, a power that also carries over into the celebration of Juneteenth. Each year since 1865, Black Americans have celebrated the liberation of enslaved Black people in the United States on June 19, in honor of the date those in Galveston were belatedly informed they were already free. In the years since, Juneteenth festivities have blossomed across the country, to the extent that in 2021, the Biden administration declared the day a federal holiday. While most Americans have gained an understanding of what Juneteenth represents, one element of the holiday is often overlooked — its flag. In 1997, 80-year-old Ben Haith designed the Juneteenth flag after noticing that the growing holiday did not have a symbol. Deciding to take matters into his own hands, Haith created a flag that drew inspiration from both the American flag and his ancestor’s journey to freedom. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Churches, mosques, and temples could change the game on affordable housing. Yes in God’s backyard? This housing solution may be the answer to your prayers. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About five years ago, Harvey Vaughn, the senior pastor at Bethel AME, the oldest Black church in San Diego, heard a radio report about rising homelessness in his city. He wondered if his congregation, which owned a roughly 7,000-square-foot lot around the corner, could help. Today, the lot is a construction site for a new housing complex that will offer 25 one-bedroom apartments for low-income seniors and veterans. It’s the first of what advocates hope will be many such projects in San Diego, led by a group called YIGBY, which stands for Yes in God’s Backyard, a spin on the pro-housing Yes in My Backyard movement. In a country with a shortage of affordable homes and a surplus of religious institutions grappling with rising costs and declining memberships, developers are looking to partner with churches, temples, and synagogues to build new housing. And amid a thicket of local land-use regulations that complicate the construction, some elected officials are looking for ways to nudge these efforts along. The YIGBY idea — working with faith-based groups to help address the housing crisis — originated from local advocates who knew homeless people eager to move from the streets into housing but unable to find any. The San Diego Association of Governments estimates San Diego County has a shortage of roughly 100,000 homes. Local funders dedicated to solving homelessness helped bring the YIGBY concept to life, and new zoning laws approved in 2019 helped streamline the process further, removing requirements that developers first seek approval from local planning agencies or elected boards to build. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the state’s most diverse district, some recoil at the US border closing while others wrestle with impacts of undocumented migration. The Guardian: For South Carolina’s Black communities, immigration issues blur party lines ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The population of both the city and county of Orangeburg, about 45 minutes north of North Charleston, is mostly Black, poor, rural and Democratic. Biden won 70% of Orangeburg in the 2020 primary – his best showing statewide – and two-thirds of votes in the November election. Without a careful message, this time could be different. Shipping border crossers to big cities seemed like a publicity stunt, but it was one that worked, in Butler’s view, to highlight how problems at the border problems everywhere, including Democratic strongholds. “I empathize with those mayors,” Butler said. “They have to deal with the expectations of migrants, and the security of them. You know we’re the land of the free and the brave, and we believe in taking care of all citizens. But those borders need to be secured to protect the citizens.” Butler’s take on immigration isn’t uniformly held across the state. Some Black political leaders in North Charleston beam about how immigration has changed their community. State representative JA Moore, a North Charleston Democrat, boasts of having the most diverse district in the state. “I’m proud of that,” he said. Moore pushes back, hard, against the suggestion that there’s tension between Blacks and Latinos about housing or jobs where he lives. North Charleston presents a more nuanced test of the Black electorate’s reaction to immigration, because the growth of its immigrant community has come with booming economic growth and overall population increases. Even so, Moore admits that some could conflate something like the rapid increase in housing prices with the rapid increase in immigration. “The housing market in general and in Charleston is higher than it was 10, 15 years ago,” Moore said. “And also the amount of Hispanics that are moving in has increased tremendously in the past 15 years. They see a Hispanic person move into their neighborhood, and they’re seeing the prices of the houses going up … People may be correlating the two.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/21/2247461/-Black-Kos-Week-In-review-Angel-Reese-will-be-Rookie-of-the-Year-amp-she-is-nobody-s-sidekick?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/