My take on the Ja Morant troubles is the same as a lot of my friends' takes:
* He needs better people around him, to advise him to make much better choices
* He has a much greater chance of becoming a victim, than being an aggressor.
As a Black athlete, if you make poor choices in legitimate conflict situations, you will be perceived as the villain, regardless of any preceding provocations.
No one will remember that a 17 year old neighbor was a guest in Ja's house, getting to play pickup basketball with an NBA all star. No one will care that this 17 year old got angry first, and intentionally threw the ball full force in Ja's face, striking him, or that the 17 year old threatened to come back and "Light the place up."
All they'll remember is "Ja hit a teen!" And "Ja pulled a gun on him!"
It doesn't matter if Ja never pulled his gun out, and showed it in response to a threat.
Throwing a basketball full force in someone's face is assault. Threatening to come back and light their house up is a terroristic threat.
Standing on your own property with a legally registered handgun tucked into your waistband, is actually legal. Because 'Murica. š¤·šæāāļø
The police investigated the incident, and dropped the whole thing, because Ja had not committed a prosecutable crime.
But that doesn't mean that this was the best way to handle the situation.
Now Ja has been suspended for showing a handgun on Instagram live while he streamed from a night club.
Why did he even have a gun in a club? Registered or not? If you look at the screenshots, you'll see that he has over $100K of jewelry around his neck.
Chains are a big flex! But when you flex you're flexing on someone. Some people don't like that. Chains get snatched. People get killed for chains.
You wear a chunky chain to the club, but then you need to take a gun to protect your chain?
Safely wearing big ice to the club without getting robbed, and without getting in trouble for carrying a gun, is a solved problem. Hire security.
Because the reality is, that handgun is not protecting you nearly as much as you think it is. When violent men that make *extremely* poor life choices come for your chain, that handgun puts you in a life or death situation that you are not trained for.
For a kid that grew up in the suburbs, and is now a megamillionaire, there are much better choices.
I shared in one of the Black History month threads, how so many homicide victims in the US, are young Black men, who carry handguns, and get in violent confrontations over perceived disrespect.
The confrontation is usually between a young Black man *that does not have a long criminal history*, and another young Black man who is a known, multiple killer. The killer wins. It's not about aim, or size of weapon.
Carrying a gun and feeling like a gangster, makes victims more likely to escalate.
This happens a lot.
If you listen to the way that Black folk are talking about Ja Morant, you'll hear a lot of caution, that Memphis is absolutely not the city to play tough guy and confront random people in this way. His probability of meeting someone that will give him a very bad day, is very high.
The reason for that, is because of things like Tyree Nichols, the police can't stop any of these multiple killers in Memphis. There may only be 5 or 10 of them. But that's enough.
Good luck trying to snatch Drake's chain. I wish you well trying to take Kendrick Lamar's jewels. It's not a good idea to try to take Swae Lee's ice.
These bodyguards are skilled at protecting clients from risk. That means stopping them from getting robbed, *and* keeping them out of jail / negative news cycles. They're fully connected in that murky intersection of law enforcement, street crime, and professional protection.
I can afford the ice, but I can't afford to move like this!
So basically no, Ja is not a "thug" or a "gangster." He probably hasn't even broken any laws.
But in this unnecessarily violent and racist country that we choose to live in, he could make different choices that would serve him better. His current choices could wind up putting his career or his life in danger.
Yes, we can ask "Why should Morgan Wallen be allowed to open carry into a country music bar, and Ja can't open carry into a hip hop club?" That... may be the most American question ever.
Yup. Read the whole thread.
You don't have to be racist to participate in systemic racism. US policing produces racist outcomes even from "not-racist" people. I'm going to explain (again): * why I've probably been pulled over way more times than most people you know, even though most of the times I'm pulled over, I get no ticket (because I did nothing wrong) * how I stopped getting pulled over so much (because I understand the system) * And why lots of cops say that the average voter is more racist than the average cop
@mekkaokereke My great uncle always liked to say "an armed society is a polite society."
Obviously, this is not borne out by the evidence.
Even if it did encourage "politeness", the definition of "polite" would shift to rebalance in response to the back pressure; people who are already inclined to violence won't be less inclined to violence; they'll just feel more justified in following through.
@queenofnewyork @mekkaokereke is that like a real statistic or something that you believe from experience? If it's the former, could you provide some references please?
Not trying to bait you into anything, just curious. š
@mekkaokereke @jp_is_me The suicide stats in particular make me super sad. My depression is one of the reasons I will never own a gun. I do not trust myself.
Some claim that people intent on suicide will find a way, but thatās also not what the evidence says, from the change to gas ovens reducing suicide to securing bridges from being easily used for jumping. Iād dig out those but probably easier to find. :)
@mekkaokereke Exactly this! If you bring a gun and get into a dangerous situation, you have just GUARANTEED that the dangerous situation you're in will involve a gun!
This is why there's that photo of Jason Momoa with two body guards, both of them a head shorter than he is. Because even thought he's much larger and stronger than the average person, he's not trained in security. And even if he was, he'd rather spend his day doing what he went out to do than providing his own security.
@mekkaokereke
I'm going to be stuck on this sentence all day:
"But when you flex you're flexing on someone."
Maybe all week. How do we create a world you can be a pro athlete or a rock star or a tech billionaire and have it be enough?
"I can afford the ice, but I can't afford to move like this!"
Something tells me the money for security detail isn't what's keeping you from walking around with $100k around your neck. If you had the psychological need, the $ is easily solved.
@kims @mekkaokereke I think thatās good advice in this age of social media status.
Whatever image, emotion, or energy youāre trying to project to your followers or public at large, *will* be misinterpreted, intentionally or not, by a not insignificant number of those people.
People are using protocols for engaging with one or a few people and trying to apply it to broadcasting to hundreds, thousands, or more in this era of broadcast.
@kims @mekkaokereke
Well the main problem is racism. From that no universal healthcare or social support and with that a lock into capitalism where you literally die if you fail. Also racism has generated crazy gun laws. With inflated medical costs you need to be a multimillionaire just not to be stressed about being bankrupted by a gunman with an unjustified grudge.
Itās difficult to fight the good fight if youāre fighting to just live. Itās why non-whites are under constant attack and why the poor are next in line.
With racism the old pale stale and male lot feel entitled and control the media. With that they control the narrative.
You can make a better world. Whatever you measure yourself by, you will be limited to. So speak up and boost those who also help.
Chris Rock on why he didnāt fight back. Funny because itās true. Again black art coming to deal with issues.
That's... not why Chris Rock didn't fight back. Chris didn't fight back because he couldn't. He would've gotten slapped a few more times. Will is huge.
And much of Chris' whole comedy career for the past 10 years has been laughing at Black stereotypes for the benefit of racist white audiences. Telling jokes like "Black people vs N-words" and "Black people hate books!"
He got himself in trouble in the first place for repeatedly taking unnecessary shots at Jada, and other Black women.
I know and agree on your well made points. Chris Rock was well out of order that night. Will was wrong but he was provoked and Iām really sad it happened. My point was more that if Chris tried to fight back the racist media would have pinned him and Will as āviolent black guys fighting.ā
If my previous post furthered racist stereotypes then for that Iām sorry and thanks for the pickup and correction.
mekka okereke 
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