What’s Going On – 3/3

MARCH: LION OR LAMB?:
March 2022 is a month with so many special event tenants. It’s calendar begins with month long celebrations of Women’s History Month and March Madness, the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament of 68 teams compete for the national championship; Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent on March 2; Daylight Savings Time on March 13; the Ides of March, remember Caesar and Brutus on March 15; St Patrick’s Day on March 17; and the Vernal Equinox, the first day of spring on March 20

WAR IN EUROPE
The war between Russia and Ukraine is a David and Goliath encounter, which no one wants to evolve to WWIII or a return to the Cold War days.
How can a superpower like Russia with a stockpile of nuclear weapons enough to eliminate most of the planet talk about wanting to “demilitarize and deNazify” Ukraine as a threat to Russia? Alone without NATO membership, EU affiliation, and landlocked by nations close to Russia, Ukraine’s situation is desperate. Every day, 24-7, the world is bombarded with media updates of the Ukraine/Russia denouement. After Russia recognized two separatist Ukraine venues, last week and then invaded Ukraine, the United Nations community was filled with outrage and denounced the Russian aggression.

Dr. Martin Kimani, Kenya Ambassador to the United Nations, spoke eloquently about empire, the past, the recognition of boundaries, a nation’s sovereignty and lessons learned in post-colonial Africa and other places. He added. “Multilateralism lies on its death bed tonight.” Visit youtube/ZxZlaivicYM.
Each day, Russian aggression in Ukraine intensifies and civilian areas are targeted in urban centers. More than 770,000 Ukrainians have fled into Poland. The West has responded with sanctions which have impacted Russia’s economy and stripping the value of the ruble. Russian stock market has been closed for a few days. Putin has warned that he is putting Russian nuclear forces on high alert. Blacks –Nigerians, Jamaicans, Indians, Moroccans, who are mostly medical and engineering students living in Ukraine, have problems getting on trains to Poland. When they do get to Poland, they are denied entry. African American Maurice Creek has played pro basketball in Ukraine since 2019. He wanted to leave Ukraine but could not get paid. He launched a GOFUNDME page.
He should be stateside now.

The Russian terrorism in Ukraine must cease immediately. People the world over complain about post COVID inflation. Wait until we feel the burden of the Russia-Ukraine war, skyrocketing oil prices and more supply chain snafus.

NEW YORK, NY
City & State New York (CityStateNY.com) is the go-to media outlet for the politics cognoscenti. Its latest THE NEW YORK CITY 100 POWER ELITE depicts a reconfigured political universe, which is hard to believe two months into a new NYC Mayor’s administration. Mayor Eric Adams tops the list. It lists the top 26 elitists which seem like it was dictated by Hizzoner’s City Hall office. They are: 2) Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Carl Heastie; 3) NYS Governor Kathy Hochul; 4) Adrienne Adams; 5) Keechant Sewell; 6) Senator Chuck Schumer; 7) Adriano Espaillat, US Rep; 8) NYS AG Letitia James; 9) Brad Lander, NYC Comptroller; 10) Hakeem Jeffries, US Rep; 11) Michael Gianaris, NY Senator; 12) Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, US Rep; 13) Gregory Meeks, US Rep 14) Carolyn Maloney; 15) Nydia Velazquez, US Rep; 16) Jumaane Williams, NYC Public Advocate; 17) Raphael Salamanca, Chair, NYC Council Chair, Land Use; 18) Alvin Bragg, Manhattan District Attorney; 19) Henry Carrido, District Council 37 Union; 20) Lorraine Grillo 1st Deputy Mayor; 21) Frank Carone, Chief of Staff, NYC Mayor; 22) Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Chief Adviser to NYC Mayor and former Deputy Brooklyn Mayor under Adams; 23) Michael Mulgrew, UFT President; 24)David Banks, Chancellor NYC Dept of Education; 25) Sheena Wright, Deputy Mayor Strategic Initiatives and 26) George Gresham, President 1199 SEIU.

THE NATION
President Biden introduced Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as his US Supreme Court nominee to succeed Justice Breyer, who is retiring. Twice confirmed by the US Senate, it looks like SOTUS will have a super competent Black jurist in inventory when Justice Brown Jackson arrives. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson clerked for Justice Breyer and worked as a public defender representing defendants.

TEXAS held the nation’s first 2022 Primary on March 1. Will autocrat Governor Greg Abbott, a Trump clone, anti-abortion, anti-voting rights advocate, head the Republican ticket? He has been on my list of must-defeat governors for a few months. Allen West, former conservative Black congressman from Florida, is a GOP contender. Will Beto O’Rourke run away with Democratic votes?

ARTS AND CULTURE
CARNIVALS: New Orleans, Louisiana’s Annual Carnival, is back with a vengeance. Complete with floats, street dancing and most denizens are happy to “laissez les bon temps rouler.”
The Americas’ two largest carnivals, in Brazil and Trinidad, have been altered since COVID. The Trinidad Carnival, February 28 to March 1, was downsized. Brazil’s carnival in Rio de Janeiro was canceled for a second year.

FILM: The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) is a good barometer of the annual Academy Awards. Will Smith earned best actor honors for the film KING RICHARD. He is on a roll. His memoir WILL has been an ornament on the New York Times Bestseller List for about three months. Ariana DeBose was honored with best supporting actress awards for the film WEST SIDE STORY.

SPORTS
The National Football League hired former US Attorney General Loretta Lynch to represent the League in the discrimination case initiated by former Miami Dolphin coach, African American Brian Flores. Flores referenced NFL discrimination practices in management personnel and franchise ownerships.
Retired New York Yankee Derek Jeter, steps down as CEO of Major League Baseball (MLB) team the Miami Marlins and is selling his minority stake in the franchise. With Marlins for five years, Jeter says that the team’s goals have changed since he came aboard. Wonder if they are related to current negotiations between team owners and players about salary upgrades. Will deadlock abort the 2022 MLB season.
Where is former New York Times Sports journalist Bill Rhoden, author of best seller book, about Blacks in American sports “The $40 Million Slaves” to lend insights into sports franchises?

A Harlem based management consultant, Victoria is reachable at
victoria.horsford@gmail.com