February 17, 2023 • 37 mins
Today, we review some of the biggest news stories of the week with BIN anchors Bri Wood and Morgyn Wood.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's been another busy news week and we like to
review the major stories of the week here on the
Black Information Network. Today we are joined by Black Information
Network news anchors Morgan Would and Bree Wood to discuss
this week's major stories. This is the Black Information Network
Daily Podcast and I'm your host rams this job. Morgan
and Bree, welcome back. How are you doing? Hey? Thank
(00:22):
you doing well? Yes, doing well? Thanks for having us again.
Awesome of course, anytime. And let's get to the news. Alright,
So big news this week, UM, the shooting at Michigan
State University. Very sad and the motive behind the MSU
mass shooting remains unclear as the names of the victims
(00:42):
are released. That was really sad to see their pictures too. UM.
You cover the Detroit market for the b I N.
So what's the latest on this story? Bree and then
Morgan will hear from you as well. I do. UM,
it's just a real tragedy all around, and Michigan, I
can tell you as devastated by all of this. UM.
You know, there's more than fifty students on the campus
of Michigan State University. UM, so it's very large campus
(01:04):
with several students from the city of Detroit, which is
my hometown and metro Detroit. UM. So, how it begins
is the shots were reportedly first heard in Burkey Hall
on campus, where students were in class at the time.
It was about eighteen eighteen pm that the shots were fired,
and then he proceeded to shoot at the ms U
student Union. UM. At that point, students start sending out
(01:27):
alerts to shelter in place, which is then when here
locally news broken UM saying that there were reports of
a shooter and that we were being communicated with the
entire time via Twitter. People were listening to police scanners
everything which is happening in real time on Monday nights.
So it was extremely uh crazy to witness live or
be a part of live because I'm tweeting along with
(01:48):
everybody else trying to figure out what's accurate, what's true,
and the updates, and you know, people are wondering if
their family members, their loved ones are involved. UM. So
people were sheltering in place for hours after that alert
went out. And then also the alert UH included the
term run, hide, fight, and so several people have mixed
feelings on that. But I mean in my opinion, what
(02:11):
else can you do at that point if you have
a situation where you have an active shooter. They said,
this is what we have trained for and that's what
we're telling people to do. UH. To be the most safe,
they say, run means evacuate away from danger if you
can and do so safely. Hide means to secure in place,
and fight means to protect yourself is if there is
no other option. UM. So, what we do know is
(02:32):
that five students right now remain in Sparrow Hospital and Lancing.
They are still in critical condition as of now. UM
one I just read was updated to stable condition, but
they are also hospitalized the school. Even though some friends
and family have revealed who they may be UM, the
school is not confirming who those five people students who
are confirmed to be students are just yet, just out
(02:53):
of respect for their families. But we do know the
identities of the three deceased victims UM who were unfortunately
take and from US. Nineteen year old Ari L. Anderson,
twenty year old Brian Fraser, and twenty year old Alexandria Berner,
all from Metro Detroit. UM. All three students UM had aspirations.
Ri E L. To be a pediatrician. Apparently she loved kids.
(03:13):
According to her family and Uh she was in class
at Berkey Hall when the shooter entered, and also her
family it's just devastated right now, and says she was
a remarkable student and pure of heart. She is the
niece of a reality star from Detroit who you may know,
London Charles better known as Delicious. Um. She was actually
tweeting prior to any news being delivered because she was
(03:37):
trying to call her niece and couldn't get in contact
with her. So she had put out a tweet saying
if anybody knows R. E. L please DM me let
me know if you're near her. They couldn't get in
touch with her. Um. But unfortunately she was deceased and
so Brian. He was the president of his fraternity on
the campus. And Alexandria apparently excelled in class and in
sports and was just loved by all of her friends
(03:59):
and family and people are undoubtedly heartbroken. So UM. As
for the shooter, we know he was a forty three
year old African American man who lived in Lansing. He
had absolutely no affiliation with Michigan State University. Uh, We
do know his name, but we're refraining from saying it.
We only mentioned mass murders that they're on trial because
we don't want to glorify them or their actions in
(04:21):
any way. But his name is available if you want
to know what his name is. Um. The focus for
us is on the victims of the senseless tragedy. And
according to the shooters brother, he did call in to
Fox to Detroit News and didn't interview and said that
his brother was just troubled ever since the death of
their mother in September. Um. Apparently he became a bit
(04:43):
of a recluse and he just stopped taking care of
himself and was bitter and angry. Um. And so, as
you mentioned, there's really not a motive known as of yet.
But during a press conference today, they did confirm that
there was a note found UM on his person when
they h approached him. He did kill himself. He died
of a self inflicted gunshot wound. They found two nine
(05:05):
millimeter guns on him. Um. They also found another gun
in a backpack he was carrying, and a note on
him basically indicating other institutions that he wanted to shoot
up and that he was a part of a group
UM that was going to carry out these shootings. And
also New Jersey, where I think he's actually from a
couple of schools there were named, but they are no
(05:26):
longer on any type of alert UM as he is deceased.
UM he had additional magazines and ammunition UM. And so
that's coming directly from Michigan State UH University police. And
so through all of that, UM, what I can tell
you is that as far as a motive, they're not
confirming it yet, but they're saying he may have felt
slighted in a way. Maybe he was trying to apply
(05:48):
for a job at MSU, he was asked to leave
the campus and they say there's some indication of that
in the note, but they have not read the note
or revealed everything that's in it. So we're just waiting
for updates on that. UM. But it was re Field
that besides having a criminal history, you did have a
history of mental health issues as well. UM. And back
in twenty nineteen, he was charged with carrying a concealed
(06:08):
weapon and he received eighteen months probation for that. And
the big thing here now is that had he received
the sentence, they felt he should have gotten instead of
reduced time, he would have been in jail right now
instead of roaming the streets. He completed his probation in UM.
So it's just been a lot to deal with, and
we're getting updates every single day as new information is
(06:30):
uh coming up. And right now I know that families
of the deceased are planning services UM and Sparrow Hospital
for the people still in critical condition. It's one of
the best regional hospitals in the country, so they are
in excellent hands and we're just praying that they all
pulled through. At this point, Morgan, your thoughts, I mean,
(06:51):
what can I say after that recovered it so thoroughly
and eloquently. I mean, because this is just something that
is happening far too often. UM. The only point that
I would like to add to that is Emma Riddle's tweet.
Emma Riddle is UM a student at Michigan State University,
(07:11):
and here her her tweet. UM on that day was
fourteen months ago. I had to evacuate from Oxford High
School when I was fifteen years old, and I'm sorry,
fourteen months ago. I had to evacuate from Oxford High
School when a fifteen year old open fire and killed
four of my classmates and injured seven more. Tonight, I
am sitting under my desk at Michigan State University once again,
(07:34):
texting everyone I love you. When will this end? So
the fact that here we have a student that has
now been in two mass shootings goes to show that
are we doing enough? Um? You know what more can
be done? Are we too far gone? I mean, we
really have to address, um, the gun violence and the
mental health crisis going on in the country. Agreed, absolutely.
(07:58):
You know. The the thing that really shook me, um,
was when I came across the photographs of the deceased.
I'm sad to even say that. When I came across
the photographs, I UM, you know, you you you it
doesn't become real until you're reading about these people who
(08:22):
are and everyone deserves to live until they're done living.
But you see these very very young people, these these faces,
these people who have goals and dreams and hopes, and
they're working towards building the life that they want to live.
And you see the enthusiasm in their faces, you see
the smiles, and you see that they deserve to grow old,
(08:42):
have children, have a life, have adventures, cry and laugh
and everything, and then you read the words underneath the
photographs and it's like, um, you know, this individual was
a fan of this thing or that thing or this
this individual did this way, you know, and they speak
about them in the past tense, and it's like, you know,
(09:04):
I think the finality of it kind of really it
caught up to me yesterday and I kind of had
the same thoughts as you, Morgan, when I was like,
when is when is enough enough? You know? Um? And uh,
you know, we I wouldn't even profess to uh suggest
(09:26):
anything more or do anything more, um at this point
that our listeners haven't um become familiar with. I've been
here for a year maybe doing this show, and I'm
sure we've covered six or eight mass shootings in that
time and so and I believe if I was listening correctly,
(09:47):
the news, the national news is saying we're now up
over sixty mass shootings in and it's only February. So
I think that's yeah, it's ridiculous. And you know, obviously
in that part of the world is as you mentioned, Morgan,
with their being um a community still healing from a
(10:08):
recent mass shooting at a high school if I'm not
if I remember correctly, that was a high school. Yeah,
and and yeah, and then those students to be at
at the University of Michigan and then after kind of
come to you know, come face to face with that
same sort of the tragedy is I'm sure it's overwhelming.
(10:31):
But one thing I know about Detroit is Detroit is
is with it, you know what I mean. So if
anybody can deal with that is the motor is the
three one three. So shout out to Detroit one time.
All right? Um, Moving on, the family of the man
who died after being tazed by Rally police officers was
hired by so was hot has hired Sorry, civil rights
(10:53):
attorney been crump Uh Morrigan. I read about this story,
but why don't you bring us in our listeners up
to speed on this story and then we'll follow up
with Hubree. Okay, the family of Darryl Tyree Williams has
retained services of civil rights attorney Benjamin crump Uh. Williams
is the black man who died in January. Back on
January seventeenth, he was tased several times by Raleigh, North
(11:16):
Carolina police, even though he disclosed to them that he
has a heart condition. So Crump issued a statement on
Monday calling for UM calling the incident excessive UM use
of police force, of course, and UM he is actually
expected to call for the firing of several officers today. UM.
This is just I hate to say it. It's like
(11:39):
another incident of are we are we doing this again?
Same thing with the mass shooting. UM so UM the
Williams family UM also wants the officers involved to be
charged with manslaughter. UM. This is exactly why there needs
to be a serious address with um the mental health
(12:01):
crisis going on in the country, UM for one. Because well,
and not only that, just racism in general. Let's just
put it on on blast that we don't communicate the same.
So if I'm telling you something, if I'm sitting, if
I'm in my space and i'm um, I'm loud and
I'm happy, and that's just how black people are, and
you don't understand that that does not mean that it's
(12:22):
a threat to you. So for this man to be
able to express himself how he was, I mean, he
felt under clearly mass pressure to express himself and then
to have to tell you guys, hey, I'm I'm I
have a heart condition, and then for you to continue
to use force excessively like that, I mean, there's a
true disconnect. And I don't know if it's mental health.
(12:43):
I don't know if it's fear, I don't know if
it's racism, a combination of all of them, but it
needs to be addressed. And um, Furthermore, it's just sad
to see another young person, you know, thirty two year old,
thirty two years old and not that long ago, UMU
krump was you know in this in the same area,
(13:04):
North Carolina one dealing with Andrew Brown who was fatally
shot by hum police in Elizabeth City. So there's obviously
an issue going on in North Carolina that needs to
be addressed. UM. I'm yeah, I'm gonna just digress on
this week before I get a little emotional. I'm just sure.
(13:25):
I'm sure you have a couple of things to say
about it too. So, UM, you know, I'm just consistently disgusted,
um by the conduct, and especially when you know you're
wearing body camps and this is still the behavior that's happening. Um,
it just shows that you just don't care. But the
whole reason that the police began to pat him down
(13:46):
because it is because they found a folded dollar bill
in his pocket. Um. When they approached him, he had
a passenger in the car, and they said that there
was a white substance found in the bill and they
believed it to be narcotics. I don't know if that
was ever confirmed. Um, but began to pull away when
they attempted to handcuff him, which is why they began
using the stun gun. They said he was stunned three times. Um.
(14:07):
He started running away from the officers. They tried to
restrain him, and that the body the body camp video
and surveillance from a local business said that he was
able to overpower the officers and run off again. So
he tripped in a parking lot apparently and fell on
his face. And then they're saying that the body camp
putish from several of the officers showed them struggling to
(14:27):
handcuff him again, at which point is the second time
they tasted him directly to his body. Um. And so
then he began to tell them, tell them about his
heart problems, and he got tasted one more time directly
on his body. So you're saying he finally was placed
in handcuffs around two am, but he was dead by
three am. UM. And they said they did attempt to
render aid because E. M. S was called UM, but
(14:51):
clearly it just wasn't enough. And I don't know that
that was the correct thing to do for them. UM.
There were six officers and one of him, and they
were placed on administrative duty. But as Morgan already stated today,
they will be making or calling for them to be terminated.
So it's just I don't know, it's a sad situation,
(15:13):
and I don't know what you do at this point.
What can you say when there's footage? What do you say?
Because excessive force is excessive force? Sure he wasn't armed, sure, absolutely.
You know it's crazy? Is that? You know? I I
can hear it in your voice, you know. I'm looking
at Maggie and she's you know, this is this is
(15:33):
something that everyone is reacting to. I think that it's
just kind of like we've had way more than enough
of this. We don't have a chance to recover before
we have to recover from something else that's problem. So
then it's numbing. So then it becomes numbing, And imagine
having to do the news about it every day. That's
(15:54):
that's that's why I'm looking at you guys, looking at Maggie,
and I'm like, man, we're here, and I don't want
to take any thing away from the families, the people
that have to kind of live with the real reality
of it. But you're you're not wrong. It's constant stream
of um content that we have a duty to report.
UM is just you know, it's it's a lot. I'm
(16:15):
not I'm not trying to, you know, make it seem
like we're you know, um well even bankrupt. Look at
his caseload. I mean, just you know, on the on
the Black Information UH Network website, It's funny because a
lot of these stories, UM, they'll have a disclaimer that says, uh,
you know, if you need help processing this stuff. Effectually,
(16:38):
what it says is if you need help, you know,
these types of stories can affect your mental health. There's
a number you can call that sort of stuff so
I can see it. I can hear it in your voices.
Um and uh you know, I share uh that emotional
weight with you. Um. You know, if if there's something
to be said, you know, this country loves guns, you
(17:02):
know it loves guns. And uh, you know, maybe there's
not the same sort of relationship with tasers. I think
that we're learning, um that tasers are not strictly speaking
non lethal, um because so many people are dying from
getting tased. I was that was you know, I live
in Arizona, so we had the Super Bowl last weekend
(17:24):
and I saw, you know, I saw a woman getting
tased and she was like a blood curdling scream, you know,
and I was like, why would they do that to
a human being? You know, Um, but personally when you
don't know who, you know, what type of health issues
somebody might have, you know, you know what book could
be a you know, any type of heart up pacer monitor,
(17:45):
any type of thing, and that right there can really
throw somebody off. I mean, and I think that there's
something there's there's there's a conversation to be at here
because people get shot and survive, people get tased and die.
So what's lethal and what's non lethal? You know what
I mean? And if we're teaching these officers, if training
is you know what these people insist on doing, which
(18:06):
doesn't work clearly because it's been doing I've been training
these officers for decades and even the trainers kill kill people.
We've seen that too. Um. But you know, maybe there's
they gotta double down on some pepper spray, or they
gotta get in shape and be able to chase people.
If not, then they shouldn't be cops. You know, That's
what you know, a's part of the game, man, Because
(18:27):
anything that's afraid for life, with a nervous system, uh
will will run or will engage if it feels like
it's life is on the line. Anything that includes humans,
and that's all people of all colors. It's a nervous system.
It's a function of our biology. And so running is
a part of the job. Especially people feel afraid for
their life, and if you've caused that fear, then you
(18:48):
have a responsibility to to honor that, you know what
I mean. If you're if the if the institution you
belong to invokes fear and people and causes them to
feel like I got it run or else I'm gonna die,
you shouldn't then go chase them down and kill them
because you can't catch them. You know. We saw his
name was Richard Brooks some years ago in Atlanta. It
(19:09):
broke my heart. They shot him in the back for
running away, you know. And the thing is, we knew this,
we knew this, but I saw it. I'm like, oh
my god, everybody can see this now nothing this was years.
It was. I remember I was watching an episode of
Fresh Prince and I knew it. Then. The reason the
joke was funny was because everyone knew it, but I
saw in the Fresh Prince, Jazzy Jeff said, we walked
(19:30):
into the courtroom. I forget which season, which episode, but
suffice it to say it happened. You walked into the
courtroom with his hands up because there's like a bailiff
in the courtroom and he says, listen, I don't I
already know the drill. IM gonna have my hands up
before I get six warning shots in the back right.
And of course everyone laughs at that because we know
that that's exactly what happens man. And a lot of
these officers out of shape. A lot of these officers
(19:52):
are not athletic, whatever their situation is, and you know,
for stuff like this, if they are there, that would
I think. I think Chris mentioned something to me the
other day, our producer, Chris, he said that, you know,
they put a little tax on top of the you know,
the beating if they have to chase you, and just
police culture is just this is this is a lot.
So's we'll we'll move on before we spend too much
(20:19):
time talking about black information. Network News anchors Morgan Wood
and Breewood are here with us discussing this week's major stories.
All right, and finally we have to pop culture events
that recently made the news. The first story is that
(20:39):
the singer Rihanna Reformed performed live this year at the
Super Bowl halftime show, and her performance received mixed reviews.
I don't know why, um, but what were your thoughts
on her performance and are her critics being unfair? Bree,
this time to start with you, and then Margan, we'll
go with you next listen. I loved her performance for
what it was, but I will admit I was expecting more,
(21:02):
as in some like special guest appearances, just because she
has features on so many hits songs. I just knew
somebody was coming out of the shadows, out of the
smoke when she land nothing, there was nobody. But however,
now we all know that special guests she was talking
about was the baby bump. So and I will tell
you It was funny because watching it live and being
on Twitter and live tweeting about it, everybody had the
(21:24):
same question as soon as the camera panned out, is
she pregnant? Because they're like, no, that's just the angle.
But then when she rubbed her belly, we were like, Oh,
she's pregnant. That's not a food baby, that's a real baby. Um.
So visually, I thought the production was stunning. The shots
on her performance were great, especially with h and her
dancers being suspended in the air anywhere from fifteen to
sixty feet at a time. Um. During her thirteen minute performance.
(21:47):
She did twelve songs in that time. UM. And I
was just curious about how sturdy those platforms were, um,
the way they were moving, And so I looked it
up and Bruce Rogers, he's the halftime show production designer,
he did an interview and said the led lit stages
that elevated off the ground had never been done before
in a Super Bowl performance, and so he said Rihanna
and her dancers were safe the entire time because the
(22:07):
way those platforms were built, they could Uh, they were
strong enough to carry a freight train, as he said. Um.
And so for as far as criticism from the public. Um,
let's start with her best. See Donald Trump. Okay, he
was on truth Media, his social website and he posted
epic fail. Uh. He also said Rihanna gave, without question,
the single worst halftime show in Super Bowl history. And uh,
(22:29):
this is after insulting far more than half our nation,
which is already in serious decline with her foul and
insulting language. Also so much for her stylist, So that
must have been a dig at what she was wearing. However,
that red coat I uh found out she was wearing
was a nod to her friend, the late Andre Leon Talley.
He was a stylist and creative director and former editor
(22:50):
at large for Vogue, so he's very known and they
were very good friends. Um, and he was a big
Rianna fan. So the fact that so many of the
looks that he wore, that jacket in particular, he wore often.
It was a red Norma Comali sleeping back coat. So
that is kind of the design Rihanna was wearing, and
that was an a tribute to him. He passed away
(23:10):
last year. So I didn't think, you know, anything was
wrong with it. I thought she looked cute. Um. So
many others watching were quick to point out that, um,
it appeared she had a backing track and was lip
syncing almost of that. So others complained that she showed
little energy, but hello, she's pregnant, um a whole child,
and so we can't forget about you know, original shock
(23:30):
Jack Howard Stern's commentary as well. He sat on his
show and said, you know, I don't even know why
she bothered showing up. He went on to say he
loves her voice and her songs, but it was his
opinion that eight of her performance was lip sinc And
you know, Rihanna, she called her fan group the Navy.
So the Navy fired back at everybody. They were pulling,
no punch, just they just got aline and just went
(23:51):
at everybody who had something negative to say about Rihanna's performance,
especially on Twitter, with several things. Of course we can't
say on the air, but they held her down. I
will say that, um, I feel the critics are being
completely unfair. She could have declined after no new music
or a tour for years, but she still came out
provided a show because you know, people miss seeing her.
She's got so many hits and her energy to me
(24:14):
was great for a woman who looks at least five
months pregnant. And she's the ultimate business woman too. And Morgan,
I know you saw when she pulled out that fancy
compact and just checked her makeup real quick low did
her face. That's boss status period, just in case y'all
forgot really, because this is why y'all don't see me,
because I'm a billionaire off this here makeup, off the
makeup Okay, that's sold out already to one of my
(24:38):
needial ticket money okay. And and and contrary to popular belief, um,
she doesn't need a super super Bowl have time check either,
because people think that you know, super Bowl have time
performers get paid while they don't. Instead, the NFL pays
for their expenses um associated with the show, travel costs
and things of that nature. So um. One thing I
(25:00):
will say about re Re um she even on a
disappointing day, she can do no wrong. I stand, I stand,
I stand um um. So I was um, I enjoyed,
I too enjoyed the halftime show. Um. One of my
favorite responses was Safari on Twitter. Um. He had some
choice words for Howard Stern. He said, no Rihanna slander
(25:22):
will be tolerated by these white outlets. Um, Howard Stern,
this isn't uh no one choice words, choice words, choice words.
You guys can go ahead and do the research on
your own. Um yeah, I stand, I love me some
re read and uh yeah, there's I enjoyed the show
and like who who else has performed pregnant at the
(25:46):
halftime show? So she continues to break barriers and I
don't see anything wrong with it. If you guys got
a problem, Um, I don't know. Put in your bed.
You and her screams have gone up three hundred and
thirty uh per cent, and that's just Apple Music. Spotify
streams went crazy too. Yes, and you know she did
an interview with British Vogue recently, and you know she
(26:08):
protested doing the Super Bowl halftime show back in twenty nineteen.
She was approached to perform alongside in a Room five
as she declined out a support for Colin Kaepernick and
his activism and what he was trying to do and
the changes he was trying to made in the league.
So she said she chose to perform now. Um, because
you know there's still a lot of mending to be done,
(26:29):
she said, But it's powerful to break those doors and
have representation at such a high level and a consistent level.
And in my opinion, it doesn't hurt that her good
friend jay Z, he's involved in the decision making now
because you know, Rock Nations signed to deal with the
NFL in nineteen to produce the entertainment for the events,
including Super Bowl halftime UM trying to bring more diversity
(26:49):
to the show and also amplify the league's social justice efforts.
So that has yet to be seen as of yet
to critics. But um, you know, jay Z. That's what
I thought. Jay Z was gonna be on stage age
a little bit, but he was in full stand mode too.
He was in the stands with Blue Ivy screaming. He
wasn't coming on stage. I just knew he was talking
special about UM and and empowering. I would imagine. Of course,
(27:12):
I'm not a woman, but I I'm a big supporter
of my sisters that I, you know, share this planet
with UM. To me, there's something very special and magical
about a woman who is pregnant and who is owning
the pregnancy and the pregnancy is not owning her. In
other words. I know. I've been I've lived with a
(27:35):
pregnant woman before. It's a lot and calves get swollen
and you gotta rub them feet and all that I've
seen it, I've seen. I've heard the complaints of you know,
but I also know that there's something special about seeing
a woman who is you know, Boss Boston up and
doing what she does while still being a mother, you know,
(27:56):
And that's that seems like a lot, you know, more
than anything that I've ever undertaken. And so to see that, um,
let me tell you it is, yeah, yeah, exactly. And
so that was what I took from uh, the performance.
There's something like when Serena Williams was pregnant, you know,
there was something special about that, like that's that's a boss,
(28:18):
you know, and she's look can you do that? You know,
and it's just there's something about it that just feels
very special and very powerful. And um again, that's that's
what I took from it. That so beyond that, there
was really nothing else to see. It's like, like you said,
there's this is the first and that you don't really
need to do too much else. She got up there,
she did all her songs, not all of them. Of
(28:39):
course there's a way more. But she did you know,
she did a Yeah, she had to hit it, you
know what I mean, and so um and she did it,
you know, while pregnant, you know, with a with a
child already, you know what I mean, and so exactly
exactly and she owned it and she I didn't didn't leak.
How about that you know dance, They said. Her backup
(29:02):
dancers were even shocked when seeing the footage because she
wore baggy clothes to rehearsal. She told no one, you know.
You know what else was crazy is that downtown Phoenix. Um,
I own a couple of nightclubs in downtown Phoenix, and
so um I had to go and visit my clubs
and the promoters I had partnered with and so forth,
(29:22):
downtown was full of all of her dancers. All those
people was white clothes that were just walking around, you know,
doing dancing on the corner. And that was crazy. So
it was, it was It was pretty neat to uh
to see all that stuff after the Super Bowl that
Sunday night, Uh, and UH just kind of feel like
a part of it. But yeah, um shout out to
Rihanna for that performance, and of course there's she's not
the only one making uh news and pop culture. UH.
(29:46):
We also, for the first time on this show, are
able to talk about Lebron James becoming the NBA's all
time scoring leaders, surpassing Kareem abdul Jabbar in the most
points scored. UH. So the question we have here, I
get the sense that Quis Chris wrote this one. Will
Lebron finally be recognized as the greatest player of all time?
Or does Michael Jordan's remain the goat? Morgan? Unfortunately we're
(30:09):
starting with you, so good luck. Why is it unfortunate? Listen,
let me tell you about Lebron. He's a goat in
his own right. Okay, there with me, here we go.
Lebron did score thirty eight thousand, three hundred and eighty
eight points in a Tuesday night game versus the Oklahoma
City Thunder, making him the all time leading score in
the history of the n B. A UM, he also
thanked Kareem abdul Jabar. Um was able to do it
(30:34):
one point less um over five and sixty games over
the course of twenty seasons. Now, Um Abdul Jabar held
the record for nearly forty years. Now, let's break this down.
A lot of people want to call Lebron the goat.
He's a goat in his own right. Jordan's is also
the goat. Here we go four time m v P Lebron,
(30:55):
Jordan is a five time m v P. Lebron is
a four time Finals MVP. Jordan is a six time
Finals MVP. Lebron is a six time All Defense while
Jordan is nine times All Defense. UM. Lebron is eighteen
times all the NBA, while Jordan's eleven times All NBA. Lebron,
(31:18):
it's the all time leading score. We just did that right,
and Lebron, I'm sorry in Jordan's is the fourth is
fourth in all time scoring. Lebron was able to do
this in twenty seasons and counting, but Jordan's was able
to do it in fourteen seasons. I'm gonna tell you
why Jordan remains the goat the greatest of all time.
That's why he was able to do it fourteen seasons
(31:39):
and he didn't miss too many games. Here Lebron is
now with a foot injury and some more stuff going on,
but he's still a goat. He is the g o
t e the greatest of this era. So I'm gonna
give him as on that one. I'm going through digress
because what we're not gonna do is pin two black
men against each other. When there you go both doing
(32:01):
you're a speak Morgan, You're not about to do that.
They both great, Okay, and all right, let's hear from
you who listen. What do I have to say after that?
I don't have a dog in this fight. But you
know what, in my opinion, as someone who does not
do sports, um, Jordan's you know, he's the goat according
(32:23):
to many fans and players. And I was actually watching
an interview that Amn Schuper did and he said, you
know when people talk to Lebron about whether he's the
goat or Jordan's the goat, they say, he laughs it off.
They said, it's just a crazy comparison that people are
actually arguing in barbershops about who's better him or Jordan's.
And he said he just laughs at it. Um. You know,
(32:44):
as Morgan stated, Jordan is you know, recognized as a
better defender, averaging more steals and making all the defense
team threes and more more minutes per game. Um, they're
saying James has more assists and rebounds than Jordan's and yeah,
does that and that's cerily make him better though, um,
you know he's got great stats. But on the game's
(33:05):
biggest stage, the NBA Finals, Jordan's was a perfect six
for six, which was another thing people like to throw down, like,
you know, he swept the finals MVP. So it's like,
and Lebrand does ahead that he doesn't have any three peaks.
I just saying, And Jordan's game is like technical, and
they say Lebron is more like flashy and he moves
around to get his wins, but Jordan is just straight
(33:26):
with it. Just but did you lease? Though, I'm sorry
I forgot about that. You know what's funny about what's
funny about this is that, you know, for for two
people that don't, you know, really do sports, you guys
sound very well informed, and you guys sound like you
have a lot of valid points. I'm going to get
(33:48):
myself in trouble here because I know Chris don't. Chris
is going to talk to me later and he's gonna
tell me about myself. But here's what I will say
for what it's worth. Again, I admit that I'm not qualified.
I'd too have any substantial input, but just so that
I'm able to share it. Um Again, I'm not an athlete.
(34:09):
I'm a music guy. I've always admitted that I don't
play sports. I played basketball in high school and football
and that sort of stuff, but I don't even watch
the game. To be honest, I didn't watch the Super Bowl.
It's just not my thing. I didn't I don't even
know who one doesn't matter. Here's the thing. If I'm
going to play a pickup game of basketball, right, which
(34:30):
I would, it would be very unlikely for me to
ever do something like that. But if I were to
do that, and I had the ball and I was
dribbling and I was getting ready to shoot, right, I
can handle a basketball. Again, I'm practiced the muscle memory.
So if I was to handle a basketball and shoot,
the name in my brain would not be Shock. It
would not be Lebron James, it wouldn't be anything. It
(34:54):
would be Jordan's and a very close second would be Kobe.
And so for me, because of the impression that that
Jordan has had overall on the culture and indeed the globe.
From what I understand, I believe once upon a time,
Michael Jordan's name was like the second most popular name
(35:15):
or third most popular name ever ever on planet Earth.
In all of this, Number one was Jesus Christ. Number
two and number three were either Michael Jackson or Michael Jordan.
I forget what the order was, but um, that level
of global impact in terms of the amount of human
beings who have heard a name and can and know
(35:36):
who the name represents, Um, I think that that's something
and so on. Those are the metrics by which I
would decide something like this, Not who scored the most
the most points in the third quarter of the you
know the whatever. It's just that man, Jordan's If I'm
playing basketball, Jordan's the guy I want to be like,
be like Mike right and yeah, sorry maybe, but again,
(36:00):
I don't even know who you know has the most shoe.
I think Jordan's shoes probably are more popular. I'm sure
I have a few. Doesn't have to even release new ones,
release the ones that you know. Yeah, this is so that.
I think that that further makes the case. But I
can't say the same about Lebron because I don't good
will the few pair over here sounds are just so
(36:21):
we all right, well, listen, we probably both gonna get
in trouble with Chris, so let's go ahead and cut
these microphones off before we dig ourselves any deeper. So
once again, I'd like to thank you both very much
for coming on and discussing these often heavy topics. But
sometimes we do get a laugh, so again I appreciate
the both of you once again. Today's guests are Black
Information Network news anchors Morgan Would and Bree Would. This
(36:44):
has been a production of the Black Information Network. Today's
show was produced by Chris Thompson. Have some thoughts you'd
like to share, use the red microphone talk back feature
on the I Heart Radio app. While you're there, be
sure to hit subscribe and download all of our episodes.
I'm your host, rams this job on all social media,
and I'll be hosting another episode of Civic Ciper this
weekend on a station near you. For stations, showtimes, and
(37:07):
podcast info, check civic Cyper dot com and join us
Monday as we share our news with our voice from
our perspective right here on the Black Information Network Daily
podcast
It's been another busy news week and we like to
review the major stories of the week here on the
Black Information Network. Today we are joined by Black Information
Network news anchors Morgan Would and Bree Wood to discuss
this week's major stories. This is the Black Information Network
Daily Podcast and I'm your host rams this job. Morgan
and Bree, welcome back. How are you doing? Hey? Thank
(00:22):
you doing well? Yes, doing well? Thanks for having us again.
Awesome of course, anytime. And let's get to the news. Alright,
So big news this week, UM, the shooting at Michigan
State University. Very sad and the motive behind the MSU
mass shooting remains unclear as the names of the victims
(00:42):
are released. That was really sad to see their pictures too. UM.
You cover the Detroit market for the b I N.
So what's the latest on this story? Bree and then
Morgan will hear from you as well. I do. UM,
it's just a real tragedy all around, and Michigan, I
can tell you as devastated by all of this. UM.
You know, there's more than fifty students on the campus
of Michigan State University. UM, so it's very large campus
(01:04):
with several students from the city of Detroit, which is
my hometown and metro Detroit. UM. So, how it begins
is the shots were reportedly first heard in Burkey Hall
on campus, where students were in class at the time.
It was about eighteen eighteen pm that the shots were fired,
and then he proceeded to shoot at the ms U
student Union. UM. At that point, students start sending out
(01:27):
alerts to shelter in place, which is then when here
locally news broken UM saying that there were reports of
a shooter and that we were being communicated with the
entire time via Twitter. People were listening to police scanners
everything which is happening in real time on Monday nights.
So it was extremely uh crazy to witness live or
be a part of live because I'm tweeting along with
(01:48):
everybody else trying to figure out what's accurate, what's true,
and the updates, and you know, people are wondering if
their family members, their loved ones are involved. UM. So
people were sheltering in place for hours after that alert
went out. And then also the alert UH included the
term run, hide, fight, and so several people have mixed
feelings on that. But I mean in my opinion, what
(02:11):
else can you do at that point if you have
a situation where you have an active shooter. They said,
this is what we have trained for and that's what
we're telling people to do. UH. To be the most safe,
they say, run means evacuate away from danger if you
can and do so safely. Hide means to secure in place,
and fight means to protect yourself is if there is
no other option. UM. So, what we do know is
(02:32):
that five students right now remain in Sparrow Hospital and Lancing.
They are still in critical condition as of now. UM
one I just read was updated to stable condition, but
they are also hospitalized the school. Even though some friends
and family have revealed who they may be UM, the
school is not confirming who those five people students who
are confirmed to be students are just yet, just out
(02:53):
of respect for their families. But we do know the
identities of the three deceased victims UM who were unfortunately
take and from US. Nineteen year old Ari L. Anderson,
twenty year old Brian Fraser, and twenty year old Alexandria Berner,
all from Metro Detroit. UM. All three students UM had aspirations.
Ri E L. To be a pediatrician. Apparently she loved kids.
(03:13):
According to her family and Uh she was in class
at Berkey Hall when the shooter entered, and also her
family it's just devastated right now, and says she was
a remarkable student and pure of heart. She is the
niece of a reality star from Detroit who you may know,
London Charles better known as Delicious. Um. She was actually
tweeting prior to any news being delivered because she was
(03:37):
trying to call her niece and couldn't get in contact
with her. So she had put out a tweet saying
if anybody knows R. E. L please DM me let
me know if you're near her. They couldn't get in
touch with her. Um. But unfortunately she was deceased and
so Brian. He was the president of his fraternity on
the campus. And Alexandria apparently excelled in class and in
sports and was just loved by all of her friends
(03:59):
and family and people are undoubtedly heartbroken. So UM. As
for the shooter, we know he was a forty three
year old African American man who lived in Lansing. He
had absolutely no affiliation with Michigan State University. Uh, We
do know his name, but we're refraining from saying it.
We only mentioned mass murders that they're on trial because
we don't want to glorify them or their actions in
(04:21):
any way. But his name is available if you want
to know what his name is. Um. The focus for
us is on the victims of the senseless tragedy. And
according to the shooters brother, he did call in to
Fox to Detroit News and didn't interview and said that
his brother was just troubled ever since the death of
their mother in September. Um. Apparently he became a bit
(04:43):
of a recluse and he just stopped taking care of
himself and was bitter and angry. Um. And so, as
you mentioned, there's really not a motive known as of yet.
But during a press conference today, they did confirm that
there was a note found UM on his person when
they h approached him. He did kill himself. He died
of a self inflicted gunshot wound. They found two nine
(05:05):
millimeter guns on him. Um. They also found another gun
in a backpack he was carrying, and a note on
him basically indicating other institutions that he wanted to shoot
up and that he was a part of a group
UM that was going to carry out these shootings. And
also New Jersey, where I think he's actually from a
couple of schools there were named, but they are no
(05:26):
longer on any type of alert UM as he is deceased.
UM he had additional magazines and ammunition UM. And so
that's coming directly from Michigan State UH University police. And
so through all of that, UM, what I can tell
you is that as far as a motive, they're not
confirming it yet, but they're saying he may have felt
slighted in a way. Maybe he was trying to apply
(05:48):
for a job at MSU, he was asked to leave
the campus and they say there's some indication of that
in the note, but they have not read the note
or revealed everything that's in it. So we're just waiting
for updates on that. UM. But it was re Field
that besides having a criminal history, you did have a
history of mental health issues as well. UM. And back
in twenty nineteen, he was charged with carrying a concealed
(06:08):
weapon and he received eighteen months probation for that. And
the big thing here now is that had he received
the sentence, they felt he should have gotten instead of
reduced time, he would have been in jail right now
instead of roaming the streets. He completed his probation in UM.
So it's just been a lot to deal with, and
we're getting updates every single day as new information is
(06:30):
uh coming up. And right now I know that families
of the deceased are planning services UM and Sparrow Hospital
for the people still in critical condition. It's one of
the best regional hospitals in the country, so they are
in excellent hands and we're just praying that they all
pulled through. At this point, Morgan, your thoughts, I mean,
(06:51):
what can I say after that recovered it so thoroughly
and eloquently. I mean, because this is just something that
is happening far too often. UM. The only point that
I would like to add to that is Emma Riddle's tweet.
Emma Riddle is UM a student at Michigan State University,
(07:11):
and here her her tweet. UM on that day was
fourteen months ago. I had to evacuate from Oxford High
School when I was fifteen years old, and I'm sorry,
fourteen months ago. I had to evacuate from Oxford High
School when a fifteen year old open fire and killed
four of my classmates and injured seven more. Tonight, I
am sitting under my desk at Michigan State University once again,
(07:34):
texting everyone I love you. When will this end? So
the fact that here we have a student that has
now been in two mass shootings goes to show that
are we doing enough? Um? You know what more can
be done? Are we too far gone? I mean, we
really have to address, um, the gun violence and the
mental health crisis going on in the country. Agreed, absolutely.
(07:58):
You know. The the thing that really shook me, um,
was when I came across the photographs of the deceased.
I'm sad to even say that. When I came across
the photographs, I UM, you know, you you you it
doesn't become real until you're reading about these people who
(08:22):
are and everyone deserves to live until they're done living.
But you see these very very young people, these these faces,
these people who have goals and dreams and hopes, and
they're working towards building the life that they want to live.
And you see the enthusiasm in their faces, you see
the smiles, and you see that they deserve to grow old,
(08:42):
have children, have a life, have adventures, cry and laugh
and everything, and then you read the words underneath the
photographs and it's like, um, you know, this individual was
a fan of this thing or that thing or this
this individual did this way, you know, and they speak
about them in the past tense, and it's like, you know,
(09:04):
I think the finality of it kind of really it
caught up to me yesterday and I kind of had
the same thoughts as you, Morgan, when I was like,
when is when is enough enough? You know? Um? And uh,
you know, we I wouldn't even profess to uh suggest
(09:26):
anything more or do anything more, um at this point
that our listeners haven't um become familiar with. I've been
here for a year maybe doing this show, and I'm
sure we've covered six or eight mass shootings in that
time and so and I believe if I was listening correctly,
(09:47):
the news, the national news is saying we're now up
over sixty mass shootings in and it's only February. So
I think that's yeah, it's ridiculous. And you know, obviously
in that part of the world is as you mentioned, Morgan,
with their being um a community still healing from a
(10:08):
recent mass shooting at a high school if I'm not
if I remember correctly, that was a high school. Yeah,
and and yeah, and then those students to be at
at the University of Michigan and then after kind of
come to you know, come face to face with that
same sort of the tragedy is I'm sure it's overwhelming.
(10:31):
But one thing I know about Detroit is Detroit is
is with it, you know what I mean. So if
anybody can deal with that is the motor is the
three one three. So shout out to Detroit one time.
All right? Um, Moving on, the family of the man
who died after being tazed by Rally police officers was
hired by so was hot has hired Sorry, civil rights
(10:53):
attorney been crump Uh Morrigan. I read about this story,
but why don't you bring us in our listeners up
to speed on this story and then we'll follow up
with Hubree. Okay, the family of Darryl Tyree Williams has
retained services of civil rights attorney Benjamin crump Uh. Williams
is the black man who died in January. Back on
January seventeenth, he was tased several times by Raleigh, North
(11:16):
Carolina police, even though he disclosed to them that he
has a heart condition. So Crump issued a statement on
Monday calling for UM calling the incident excessive UM use
of police force, of course, and UM he is actually
expected to call for the firing of several officers today. UM.
This is just I hate to say it. It's like
(11:39):
another incident of are we are we doing this again?
Same thing with the mass shooting. UM so UM the
Williams family UM also wants the officers involved to be
charged with manslaughter. UM. This is exactly why there needs
to be a serious address with um the mental health
(12:01):
crisis going on in the country, UM for one. Because well,
and not only that, just racism in general. Let's just
put it on on blast that we don't communicate the same.
So if I'm telling you something, if I'm sitting, if
I'm in my space and i'm um, I'm loud and
I'm happy, and that's just how black people are, and
you don't understand that that does not mean that it's
(12:22):
a threat to you. So for this man to be
able to express himself how he was, I mean, he
felt under clearly mass pressure to express himself and then
to have to tell you guys, hey, I'm I'm I
have a heart condition, and then for you to continue
to use force excessively like that, I mean, there's a
true disconnect. And I don't know if it's mental health.
(12:43):
I don't know if it's fear, I don't know if
it's racism, a combination of all of them, but it
needs to be addressed. And um, Furthermore, it's just sad
to see another young person, you know, thirty two year old,
thirty two years old and not that long ago, UMU
krump was you know in this in the same area,
(13:04):
North Carolina one dealing with Andrew Brown who was fatally
shot by hum police in Elizabeth City. So there's obviously
an issue going on in North Carolina that needs to
be addressed. UM. I'm yeah, I'm gonna just digress on
this week before I get a little emotional. I'm just sure.
(13:25):
I'm sure you have a couple of things to say
about it too. So, UM, you know, I'm just consistently disgusted,
um by the conduct, and especially when you know you're
wearing body camps and this is still the behavior that's happening. Um,
it just shows that you just don't care. But the
whole reason that the police began to pat him down
(13:46):
because it is because they found a folded dollar bill
in his pocket. Um. When they approached him, he had
a passenger in the car, and they said that there
was a white substance found in the bill and they
believed it to be narcotics. I don't know if that
was ever confirmed. Um, but began to pull away when
they attempted to handcuff him, which is why they began
using the stun gun. They said he was stunned three times. Um.
(14:07):
He started running away from the officers. They tried to
restrain him, and that the body the body camp video
and surveillance from a local business said that he was
able to overpower the officers and run off again. So
he tripped in a parking lot apparently and fell on
his face. And then they're saying that the body camp
putish from several of the officers showed them struggling to
(14:27):
handcuff him again, at which point is the second time
they tasted him directly to his body. Um. And so
then he began to tell them, tell them about his
heart problems, and he got tasted one more time directly
on his body. So you're saying he finally was placed
in handcuffs around two am, but he was dead by
three am. UM. And they said they did attempt to
render aid because E. M. S was called UM, but
(14:51):
clearly it just wasn't enough. And I don't know that
that was the correct thing to do for them. UM.
There were six officers and one of him, and they
were placed on administrative duty. But as Morgan already stated today,
they will be making or calling for them to be terminated.
So it's just I don't know, it's a sad situation,
(15:13):
and I don't know what you do at this point.
What can you say when there's footage? What do you say?
Because excessive force is excessive force? Sure he wasn't armed, sure, absolutely.
You know it's crazy? Is that? You know? I I
can hear it in your voice, you know. I'm looking
at Maggie and she's you know, this is this is
(15:33):
something that everyone is reacting to. I think that it's
just kind of like we've had way more than enough
of this. We don't have a chance to recover before
we have to recover from something else that's problem. So
then it's numbing. So then it becomes numbing, And imagine
having to do the news about it every day. That's
(15:54):
that's that's why I'm looking at you guys, looking at Maggie,
and I'm like, man, we're here, and I don't want
to take any thing away from the families, the people
that have to kind of live with the real reality
of it. But you're you're not wrong. It's constant stream
of um content that we have a duty to report.
UM is just you know, it's it's a lot. I'm
(16:15):
not I'm not trying to, you know, make it seem
like we're you know, um well even bankrupt. Look at
his caseload. I mean, just you know, on the on
the Black Information UH Network website, It's funny because a
lot of these stories, UM, they'll have a disclaimer that says, uh,
you know, if you need help processing this stuff. Effectually,
(16:38):
what it says is if you need help, you know,
these types of stories can affect your mental health. There's
a number you can call that sort of stuff so
I can see it. I can hear it in your voices.
Um and uh you know, I share uh that emotional
weight with you. Um. You know, if if there's something
to be said, you know, this country loves guns, you
(17:02):
know it loves guns. And uh, you know, maybe there's
not the same sort of relationship with tasers. I think
that we're learning, um that tasers are not strictly speaking
non lethal, um because so many people are dying from
getting tased. I was that was you know, I live
in Arizona, so we had the Super Bowl last weekend
(17:24):
and I saw, you know, I saw a woman getting
tased and she was like a blood curdling scream, you know,
and I was like, why would they do that to
a human being? You know, Um, but personally when you
don't know who, you know, what type of health issues
somebody might have, you know, you know what book could
be a you know, any type of heart up pacer monitor,
(17:45):
any type of thing, and that right there can really
throw somebody off. I mean, and I think that there's
something there's there's there's a conversation to be at here
because people get shot and survive, people get tased and die.
So what's lethal and what's non lethal? You know what
I mean? And if we're teaching these officers, if training
is you know what these people insist on doing, which
(18:06):
doesn't work clearly because it's been doing I've been training
these officers for decades and even the trainers kill kill people.
We've seen that too. Um. But you know, maybe there's
they gotta double down on some pepper spray, or they
gotta get in shape and be able to chase people.
If not, then they shouldn't be cops. You know, That's
what you know, a's part of the game, man, Because
(18:27):
anything that's afraid for life, with a nervous system, uh
will will run or will engage if it feels like
it's life is on the line. Anything that includes humans,
and that's all people of all colors. It's a nervous system.
It's a function of our biology. And so running is
a part of the job. Especially people feel afraid for
their life, and if you've caused that fear, then you
(18:48):
have a responsibility to to honor that, you know what
I mean. If you're if the if the institution you
belong to invokes fear and people and causes them to
feel like I got it run or else I'm gonna die,
you shouldn't then go chase them down and kill them
because you can't catch them. You know. We saw his
name was Richard Brooks some years ago in Atlanta. It
(19:09):
broke my heart. They shot him in the back for
running away, you know. And the thing is, we knew this,
we knew this, but I saw it. I'm like, oh
my god, everybody can see this now nothing this was years.
It was. I remember I was watching an episode of
Fresh Prince and I knew it. Then. The reason the
joke was funny was because everyone knew it, but I
saw in the Fresh Prince, Jazzy Jeff said, we walked
(19:30):
into the courtroom. I forget which season, which episode, but
suffice it to say it happened. You walked into the
courtroom with his hands up because there's like a bailiff
in the courtroom and he says, listen, I don't I
already know the drill. IM gonna have my hands up
before I get six warning shots in the back right.
And of course everyone laughs at that because we know
that that's exactly what happens man. And a lot of
these officers out of shape. A lot of these officers
(19:52):
are not athletic, whatever their situation is, and you know,
for stuff like this, if they are there, that would
I think. I think Chris mentioned something to me the
other day, our producer, Chris, he said that, you know,
they put a little tax on top of the you know,
the beating if they have to chase you, and just
police culture is just this is this is a lot.
So's we'll we'll move on before we spend too much
(20:19):
time talking about black information. Network News anchors Morgan Wood
and Breewood are here with us discussing this week's major stories.
All right, and finally we have to pop culture events
that recently made the news. The first story is that
(20:39):
the singer Rihanna Reformed performed live this year at the
Super Bowl halftime show, and her performance received mixed reviews.
I don't know why, um, but what were your thoughts
on her performance and are her critics being unfair? Bree,
this time to start with you, and then Margan, we'll
go with you next listen. I loved her performance for
what it was, but I will admit I was expecting more,
(21:02):
as in some like special guest appearances, just because she
has features on so many hits songs. I just knew
somebody was coming out of the shadows, out of the
smoke when she land nothing, there was nobody. But however,
now we all know that special guests she was talking
about was the baby bump. So and I will tell
you It was funny because watching it live and being
on Twitter and live tweeting about it, everybody had the
(21:24):
same question as soon as the camera panned out, is
she pregnant? Because they're like, no, that's just the angle.
But then when she rubbed her belly, we were like, Oh,
she's pregnant. That's not a food baby, that's a real baby. Um.
So visually, I thought the production was stunning. The shots
on her performance were great, especially with h and her
dancers being suspended in the air anywhere from fifteen to
sixty feet at a time. Um. During her thirteen minute performance.
(21:47):
She did twelve songs in that time. UM. And I
was just curious about how sturdy those platforms were, um,
the way they were moving, And so I looked it
up and Bruce Rogers, he's the halftime show production designer,
he did an interview and said the led lit stages
that elevated off the ground had never been done before
in a Super Bowl performance, and so he said Rihanna
and her dancers were safe the entire time because the
(22:07):
way those platforms were built, they could Uh, they were
strong enough to carry a freight train, as he said. Um.
And so for as far as criticism from the public. Um,
let's start with her best. See Donald Trump. Okay, he
was on truth Media, his social website and he posted
epic fail. Uh. He also said Rihanna gave, without question,
the single worst halftime show in Super Bowl history. And uh,
(22:29):
this is after insulting far more than half our nation,
which is already in serious decline with her foul and
insulting language. Also so much for her stylist, So that
must have been a dig at what she was wearing. However,
that red coat I uh found out she was wearing
was a nod to her friend, the late Andre Leon Talley.
He was a stylist and creative director and former editor
(22:50):
at large for Vogue, so he's very known and they
were very good friends. Um, and he was a big
Rianna fan. So the fact that so many of the
looks that he wore, that jacket in particular, he wore often.
It was a red Norma Comali sleeping back coat. So
that is kind of the design Rihanna was wearing, and
that was an a tribute to him. He passed away
(23:10):
last year. So I didn't think, you know, anything was
wrong with it. I thought she looked cute. Um. So
many others watching were quick to point out that, um,
it appeared she had a backing track and was lip
syncing almost of that. So others complained that she showed
little energy, but hello, she's pregnant, um a whole child,
and so we can't forget about you know, original shock
(23:30):
Jack Howard Stern's commentary as well. He sat on his
show and said, you know, I don't even know why
she bothered showing up. He went on to say he
loves her voice and her songs, but it was his
opinion that eight of her performance was lip sinc And
you know, Rihanna, she called her fan group the Navy.
So the Navy fired back at everybody. They were pulling,
no punch, just they just got aline and just went
(23:51):
at everybody who had something negative to say about Rihanna's performance,
especially on Twitter, with several things. Of course we can't
say on the air, but they held her down. I
will say that, um, I feel the critics are being
completely unfair. She could have declined after no new music
or a tour for years, but she still came out
provided a show because you know, people miss seeing her.
She's got so many hits and her energy to me
(24:14):
was great for a woman who looks at least five
months pregnant. And she's the ultimate business woman too. And Morgan,
I know you saw when she pulled out that fancy
compact and just checked her makeup real quick low did
her face. That's boss status period, just in case y'all
forgot really, because this is why y'all don't see me,
because I'm a billionaire off this here makeup, off the
makeup Okay, that's sold out already to one of my
(24:38):
needial ticket money okay. And and and contrary to popular belief, um,
she doesn't need a super super Bowl have time check either,
because people think that you know, super Bowl have time
performers get paid while they don't. Instead, the NFL pays
for their expenses um associated with the show, travel costs
and things of that nature. So um. One thing I
(25:00):
will say about re Re um she even on a
disappointing day, she can do no wrong. I stand, I stand,
I stand um um. So I was um, I enjoyed,
I too enjoyed the halftime show. Um. One of my
favorite responses was Safari on Twitter. Um. He had some
choice words for Howard Stern. He said, no Rihanna slander
(25:22):
will be tolerated by these white outlets. Um, Howard Stern,
this isn't uh no one choice words, choice words, choice words.
You guys can go ahead and do the research on
your own. Um yeah, I stand, I love me some
re read and uh yeah, there's I enjoyed the show
and like who who else has performed pregnant at the
(25:46):
halftime show? So she continues to break barriers and I
don't see anything wrong with it. If you guys got
a problem, Um, I don't know. Put in your bed.
You and her screams have gone up three hundred and
thirty uh per cent, and that's just Apple Music. Spotify
streams went crazy too. Yes, and you know she did
an interview with British Vogue recently, and you know she
(26:08):
protested doing the Super Bowl halftime show back in twenty nineteen.
She was approached to perform alongside in a Room five
as she declined out a support for Colin Kaepernick and
his activism and what he was trying to do and
the changes he was trying to made in the league.
So she said she chose to perform now. Um, because
you know there's still a lot of mending to be done,
(26:29):
she said, But it's powerful to break those doors and
have representation at such a high level and a consistent level.
And in my opinion, it doesn't hurt that her good
friend jay Z, he's involved in the decision making now
because you know, Rock Nations signed to deal with the
NFL in nineteen to produce the entertainment for the events,
including Super Bowl halftime UM trying to bring more diversity
(26:49):
to the show and also amplify the league's social justice efforts.
So that has yet to be seen as of yet
to critics. But um, you know, jay Z. That's what
I thought. Jay Z was gonna be on stage age
a little bit, but he was in full stand mode too.
He was in the stands with Blue Ivy screaming. He
wasn't coming on stage. I just knew he was talking
special about UM and and empowering. I would imagine. Of course,
(27:12):
I'm not a woman, but I I'm a big supporter
of my sisters that I, you know, share this planet
with UM. To me, there's something very special and magical
about a woman who is pregnant and who is owning
the pregnancy and the pregnancy is not owning her. In
other words. I know. I've been I've lived with a
(27:35):
pregnant woman before. It's a lot and calves get swollen
and you gotta rub them feet and all that I've
seen it, I've seen. I've heard the complaints of you know,
but I also know that there's something special about seeing
a woman who is you know, Boss Boston up and
doing what she does while still being a mother, you know,
(27:56):
And that's that seems like a lot, you know, more
than anything that I've ever undertaken. And so to see that, um,
let me tell you it is, yeah, yeah, exactly. And
so that was what I took from uh, the performance.
There's something like when Serena Williams was pregnant, you know,
there was something special about that, like that's that's a boss,
(28:18):
you know, and she's look can you do that? You know,
and it's just there's something about it that just feels
very special and very powerful. And um again, that's that's
what I took from it. That so beyond that, there
was really nothing else to see. It's like, like you said,
there's this is the first and that you don't really
need to do too much else. She got up there,
she did all her songs, not all of them. Of
(28:39):
course there's a way more. But she did you know,
she did a Yeah, she had to hit it, you
know what I mean, and so um and she did it,
you know, while pregnant, you know, with a with a
child already, you know what I mean, and so exactly
exactly and she owned it and she I didn't didn't leak.
How about that you know dance, They said. Her backup
(29:02):
dancers were even shocked when seeing the footage because she
wore baggy clothes to rehearsal. She told no one, you know.
You know what else was crazy is that downtown Phoenix. Um,
I own a couple of nightclubs in downtown Phoenix, and
so um I had to go and visit my clubs
and the promoters I had partnered with and so forth,
(29:22):
downtown was full of all of her dancers. All those
people was white clothes that were just walking around, you know,
doing dancing on the corner. And that was crazy. So
it was, it was It was pretty neat to uh
to see all that stuff after the Super Bowl that
Sunday night, Uh, and UH just kind of feel like
a part of it. But yeah, um shout out to
Rihanna for that performance, and of course there's she's not
the only one making uh news and pop culture. UH.
(29:46):
We also, for the first time on this show, are
able to talk about Lebron James becoming the NBA's all
time scoring leaders, surpassing Kareem abdul Jabbar in the most
points scored. UH. So the question we have here, I
get the sense that Quis Chris wrote this one. Will
Lebron finally be recognized as the greatest player of all time?
Or does Michael Jordan's remain the goat? Morgan? Unfortunately we're
(30:09):
starting with you, so good luck. Why is it unfortunate? Listen,
let me tell you about Lebron. He's a goat in
his own right. Okay, there with me, here we go.
Lebron did score thirty eight thousand, three hundred and eighty
eight points in a Tuesday night game versus the Oklahoma
City Thunder, making him the all time leading score in
the history of the n B. A UM, he also
thanked Kareem abdul Jabar. Um was able to do it
(30:34):
one point less um over five and sixty games over
the course of twenty seasons. Now, Um Abdul Jabar held
the record for nearly forty years. Now, let's break this down.
A lot of people want to call Lebron the goat.
He's a goat in his own right. Jordan's is also
the goat. Here we go four time m v P Lebron,
(30:55):
Jordan is a five time m v P. Lebron is
a four time Finals MVP. Jordan is a six time
Finals MVP. Lebron is a six time All Defense while
Jordan is nine times All Defense. UM. Lebron is eighteen
times all the NBA, while Jordan's eleven times All NBA. Lebron,
(31:18):
it's the all time leading score. We just did that right,
and Lebron, I'm sorry in Jordan's is the fourth is
fourth in all time scoring. Lebron was able to do
this in twenty seasons and counting, but Jordan's was able
to do it in fourteen seasons. I'm gonna tell you
why Jordan remains the goat the greatest of all time.
That's why he was able to do it fourteen seasons
(31:39):
and he didn't miss too many games. Here Lebron is
now with a foot injury and some more stuff going on,
but he's still a goat. He is the g o
t e the greatest of this era. So I'm gonna
give him as on that one. I'm going through digress
because what we're not gonna do is pin two black
men against each other. When there you go both doing
(32:01):
you're a speak Morgan, You're not about to do that.
They both great, Okay, and all right, let's hear from
you who listen. What do I have to say after that?
I don't have a dog in this fight. But you
know what, in my opinion, as someone who does not
do sports, um, Jordan's you know, he's the goat according
(32:23):
to many fans and players. And I was actually watching
an interview that Amn Schuper did and he said, you
know when people talk to Lebron about whether he's the
goat or Jordan's the goat, they say, he laughs it off.
They said, it's just a crazy comparison that people are
actually arguing in barbershops about who's better him or Jordan's.
And he said he just laughs at it. Um. You know,
(32:44):
as Morgan stated, Jordan is you know, recognized as a
better defender, averaging more steals and making all the defense
team threes and more more minutes per game. Um, they're
saying James has more assists and rebounds than Jordan's and yeah,
does that and that's cerily make him better though, um,
you know he's got great stats. But on the game's
(33:05):
biggest stage, the NBA Finals, Jordan's was a perfect six
for six, which was another thing people like to throw down, like,
you know, he swept the finals MVP. So it's like,
and Lebrand does ahead that he doesn't have any three peaks.
I just saying, And Jordan's game is like technical, and
they say Lebron is more like flashy and he moves
around to get his wins, but Jordan is just straight
(33:26):
with it. Just but did you lease? Though, I'm sorry
I forgot about that. You know what's funny about what's
funny about this is that, you know, for for two
people that don't, you know, really do sports, you guys
sound very well informed, and you guys sound like you
have a lot of valid points. I'm going to get
(33:48):
myself in trouble here because I know Chris don't. Chris
is going to talk to me later and he's gonna
tell me about myself. But here's what I will say
for what it's worth. Again, I admit that I'm not qualified.
I'd too have any substantial input, but just so that
I'm able to share it. Um Again, I'm not an athlete.
(34:09):
I'm a music guy. I've always admitted that I don't
play sports. I played basketball in high school and football
and that sort of stuff, but I don't even watch
the game. To be honest, I didn't watch the Super Bowl.
It's just not my thing. I didn't I don't even
know who one doesn't matter. Here's the thing. If I'm
going to play a pickup game of basketball, right, which
(34:30):
I would, it would be very unlikely for me to
ever do something like that. But if I were to
do that, and I had the ball and I was
dribbling and I was getting ready to shoot, right, I
can handle a basketball. Again, I'm practiced the muscle memory.
So if I was to handle a basketball and shoot,
the name in my brain would not be Shock. It
would not be Lebron James, it wouldn't be anything. It
(34:54):
would be Jordan's and a very close second would be Kobe.
And so for me, because of the impression that that
Jordan has had overall on the culture and indeed the globe.
From what I understand, I believe once upon a time,
Michael Jordan's name was like the second most popular name
(35:15):
or third most popular name ever ever on planet Earth.
In all of this, Number one was Jesus Christ. Number
two and number three were either Michael Jackson or Michael Jordan.
I forget what the order was, but um, that level
of global impact in terms of the amount of human
beings who have heard a name and can and know
(35:36):
who the name represents, Um, I think that that's something
and so on. Those are the metrics by which I
would decide something like this, Not who scored the most
the most points in the third quarter of the you
know the whatever. It's just that man, Jordan's If I'm
playing basketball, Jordan's the guy I want to be like,
be like Mike right and yeah, sorry maybe, but again,
(36:00):
I don't even know who you know has the most shoe.
I think Jordan's shoes probably are more popular. I'm sure
I have a few. Doesn't have to even release new ones,
release the ones that you know. Yeah, this is so that.
I think that that further makes the case. But I
can't say the same about Lebron because I don't good
will the few pair over here sounds are just so
(36:21):
we all right, well, listen, we probably both gonna get
in trouble with Chris, so let's go ahead and cut
these microphones off before we dig ourselves any deeper. So
once again, I'd like to thank you both very much
for coming on and discussing these often heavy topics. But
sometimes we do get a laugh, so again I appreciate
the both of you once again. Today's guests are Black
Information Network news anchors Morgan Would and Bree Would. This
(36:44):
has been a production of the Black Information Network. Today's
show was produced by Chris Thompson. Have some thoughts you'd
like to share, use the red microphone talk back feature
on the I Heart Radio app. While you're there, be
sure to hit subscribe and download all of our episodes.
I'm your host, rams this job on all social media,
and I'll be hosting another episode of Civic Ciper this
weekend on a station near you. For stations, showtimes, and
(37:07):
podcast info, check civic Cyper dot com and join us
Monday as we share our news with our voice from
our perspective right here on the Black Information Network Daily
podcast
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