Fly Jock Blog
Yesterday, we lost a great entertainer: Sherman Hemsley. Although he went on to play other successful TV roles, his most famous and beloved is that of George Jefferson of the hit sitcom, “The Jeffersons,” alongside the late great TV veteran, Isabel Sanford. It’s not such a big deal now to turn on the TV and […]
It’s funny how during the week of the Fourth of July, three news stories broke out that question freedom of speech, expression and religion. Chris Rock, who was hailed the funniest man alive…by white America, no less, sent out a Fourth of July Tweet wishing Happy Independence Day to white people. "Happy white peoples independence […]
We love music and Black music and as we approach this all- important election, I’ve been thinking about the role it’s played to motivate us to do the right thing. Without picking up a book (not that I’m encouraging that) we can look back at our album, eight-track, cassette, cd collections and iTunes libraries to […]
It’s graduation season and time to salute students moving on to another phase of life. Over the years, I can’t even count how many commencement ceremonies I’ve participated in. The idea, of course, is to provide words of encouragement and even to give the students what’s called a charge — a responsibility, a duty or […]
I think one of the things that makes the TJMS work is that, like a real family, we bring a variety of personalities, talents and flaws to the table, yet we accept our differences and roll with them. It only becomes a problem when one of our actions – or lack thereof – begins to […]
Like most of the world, I was shocked by the passing of Whitney Houston, and now that reports and speculation of how she may have died are pouring in, my heart goes out even more to her family and close friends. A week doesn’t go by, it seems, without us having to pay tribute to […]
So much has happened in just a little more than three months into 2012. Whitney Houston passed away suddenly. Rush Limbaugh put his fat foot in his mouth. And Oprah’s OWN may be her first professional failure since “Beloved.” Every day, people like me in the media business read the same newspapers, check the same […]
From the hundreds of musicians that performed on “Soul Train” to the millions of viewers who tuned in every weekend, Don Cornelius’ vision to give Black America a platform to share our music our way became so much more than that. It opened doors for black ad agencies and black products and showed mainstream media […]
I think it’s so fitting that we pay tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen on Dr. King’s birthday. Before Dr. King dared to share his dream of a day when black people and white people were considered equal in this country, a group of black men and women had the audacity to dream – and believe […]
As you know, over the Christmas holiday, I had hip replacement surgery. I want to thank my friend Skip Murphy for sitting in, doing an excellent job and keeping things “on the one.” Yeah, I know he’s stuck in the ’70s – but is that really such a bad place to be? We were thinner, […]
The worst kind of brawl you can get into is one with an opponent who has nothing to lose. Think about it. How many times have you seen a team fighting for a play-off spot taken down by a team that has no chance of going anywhere? For some reason, when there isn’t as much […]
When I was in the seventh grade, I hurt my hip playing unorganized football. Since I was one of the few fat kids in the neighborhood, they’d give me the ball, and all the kids would jump on my back, and I would carry the pile toward the end zone. I was the William “The […]
