#MNR: 2021 Uncut (Year in Review)

#MNR: 2021 Uncut (Year in Review)

Here I am. Here we are. 2021 is damn near in the books. We made it (prayerfully). I didn’t jump into this YIR raw doggie. I did a lot of pondering and the obligatory research. 365 days is a lot to cover (actually 361, but we’ll tweet any amendments if need be) in a blog that doesn’t read like War & Peace. I had to get the pertinent shit in and weed out the things I didn’t feel were worth mentioning. This is, after all, my MF blog. Anyway…get your method and light that shit. This is going to be a trip.

DEARLY DEPARTED

PERSONAL VIP LIST: My mentor Brad Ballou, Black Rob (Jeff Houses/Eastside Harlem’s Greatest), Queen Cicely Tyson (Eastside), Yaphet Kotto the Great, Ditrius Medley (HCHS Blue Comets HOF), bell hooks, New Jack (for all my wrestling fanatics & real niggas worldwide), Young Dolph, Leonard “Hub” Hubbard (bass guitar player for the World’s 8th Wonder The Roots), Ronnie Wilson (The Gap Band), Michael K. Williams (Omar), Biz Markie, Henry “Hank” Aaron (love you sir – thank you), Paul Mooney the Great, Earl “DMX” Simmons, “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler (my GOAT along with Sweat Pea & Iron Mike), Rev. Fred Price (first preacher I ever saw on TV), Sonny Chiba (my guy), Beverly Cleary (thank you, lady), Dustin “Screech” Diamond (miss you my guy – you’d love the new show), Larry Flynt (I’m a freak, and so was he), Larry King (pioneer journalist), Tommy Lasorda (Top 5 manager ever IMO), Walter Mondale (my birth VP), Tanya Roberts (Midge Pinciotti from That ‘70s Show), Joanne Rogers (Mr. Rogers’ wife and concert pianist), Paul Westphall, Clarence Williams III (THE SHIT! – Tales From the Hood/Mod Squad), AJ Johnson (Ezal), Sarah Weddington (lawyer who argued and won Roe v. Wade – she was 26).

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Kangol Kid, Demaryius Thomas, Virgil Abloh, Lee Elder, Lil Antwan Fowler, Rush Limbaugh (couldn’t stand you but I super respected your persistence), Alberto “Alpo” Martinez, Melvin van Peebles, Greg Leaks (Nene’s husband), Chucky Thompson, Tim Lester (Steelers RB), Charlie Robinson (Night Court), Monster Kody, Lee Evans (PGA), Pervis Staples, Shock G, muMs, Elgin Baylor, Bunny Wailer, Irv Cross, Prince Markie Dee, Vincent Jackson, Mary Wilson, Leon Spinks, Coach John Chaney, Floyd Little, Ed Asner, Ned Beatty, Coach Bobby Bowden, Senator Bob Dole, Charles Grodin, Dusty Hill (ZZ Top), Joey Jordison (Slipknot), Tawny Kitaen, Cloris Leachman, Norm MacDonald, Jackie Mason, Markie Post, General Colin Powell, Lloyd Price, Donald Rumsfeld, Willard Scott, George Segal, Dean Stockwell, Don Sutton, Dennis Thomas (Kool & The Gang), Al Unser Sr, Bobby Unser, Charlie Watts (Stones), Drakeo the Ruler, Slim 400.

NEWS TIMELINE (that I deemed relevant)

January: 1.6 – the Insurrection, The Presidential inauguration
March: Ever Given container ship was stuck in the Suez Canal for 6 days, billions lost
April: Pig Derek Chauvin was found guilty in the assassination of George Floyd
June: Private building collapse in Miami, FL – 97 dead
July: Summer Olympics in Tokyo – USA led medal count with 113; virtually no fans (COVID)
August: US completes withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan after 20 years/2K casualties
August/September: Hurricane Ida claims 115 lives from Gulf Coast to the Atlantic
September: Texas Heartbeat Act signed; abortion illegal at six weeks in the state
November: 3 white bigots were found guilty in the assassination of Ahmaud Arbery
December: South/Midwest USA tornadoes claim 90 lives

CHAMPIONS

Alabama (NCAA FBS), Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Milwaukee Bucks, Atlanta Braves, Tyson Fury, Kamaru Usman, Chicago Sky, Italy (Euro), MANCHESTER CITY (Premier League), Chelsea (Champions League), NYCFC (MLS), Bayern Munich (Bundesliga), Lille (French Ligue 1), Atlético de Madrid (La Liga), Baylor Bears (NCAA men’s basketball), Stanford (NCAA women’s basketball), Mississippi State (NCAA baseball), Oklahoma (NCAA Softball), Kyle Larson (NASCAR), Max Verstappen (Formula One).

MUSIC

Nas is the GOAT.

ERRTHANG ELSE

Of course, COVID spun the block. This year, we were allegedly over the virus as of July 4 (according to Sleepy Joe). Then the Delta variant said “syke!” Then, when it seemed that things couldn’t get any shittier, here comes Omicron. In addition to two jabs, there is now a third booster shot. Its efficacy is a matter of debate. I’ve got mine. I feel that after twelve months, I’ve spoken on my position on vaccinations enough that I don’t need to speak on it any further. I’m still not mad at any anti-vaxxer. I respect your right to object. Just cover up in public (indoors). Please and thank you.

There is still a border crisis amongst the southern US states that border Mexico. Many have tried (unsuccessfully) to cross both legally and illegally. This year was lowlighted by the treatment of Haitians attempting to cross. I’m all for freedom, and I’m all for Black folk. That supersedes my at-time conservative approach to these types of topics. Prayers go out to my Haitian folk. Y’all have been through more than enough, including the assassination of y’all president (also in 2021). Love y’all. Praying for y’all.

Juneteenth is now a federal holiday on the American calendar, and it’s long overdue. June 17 is our day. School is still in session in New Jersey. I will not be in attendance that day.

The Tulsa Massacre has finally been formally recognized by the federal government. Thanks.

Kamala Harris became the first Black Vice President in US history. Kamala Harris became the first woman Vice President in US history.

Raphael Warnock became the first Black US senator from the state of Georgia. He’s got a lot of work ahead if he wants to defeat buffoon Herschel Walker and maintain his seat next November. LMAO. Walker is a wife-beating, self-hating plant and semi-carpetbagger who speaks with the eloquence of a menstrual show filling station attendant. He’s perfect for the Republican Party.

Zaila Avant-garde became the first African American winner of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in the almost 100-year history of the contest. You go, girl.

A lot of you PPP loan niggas got football numbers for your fraudulent transgressions. I’d say that y’all were dumb as fuck, but I’d be partially incorrect. I saw some of the numbers. Y’all definitely went for it. I can’t hate on that at all. My ire is with all the dumb MF who found it pertinent to self-snitch and put all your business on social media, immediately drawing the attention of the Feds. But that’s the world we live in today. Y’all do it all for clout. Never mind the millions. Never mind freedom. Smmfh.

Rarely at this point in life am I ever intrigued or fascinated by anything, but this NYC drill scene is captivating. London birthed it. Chicago revolutionized it. New York City may prove to be its reckoning. Chicago seems to be a lost cause at this point. Their homicide number is the Secretariat of US murder stats. But NYC trended downward before the pandemic. As I mentioned in a recent blog, NYC was deemed one of the safest big cities in America for much of the 2010s. But gang culture, bail reform, and the pandemic ignited a drastic uptick. Now, the drill music scene is playing the fourth Beatle. It’s not just the artists and their affiliated people, it’s the civilian kids who listen to it while living the very lives the artists live. Take away the cameras, jewelry, and money, and they’re no different. They live in the same areas. They walk the same streets. They have the same fears. They’re carrying the same heat, too. As of last month, 124 city kids younger than 18 have been shot, with 21 deaths in 2021. Eight handguns have been FOUND in city schools. Social media is the lynchpin. The kids post all types of incriminating shit on FB and Twitter and speak it in front of an audience on IG Live. Sometimes they are on Live WITH EACH OTHER, threatening violence in front of all types of random MF. Drill music is at the center of it all. Brooklyn was the first borough to adopt the subgenre (big ups to 22Gz – I think he’s the best at it from the city), but my homeland of #BXNYC has wrestled the crown from Medina and is running with it like no other. The recent arrest of artist Kay Flock for murder brought it all to a climax. This is after his well-publicized beef with his own [blood] cousin, DThang, a #BXNYC drill artist as well. At the end of the day, it’s indicative of all the social ills of America. It was a crazy 2021 for NYC drill. I’m damn near scared of what 2022 may have in store.

There you have it, 2021 wrapped in an Original Backwood. Here’s to 2022. I wish LOVE PEACE HEALTH PROSPERITY LONGEVITY to all. Except for the MF I can’t stand. Fuck y’all. Crew niggas to the exit, we out. ###

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