A.J. Jones
Bio
6'5 Saxophonic Poetic Minister. Writer, producer, poet, and independent artist. College Athletics Wage Advocate, ADOS, advocate for reparations, advocate for HBCUs, Advocate for Arts in the Schools, and Advocate for Black Church Musicians
Stories (12/0)
What's Wrong With Black Men?
This question is usually asked in articles written by black females. The reality in the answer is far deeper and is often times overlooked in general conversations and in the general dialog in the black community. When this subject is spoken on in a lot of articles written by black females it is usually written very passionately with “surface facts”(Surface facts are facts that can be obviously seen and can be proven and often times stand alone). When a black male is writing on this very same subject we have to pull history, psychology, and even refer to shifts in societal norms to further explain what is going with black men. The issues with black men are not of any type of epidemic proportion or anything like that, but more of systemic and societal changes.
By A.J. Jones4 years ago in The Swamp
The Patriots Protect Owner by Releasing Brown
The National Football League was taken by storm when the New England Patriots signed the best wide out in the league Antonio Brown. Brown was released after having a verbal altercation with Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis on top of the drama-filled training camp about his helmet issues, his injury to his feet from a cryotherapy mishap, calling out Juju, falling out with his former quarterback Ben Rothlesburger.
By A.J. Jones4 years ago in Unbalanced
There Are Blacks and Latino People Who Don't Trust Kamala Harris
When Kamala Harris won her seat in the senate, Black people across the country were happy to see a woman of color in office, but at the same time, there are Black people who don't trust her. If anybody wanted to tell you about Senator, Prosecutor, or Attorney General Kamala Harris and how she is; the people of California could probably tell you better than anybody. The residents of the cities of San Francisco and Oakland Metropolitan area (also known as the "Bay Area" or "The Bay"). Kamala Harris had a stiff and staunch stance on truancy and wanted to keep more kids back in school; because she had grown tired of the number of truant students rising in the state of California year after years after comparing the rates, numbers, and percentages against the other states in the country. Now, Harris champions herself as a "pioneer for reform in criminal justice," but her approach of how to keep students from being truant. She would start her "crusade on truancy" she started this back in 2010 campaign for Attorney General. She explained that the point of her campaign was to focus on chronic school absences. Harris sponsored a bill and to took it to the state and was passed. Harris' sponsoring of this bill made it a misdemeanor for parents of kids who missed more that 10% of the school's calendar days. This misdemeanor would consist of a $2,000.00 fine, up to a year in jail, or both. This law sent a lot parents to jail and even in some cases made the truancy problem worse. Harris was interview by Pod Save America and stated, "In some cases, the arrests and jail sentences were 'unintended consequences' of the state law that she championed her anti-truancy campaign on." She put black and brown parents behind bars while enforcing this anti-truancy law throughout California.
By A.J. Jones4 years ago in The Swamp
Why Most Black People Hate the 'Harriet' Movie
The movie Harriet was supposed to be a historical biopic documentary film that was publicized as an homage to the great pioneer of the underground railroad Harriet Tubman, but was portrayed as something else. The movie was co-written by Kasi Lemmons and Gregory Allen Howard, but the way the movie was written ticked off people in the black community for several reasons. Harriet was portrayed as a female sex slave of her slave master "that was giving up the goodies up and down the underground railroad." Well, first off, British actress Cynthia Erivo (who does not like black Americans and is outspoken about it) was selected to play the lead role in the portrayal of Harriet Tubman. Erivo being selected as the lead did stir up a negative buzz because of her negative thoughts and remarks about black Americans that she has stated in interviews and posted on her social media. Erivo is a stage actress who had a debut role in the Broadway classic The Color Purple alongside Jennifer Hudson, who portrayed singer Shug Avery. Erivo is also a Tony Award-winning actress. Black America was trying to figure out how and why the directors and writers of the movie chose Erivo to play Harriet Tubman? Erivo is an accomplished stage actress, but seems to look out of place on the silver screen. Also, the black community wanted to see Harriet Tubman portrayed by a black American actress that respected the culture.
By A.J. Jones4 years ago in Geeks
The Great Black Migration
The 2015 announcement of Donald J. Trump's running for president made the racial dynamic in the United States diminish the whole post-racial society conversation, and it led to cries for safety from black people, especially the black men. Black and brown people in the US have come under a barrage of racial resistance due to #45's views on minorities and immigrants. Since #45's election, we've had the Charleston, SC Church Shooting, The Charlottesville Massacre, The El Paso Shooting, The Las Vegas Shooting, and Dayton, Ohio Shooting. All these shootings were racially motivated by the racially charged rhetoric of the commander and chief. The shootings and the latest immigration legislation has a lot of black people not feeling safe in the US. Black males feel the sting of all this racial storm the most. Black men are the most criminalized, profiled, and murdered men in the US.
By A.J. Jones4 years ago in The Swamp
The 2019 Phenom: Zion Williamson
The 2019 NBA draft happened hours ago. The top player that everyone was paying attention to the 6'7, 285-pound freshman and all-American forward from Duke University: Zion Williamson. Williamson was the first round and first pick, who was selected by The New Orleans Pelicans. We have seen phenoms in basketball in frequency over the last 20 years, and the number of phenoms get even smaller if you go back 30 to 50 years. Zion Williamson is in a class by himself, solely based on his statuesque 6'7 and 285-pound frame, along with his freakish strength and damn near superhuman leaping ability as part of his athletic pedigree. For those basketball fans who have been paying attention to the league since the 2003 draft, the way Zion Williamson's ability is being described is similar to, if not the same as, the 2003 first round, first draft pick LeBron James, who was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers. LeBron is now regarded as the best basketball player on the planet, and now, young Zion has even been called by some as the second coming of LeBron James. I can agree with that, on the physical prowess alone. Both Zion and LeBron both play high about the rim, and are great rebounds and shot blockers (LeBron in his prime and middle years of his career). Young Zion Williamson has parts of his game that need work, but there's no doubt that he can play at a high level.
By A.J. Jones4 years ago in Unbalanced
In America, the Black Man Is the Most Targeted and Sought After
Black men are the most sought after men in the world and yet also the most targeted. In 2019, black men have been targeted on several levels. There have been videos where black men were being followed or approached by police with either false information or no information. One video that went viral on YouTube and Facebook showed a black man from East Texas gets approached by the police when he was playing basketball with his kids. The officer called him by a name that was not his name and then, made a try to cuff the man then, the officer called for back up and officer that showed up as back up brought a device to try to find the man they approached as the suspect they were trying to apprehend. Then, picture of the suspect they were after did not match the identity of the man that they approached. The man frustrated and angry did tell the officers that he would report them for what they had done to him. This kind of incident has become almost normal and common place between black men and the police when rhetoric of racism and White Supremacy is being shouted from the White House Lawn.
By A.J. Jones5 years ago in The Swamp
Fears of Black Men
Race and color is such a power and pivotal issue in the US today. The racial issues of the country have taken a dramatic turn for the worst, and uptick since 2008. The conclusion of the 2008 election was a turning point of race and racial relations in the US. The Non-Minority American subconscious came out and rebelled against any black or colored. The Non-Minority population showed how fearful they were that an African-American, the first minority, was the face of the most powerful country in the world. Racial tension in the country has gotten worse since the election of Barack Obama into the office of president. For the most part, the general public made the assumption that Obama's winning of the presidency was the great equalizer in the name of race in this country, but we would soon find out that as a country; Americans were still not ready for a person of color or minority as the president. Even to this date 11 years after Obama was elected, we are in the presidency of a self-proclaimed nationalist who has done nothing but talk about blacks, Latinos, immigrants, and the handicapped. In 2015, Donald J. Trump announced that he was running for president and his rallying cry to his voting base was "Make America Great Again." That rallying cry brought all the most racist people out, and all it took was for him to say that he was running for president. Since Trump has taken office, every white nationalist, white supremacist, neo-nazi, or klansmen that has been hiding, has courageously stepped out of the shadows. Charlottesville was a blatant reminder that racism in America is alive and well; especially when the president will not condemn nor call out these groups for what they really are, groups of domestic terrorist organizations.
By A.J. Jones5 years ago in The Swamp
The Sooners Will Be Good on Offense, But Will Not Win Championships Without Defense
This past bowl season we watched the Oklahoma Sooners lose to the Alabama Crimson Tide in the National Championship Semi-final game. This game was unique, because Oklahoma had Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray leading the nation's highest-scoring offense against Alabama, who had one of the most powerful and balanced offenses ever at Alabama under coach Nick Saban with Tua Tagovailoa as quarterback with the one of the nation's best defenses backing him up.
By A.J. Jones5 years ago in Unbalanced
New Horror?
I was born in 1980, and I saw my first two horror films when I was three. They were Halloween with Jamie Lee Curtis, and my personal favorite Friday the 13th Part 3. I was introduced to Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees who were the two most feared horror movie villains at the time. By the time I was seven I had seen every Friday the 13th, Halloween, Fright Night, Vamp, and many other horror movies that would come out during my childhood. Now, in 1984 a movie called A Nightmare on Elm Street came out, and introduced a new kind of scary. A supernatural serial slasher named Fred Kruger was killing people in their dreams in their sleep. This would cause me to have nightmares, but that did not stop me from still loving and watching my favorite horror movies.
By A.J. Jones5 years ago in Horror
The U.S. Men's National Soccer Team Is Underachieving
The United States men's national soccer team is probably one of the most underachieving soccer teams globally in FIFA. When you look at the demographics for soccer in the United States, you clearly see a lot of soccer fields and kids playing on travel clubs and attending some kind of soccer camps. In the U.S., there are over 12 million kids playing outdoor soccer and almost 5.5 million playing indoor soccer as of 2017. In the high school ranks, there are 456,362 boys playing soccer in high school and 390,482 girls playing in high school.
By A.J. Jones5 years ago in Cleats
