Andrea Lawful-Sanders has a ritual for cheering the black heroines of the Summer Olympics.
She gets into her corner of the living room, sets up her chair, demands silence before screaming at the top of her lungs, flails her body wildly and — in keeping with her Jamaican-American heritage — bangs pot covers together to celebrate victories.
From Simone Biles’ gravity-defying flips to the history-making medal trifecta of the U.S. women racing in the 100-meter hurdles, many of the Olympics’ most memorable moments have come courtesy of African-American women. Their accomplishments in Rio have spurred excitement and pride at home in the U.S., particularly for black women who say they are seeing themselves in the Olympic Games like never before.
“While everybody else is talking, we are doing,” said Lawful-Sanders, 50, of Philadelphia. “When we excel, nobody can take that away from us — ever. They may try to marginalize us, but how can you marginalize excellence?”
With competition continuing through Sunday, America’s black female athletes have won more than two dozen of the 100-plus U.S. medal haul.
Black women haven’t just shined in this year’s Olympics; they’ve been ubiquitous — from gymnastics to water polo, fencing to swimming. Previous Summer Games featured black women mainly in track and field and, more recently, in gymnastics. Fans at home had to wait days to cheer on sprinter Florence Griffith Joyner or gymnast Dominique Dawes.
6.
Omnes Omnibus
Dear god, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band? They played my county fair when I was in high school.
I have to speak at a funeral in a couple of days and was wondering what your best answer to the question “Why do bad things happen to good people?” would be, from outside the scientific “it’s all random and we’re all random and everything’s random” perspective. I want to incorporate this into the speech.
God, let myself get wrapped up in a night of watching people fight (some real, some not so real) and totally missed Trump’s latest bit of minority outreach. How do the journalists do it?
@redshirt:
There really is no why to these things. I suppose that if it’s true of this deceased, you could make the case that adversity made them the best person they could be, or brought the best in them.
@redshirt: I would say it’s because bad things happen to everyone. Being a good person doesn’t prevent all of those things, it just prevents a lot of the self-inflicted ones on top of the unavoidable ones.
@Adam L Silverman: The audience, I guess? I’ll be speaking to a lot of old ladies, and I don’t want to go radical or extreme or make them feel any stress at all from my words. Rather, some mutual recognition of all our lot.
But that’s the central question to my speech which I will not definitively answer, just throw out some ideas. “Why do bad things happen to good people?”
Karma wise, shouldn’t the wheel turn in your favor? But when it doesn’t, over a life time (57 years), what’s to be said? Does the person deserve that agony? That lifelong suffering? Even though they are good people?
19.
Tee
Bad things happen to give us perspective and appreciation for the good things in our lives. Such as finding a favorite band playing on a blog I like. Finding the gems in our lives (such as Walter’s rescue) means we have to deal with the dirt as well.
20.
Adam L Silverman
@redshirt: Its almost 2 AM where I’m at, so if you want you can follow up offline as I’ve got to be up somewhat early tomorrow. Classically Karma isn’t necessarily an immediate feedback system. Traditionally the idea has been to accrue/accumulate good karma so that one’s next rebirth (remember, cyclical concept of time is operative here) is higher than one’s current one.
The question I’d ask you is: why do you want to address this during someone’s eulogy?
21.
Omnes Omnibus
@redshirt: Serious question? I would not touch on that topic. I have spoken at a few funerals. Talk about good qualities of the person. Be funny if you can. if it isn’t there, just talk about the real person that you knew.
@Omnes Omnibus: Probably the wise choice. I just feel this desire to speak the truth. About this whole damn system. LIES.
24.
Adam L Silverman
@redshirt: Okay, but is that what you really want to talk about at her eulogy? Or would it better to focus on what she accomplished? The other people’s lives she positively impacted? That even as her life was cut short or limited she made a different in whatever ways that she did? I’ve been too far more funerals than weddings (actually, I’ve only ever been to two weddings), and maybe I have a different way of looking at these things, but to me a good eulogy is one that celebrates the life, not one that rails at the injustice of the universe.
. But that’s the central question to my speech which I will not definitively answer, just throw out some ideas. “Why do bad things happen to good people?”
I hate the question. Life happens. Some good things, some bad.
The Auden poem Funeral Blues just came to mind. There’s a YouTube clip from Four Weddings and a Funeral.
A person’s life, and the intensity of our remembrance and affection is what we have at the end.
I met up with one of those random people that you meet over the course of your life while traveling, a nice Korean lady, who’s in town for a few days. We got tacos and wandered around. Then, since I was in the neighborhood, I went and stopped by a hacker collective space I sometimes to go. I ran into two old buddies from college, and we coded together for a bit and then got Pakistani food. Now I’m home playing video games!
29.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: Dear god, Adam, don’t take on concern for any of us.
@Omnes Omnibus: Absolutely not. But then I think no one ever challenges anyone and maybe that’s why nothing ever changes. She was a Christian but the kind who hasn’t been to church since 1967, maybe. How much do I need defer to a belief I don’t share and one I’m fairly certain she only held at a superficial level. That, however, many of the visitors will believe in.
@Brachiator: I think it applies only when a person’s life has been difficult forever. She suffered horribly her whole life and yet remained positive and loving. That’s the story I want to tell but I feel like I must ignore her own suffering to do so, even though it was her entire life.
@Brachiator: Yeah, it’s not appropriate for my audience.
34.
sukabi
@redshirt: Its about her and her life, NOT about the folks attending. Celebrate your friends life, not the expectations of others.
35.
Omnes Omnibus
@redshirt: Just talk about the person. You don’t need to refer to any religious shit. There are people there for that. The best eulogy I have ever seen was the one my younger brother did for our maternal grandmother. He talked about her from his heart and told a couple of stories. That’s it.
@rikyrah:The Olympics are international. If you celebrate the wonderful black women from the games, celebrate all of them. One who stands out is Rafaela Silva, who was the first Brazilian to win a gold medal at Rio, for Judo. She was born in the neighborhood called the City of God, one of the saddest areas in the world. And when she performed poorly at the 2012 games, she was hit with some of the most vicious racial taunts imaginable. She even considered quitting the sport for a time. And now, she is a champion and a role model.
“We don’t have many goals at Cidade de Deus. We live our lives in there and don’t have many things. If I could show kids that it’s possible to make your dreams come true, to believe that it’s possible, then I’m happy. I started in judo just for fun, and now I’m the Olympic champion. It’s unbelievable.”
38.
Omnes Omnibus
@Brachiator: African-Americans have had enough shit to deal with that if they want to celebrate A-A winners in particular, everyone else should let them.
@sukabi: Yes but no. Most of the people who will be there will barely know her. But there will be many of them. The few who know her are all blood, and as such are they not all obligated?
40.
Omnes Omnibus
@redshirt: Fuck it. Don’t listen to what people said before…. Say what you want. Be seen as the asshole who said horrible shit at “x’s” funeral. Have fun.
African-Americans have had enough shit to deal with that if they want to celebrate A-A winners in particular, everyone else should let them.
Folks can celebrate whatever and however they like. But with games set in Brazil, an appreciation of negritude, world black consciousness, might be appropriate as well.
@Omnes Omnibus: Your sense of humor is something to appreciate over many posts.
45.
sukabi
@redshirt: not sure I understood your entire comment… if most there didn’t know her, then use the opportunity to introduce them to your friend by following Omnes’ advice, tell a couple of nice stories about her, how she made a difference in your life, what she meant to you…
As for family obligations, not sure what you mean…probably not all will speak…
46.
Omnes Omnibus
@Brachiator: I am far too white to enter that discussion.
The weight of this sad time we must obey.
Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.
The oldest hath borne most. We that are young
Shall never see so much, nor live so long.
@Brachiator:
I actually understand your point. But. While they are in the diaspora, Black Americans have the right to be just a bit more prideful of their fellow countrymen.
I have spent these Olympics marveling at all the different countries that have someone with African ancestry representing, like the example of the anchor of the male 4x100m team from JAPAN , who obviously had African ancestry (it was from Jamaica )
50.
ruemara
@Brachiator: No offense, but I think us African Americans don’t need to be told how to celebrate our visibility and our excellence. Normally, we don’t have a country of others joining in, unless it’s to piss on us. I have great respect for the other black athletes doing great things, but I have yet to see a white person say we should remember Adam Peaty too, if we’re going to celebrate Michael Phelps.
@redshirt: Well all his good lines were from the Doctor and Martha Jones.
53.
Mike E
Chelimo gets reinstated for silver in the 5k, which he and a couple of other runners had been disqualified from when some jostling happened during the race…1 runner was DQ’d after the ruling tho.
“It was really tactical and they (the Ethiopians) kept pushing me because they were working as a team. It’s never easy to run a race and run against a team. … But the Army has taught me to be mentally and physically tough.”
54.
Omnes Omnibus
@ruemara: Okay? Why should I care about Adam Peaty? I never heard about him until you mentioned him here.
55.
ruemara
@Omnes Omnibus: British swimmer who’s also won a few medals in this current Olympics.
Has he done anything like Phelps has? Or what Bolt has? The fame is going to some people who have done unprecedented shit. Phelps and Bolt. No one has done what they did.
. I have spent these Olympics marveling at all the different countries that have someone with African ancestry representing, like the example of the anchor of the male 4x100m team from JAPAN , who obviously had African ancestry (it was from Jamaica )
Yep. I noticed him, too. I wished that NBC would have given some time to his story.
There was a German sprinter, 100m and relay, I think, who has African ancestry. A tremendous collection of athletes.
Shakespeare is always good. It’s amazing we’ll never know who actually wrote the words.
I always figured it was, you know, Shakespeare.
60.
sukabi
Drumpf has worn out his golf cleats an is now using crampons to stomp his dick
61.
sukabi
@Amir Khalid: some people should not be allowed to breed. Hope they lock both of them up for a loooooong time. Hope the little girl gets help and a family that will love her.
. ..No offense, but I think us African Americans don’t need to be told how to celebrate our visibility and our excellence.
No offense taken. When I watch or talk about the Olympics, it is often with black Americans with ancestry from all over. Some will root more for their “countrymen” and women even though their families may have been here for generations, others very recent. But there is also a sense of a pan African perspective as well, a general celebration of blackness.
You’re missing the point. Ruemara brought up Peaty (non-American swimmer) solely to illustrate her point that white fans celebrating white American athletes don’t feel compelled to reflexively celebrate all white athletes, whereas Brachiator was suggesting that all black women athletes be honored, not just African-American ones.
64.
Amir Khalid
@Brachiator:
It may have been a very young Bill Ayers, at the start of the ghostwriting career that eventually culminated in his writing Dreams From My Father.
I’ve never heard anyone tell white Americans that they should celebrate the accomplishments of white folks in England/Australia – why even Russia – when the games were held in their country
It may have been a very young Bill Ayers, at the start of the ghostwriting career that eventually culminated in his writing Dreams From My Father.
We need to see Shakespeare’s long form birth certificate.
68.
Brachiator
@rikyrah: The Jamaica Observer has really kept track of the background of some of the athletes.
While only a maximum three athletes can represent any one country at the Games, no fewer than nine of the 85 men in the event will have direct genetic links to the sprint capital of the world, with at least another two being part of relay squads….
Japan’s Asuka Antonio ‘Aska’ Cambridge and Canada’s Akeem Haynes were all born in Jamaica…
Cambridge was born in Jamaica to a Jamaican father and Japanese mother.
Too bad they didn’t include women in this story.
69.
BellyCat
I lost my father (to illness) when I was young and have both struggled with and thought about the topic of premature death for longer than one probably should.
This, for me, was the tipping point away from the inculcation of a Loving God and all the related horseshittery.
The most — and possibly only — beneficial consequence of premature death is the reminder that life is to be lived to the fullest. Each. And. Every. Damn. Day.
Or, as John Lennon put it better: “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”
Inspire the living and you will have honored your friend, redshirt. If she was a positive person, as you say, what might she want others to hear? Good luck with this challenging task.
@redshirt: This is ridiculously late, but any eulogy should always be a celebration of the deceased person’s life, not a dwelling on the injustices they may have suffered, or a soliloquy of the speaker’s philosophy, or about the audience. You said your friend always remained positive in spite of all the tough stuff she went through, so honor that spirit in her because that positivity was important to her. No one really leads a fully charmed life, everyone has travails though some get more than their fair share. How we deal with trouble, how we maintain hope in spite of it, is what is the best of the human spirit. Sounds like your friend had that in abundance, so talk about that.
Listen to satby. Is that how you want her friends to remember her? The more chuckles at a memorial service, the better.
74.
laura
@redshirt: because suffering is a way in which we connect. Our shared humanity is united in suffering and it is a bond, albeit a painful way to find our common link. Out of suffering, we can find and share compassion.
My mother’s funeral is Monday and we will gather today, and her last year’s were a lesson in suffering, and I truly believe that we don’t connect over the trivial, or the good, it’s the bad, the difficult, the loss that cuts right to the heart of the matter.
I wish you well in your speaking to suffering.
75.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@redshirt: More lateness, but I’ll add this bit (in case nobody else mentioned it).
Kundera’s “Immortality” has lots of thought-provoking passages on the transience of life and what it means to be remembered.
Near the start of chapter 2:
Of course, the immortality that Goethe talks about has nothing in common with religious faith in an immortal soul. What is involved is the different, quite earthly immortality of those who after their death remain in the memory of posterity. Everyone can achieve immortality to a smaller or greater degree, of shorter or longer duration, and this idea already starts occupying people’s minds in early youth.
Naturally, when it comes to immortality people are not equal. We have to distinguish between so-called minor immortality, the memory of a person in the minds of those who knew him (the kind of immortality the village mayor longed for), and great immortality, which means the memory of a person in the minds of people who never knew him personally. There are certain paths in life which from the very beginning place a person face to face with such great immortality, uncertain, it is true, even improbable, yet undeniably possible: they are paths of artists and statesmen.
Help people there remember her and the benefits she brought to those who knew her – even if they never knew her. Help her achieve some measure of immortality.
Some people get dealt a very bad hand, but they often find ways to find (at least occasional) joy. Don’t bring up the bad stuff to the detriment of the good memories you want to convey.
@laura: Laura, I am sorry you’re in such pain over your mom’s passing. I lost mine in April. Just don’t forget that the sum of her life isn’t the last painful years, but the whole of her life: the love for her children, family, friends. The many joys as well as sorrows she may have had.
Wishing you and your family peace at this difficult time.
77.
raven
They are showing a piece about the Brazilian,Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima. marathoner who was assaulted while he was in first place at the Athens Olympics. He finished third. THAT was a fucking crime.
@redshirt: Speak what you know. They will either understand, or they won’t.
79.
laura
@satby: satby, you have been in.my thoughts as well -our shared journeys. Writing her obit and planning a loving celebration if her life has given me great comfort. Today will be family and friends and music and food. We lost a dear friend a year ago to pan can. Karen planned her own service, and I am feeling her loving presence in preparations for my mother.
If you are interested, you can view Mary Mayhue’s obituary at Daniels chapel of the Roses website.
And thank you again.
I too am sorry to hear of your loss, your family’s loss.
As Satby said, think of the years before her illness, the times when she laughed with you when you were young. My Mom died of COPD from many years of smoking Pall Malls. She got hooked on free packs handed out at Saturday afternoon football games when she went to the University.
The closer to death she got, the less negative she became about it. She whispered to me that, lifelong Republican that my parents were, she voted for the Democrat, Clinton, twice, because of the anti-abortion policy of the Republican party. “Don’t tell your Dad!”
A day or two later, she went instantly, in his arms. At about 5 am. He called me a little later, and when the phone rang, I knew before touching it what the news was. The only time he ever called me before noon.
Sorry for your loss, really. We mostly all share that loss eventually… so we B-Jers are truly with you in spirit.
Karma wise, shouldn’t the wheel turn in your favor?
Not how karma works. Karma is just the momentum of the wheel, and wheels turn for good or ill. At least that’s what I got out of my Buddhist phase (which I never completely left, but I don’t call myself one anymore)
84.
Miss Bianca
Wandering in late, as usual…
NGDB are cool. I’ve gotten to meet some of them over the years – John McEuen, particularly, as he’s a friend of a friend of mine on the Western Slope – and they still rock.
Tho’ I still think The Byrds’ version of “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” is the definitive one. Just sayin’.
85.
WaterGirl
Boy, I haven’t listened to Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in forever. They were part of my music collection when I had albums, but they never made it to my CDs. That may have to change.
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PaulWartenberg2016
Just to note: there are many Pokestops along International Drive in Orlando, and the traffic is slow enough you can connect with every one of them.
rikyrah
uh huh
uh huh
Judd LegumVerified account
@JuddLegum
Trump still hasn’t filed his July FEC report.
He’s got 90 minutes.
Mike J
@rikyrah: Nah, it’s in now.
Ten Bears
Just played the county fair. Good show.
rikyrah
#Blackgirlmagic Takes Spotlight at Olympics
By ERRIN HAINES WHACK, ASSOCIATED PRESS PHILADELPHIA
Aug 20, 2016, 2:30 PM ET
Andrea Lawful-Sanders has a ritual for cheering the black heroines of the Summer Olympics.
She gets into her corner of the living room, sets up her chair, demands silence before screaming at the top of her lungs, flails her body wildly and — in keeping with her Jamaican-American heritage — bangs pot covers together to celebrate victories.
From Simone Biles’ gravity-defying flips to the history-making medal trifecta of the U.S. women racing in the 100-meter hurdles, many of the Olympics’ most memorable moments have come courtesy of African-American women. Their accomplishments in Rio have spurred excitement and pride at home in the U.S., particularly for black women who say they are seeing themselves in the Olympic Games like never before.
“While everybody else is talking, we are doing,” said Lawful-Sanders, 50, of Philadelphia. “When we excel, nobody can take that away from us — ever. They may try to marginalize us, but how can you marginalize excellence?”
With competition continuing through Sunday, America’s black female athletes have won more than two dozen of the 100-plus U.S. medal haul.
Black women haven’t just shined in this year’s Olympics; they’ve been ubiquitous — from gymnastics to water polo, fencing to swimming. Previous Summer Games featured black women mainly in track and field and, more recently, in gymnastics. Fans at home had to wait days to cheer on sprinter Florence Griffith Joyner or gymnast Dominique Dawes.
Omnes Omnibus
Dear god, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band? They played my county fair when I was in high school.
redshirt
I have to speak at a funeral in a couple of days and was wondering what your best answer to the question “Why do bad things happen to good people?” would be, from outside the scientific “it’s all random and we’re all random and everything’s random” perspective. I want to incorporate this into the speech.
redshirt
@PaulWartenberg2016: I hate your hobby.
MikeTheZ
God, let myself get wrapped up in a night of watching people fight (some real, some not so real) and totally missed Trump’s latest bit of minority outreach. How do the journalists do it?
Omnes Omnibus
If we are being awful: Here you go.
Adam L Silverman
@rikyrah: @Mike J: And he payed somebody “named” Clarence Beeks for research. This is Clarence Beeks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJRBcE-fHvY
He’s the catspaw of Duke’s brothers in Trading Places
http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0066866/
Adam L Silverman
@Ten Bears: @Omnes Omnibus: They’re a long time favorite.
Amir Khalid
@redshirt:
There really is no why to these things. I suppose that if it’s true of this deceased, you could make the case that adversity made them the best person they could be, or brought the best in them.
Adam L Silverman
@redshirt: Who exactly are you asking?
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: Of whom?
Redshift
@redshirt: I would say it’s because bad things happen to everyone. Being a good person doesn’t prevent all of those things, it just prevents a lot of the self-inflicted ones on top of the unavoidable ones.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: Them too!
redshirt
@Adam L Silverman: The audience, I guess? I’ll be speaking to a lot of old ladies, and I don’t want to go radical or extreme or make them feel any stress at all from my words. Rather, some mutual recognition of all our lot.
But that’s the central question to my speech which I will not definitively answer, just throw out some ideas. “Why do bad things happen to good people?”
Karma wise, shouldn’t the wheel turn in your favor? But when it doesn’t, over a life time (57 years), what’s to be said? Does the person deserve that agony? That lifelong suffering? Even though they are good people?
Tee
Bad things happen to give us perspective and appreciation for the good things in our lives. Such as finding a favorite band playing on a blog I like. Finding the gems in our lives (such as Walter’s rescue) means we have to deal with the dirt as well.
Adam L Silverman
@redshirt: Its almost 2 AM where I’m at, so if you want you can follow up offline as I’ve got to be up somewhat early tomorrow. Classically Karma isn’t necessarily an immediate feedback system. Traditionally the idea has been to accrue/accumulate good karma so that one’s next rebirth (remember, cyclical concept of time is operative here) is higher than one’s current one.
The question I’d ask you is: why do you want to address this during someone’s eulogy?
Omnes Omnibus
@redshirt: Serious question? I would not touch on that topic. I have spoken at a few funerals. Talk about good qualities of the person. Be funny if you can. if it isn’t there, just talk about the real person that you knew.
redshirt
@Adam L Silverman: She was such a good person and got such a shit deal of the genetic cards.
redshirt
@Omnes Omnibus: Probably the wise choice. I just feel this desire to speak the truth. About this whole damn system. LIES.
Adam L Silverman
@redshirt: Okay, but is that what you really want to talk about at her eulogy? Or would it better to focus on what she accomplished? The other people’s lives she positively impacted? That even as her life was cut short or limited she made a different in whatever ways that she did? I’ve been too far more funerals than weddings (actually, I’ve only ever been to two weddings), and maybe I have a different way of looking at these things, but to me a good eulogy is one that celebrates the life, not one that rails at the injustice of the universe.
That said if you want to discuss theodicy, shoot me an email. And pick up the book written by the rabbi that married my parents:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Bad_Things_Happen_to_Good_People
Omnes Omnibus
@redshirt: Think about what your purpose in speaking is. You do not, i presume, want people to walk away feeling worse than when they arrived.
The Pale Scot
@redshirt: Blame it on quantum mechanics. We’re all just probability waves until the bus hits us.
Brachiator
@redshirt:
I hate the question. Life happens. Some good things, some bad.
The Auden poem Funeral Blues just came to mind. There’s a YouTube clip from Four Weddings and a Funeral.
A person’s life, and the intensity of our remembrance and affection is what we have at the end.
Major Major Major Major
I had an awesome day!
I met up with one of those random people that you meet over the course of your life while traveling, a nice Korean lady, who’s in town for a few days. We got tacos and wandered around. Then, since I was in the neighborhood, I went and stopped by a hacker collective space I sometimes to go. I ran into two old buddies from college, and we coded together for a bit and then got Pakistani food. Now I’m home playing video games!
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: Dear god, Adam, don’t take on concern for any of us.
You are an eldest/elder child, aren’t you?
redshirt
@Omnes Omnibus: Absolutely not. But then I think no one ever challenges anyone and maybe that’s why nothing ever changes. She was a Christian but the kind who hasn’t been to church since 1967, maybe. How much do I need defer to a belief I don’t share and one I’m fairly certain she only held at a superficial level. That, however, many of the visitors will believe in.
Prescott Cactus
No dress rehearsal, this is our lives.
Gord Downie: Tragically Hip
You are ahead by a century
redshirt
@Brachiator: I think it applies only when a person’s life has been difficult forever. She suffered horribly her whole life and yet remained positive and loving. That’s the story I want to tell but I feel like I must ignore her own suffering to do so, even though it was her entire life.
redshirt
@Brachiator: Yeah, it’s not appropriate for my audience.
sukabi
@redshirt: Its about her and her life, NOT about the folks attending. Celebrate your friends life, not the expectations of others.
Omnes Omnibus
@redshirt: Just talk about the person. You don’t need to refer to any religious shit. There are people there for that. The best eulogy I have ever seen was the one my younger brother did for our maternal grandmother. He talked about her from his heart and told a couple of stories. That’s it.
redshirt
@Omnes Omnibus: Good advice Omnes. Thanks.
Brachiator
@rikyrah:The Olympics are international. If you celebrate the wonderful black women from the games, celebrate all of them. One who stands out is Rafaela Silva, who was the first Brazilian to win a gold medal at Rio, for Judo. She was born in the neighborhood called the City of God, one of the saddest areas in the world. And when she performed poorly at the 2012 games, she was hit with some of the most vicious racial taunts imaginable. She even considered quitting the sport for a time. And now, she is a champion and a role model.
Omnes Omnibus
@Brachiator: African-Americans have had enough shit to deal with that if they want to celebrate A-A winners in particular, everyone else should let them.
redshirt
@sukabi: Yes but no. Most of the people who will be there will barely know her. But there will be many of them. The few who know her are all blood, and as such are they not all obligated?
Omnes Omnibus
@redshirt: Fuck it. Don’t listen to what people said before…. Say what you want. Be seen as the asshole who said horrible shit at “x’s” funeral. Have fun.
amk
deadbeat’s financial mismanagement and the 80 million fundraising lie.
Brachiator
@Omnes Omnibus:
Folks can celebrate whatever and however they like. But with games set in Brazil, an appreciation of negritude, world black consciousness, might be appropriate as well.
rikyrah
@amk:
Thanks for that ?☺?
redshirt
@Omnes Omnibus: Your sense of humor is something to appreciate over many posts.
sukabi
@redshirt: not sure I understood your entire comment… if most there didn’t know her, then use the opportunity to introduce them to your friend by following Omnes’ advice, tell a couple of nice stories about her, how she made a difference in your life, what she meant to you…
As for family obligations, not sure what you mean…probably not all will speak…
Omnes Omnibus
@Brachiator: I am far too white to enter that discussion.
Brachiator
@redshirt: Say whatever you want to say
The weight of this sad time we must obey.
Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.
The oldest hath borne most. We that are young
Shall never see so much, nor live so long.
King Lear
redshirt
@sukabi: Good advice. As I told Omnes, I will follow it.
rikyrah
@Brachiator:
I actually understand your point. But. While they are in the diaspora, Black Americans have the right to be just a bit more prideful of their fellow countrymen.
I have spent these Olympics marveling at all the different countries that have someone with African ancestry representing, like the example of the anchor of the male 4x100m team from JAPAN , who obviously had African ancestry (it was from Jamaica )
ruemara
@Brachiator: No offense, but I think us African Americans don’t need to be told how to celebrate our visibility and our excellence. Normally, we don’t have a country of others joining in, unless it’s to piss on us. I have great respect for the other black athletes doing great things, but I have yet to see a white person say we should remember Adam Peaty too, if we’re going to celebrate Michael Phelps.
redshirt
@Brachiator: Shakespeare is always good. It’s amazing we’ll never know who actually wrote the words.
Major Major Major Major
@redshirt: Well all his good lines were from the Doctor and Martha Jones.
Mike E
Chelimo gets reinstated for silver in the 5k, which he and a couple of other runners had been disqualified from when some jostling happened during the race…1 runner was DQ’d after the ruling tho.
“It was really tactical and they (the Ethiopians) kept pushing me because they were working as a team. It’s never easy to run a race and run against a team. … But the Army has taught me to be mentally and physically tough.”
Omnes Omnibus
@ruemara: Okay? Why should I care about Adam Peaty? I never heard about him until you mentioned him here.
ruemara
@Omnes Omnibus: British swimmer who’s also won a few medals in this current Olympics.
Omnes Omnibus
@ruemara: Thanks.
Has he done anything like Phelps has? Or what Bolt has? The fame is going to some people who have done unprecedented shit. Phelps and Bolt. No one has done what they did.
Amir Khalid
This is heartbreaking.
Brachiator
@rikyrah:
Yep. I noticed him, too. I wished that NBC would have given some time to his story.
There was a German sprinter, 100m and relay, I think, who has African ancestry. A tremendous collection of athletes.
Brachiator
@redshirt:
I always figured it was, you know, Shakespeare.
sukabi
Drumpf has worn out his golf cleats an is now using crampons to stomp his dick
sukabi
@Amir Khalid: some people should not be allowed to breed. Hope they lock both of them up for a loooooong time. Hope the little girl gets help and a family that will love her.
Brachiator
@ruemara:
No offense taken. When I watch or talk about the Olympics, it is often with black Americans with ancestry from all over. Some will root more for their “countrymen” and women even though their families may have been here for generations, others very recent. But there is also a sense of a pan African perspective as well, a general celebration of blackness.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Omnes Omnibus:
You’re missing the point. Ruemara brought up Peaty (non-American swimmer) solely to illustrate her point that white fans celebrating white American athletes don’t feel compelled to reflexively celebrate all white athletes, whereas Brachiator was suggesting that all black women athletes be honored, not just African-American ones.
Amir Khalid
@Brachiator:
It may have been a very young Bill Ayers, at the start of the ghostwriting career that eventually culminated in his writing Dreams From My Father.
EBT
You know what your friend would want you to say.
TS
@Brachiator:
I’ve never heard anyone tell white Americans that they should celebrate the accomplishments of white folks in England/Australia – why even Russia – when the games were held in their country
Edit: Steeplejack (phone) got there before me
Brachiator
@Amir Khalid:
We need to see Shakespeare’s long form birth certificate.
Brachiator
@rikyrah: The Jamaica Observer has really kept track of the background of some of the athletes.
Too bad they didn’t include women in this story.
BellyCat
I lost my father (to illness) when I was young and have both struggled with and thought about the topic of premature death for longer than one probably should.
This, for me, was the tipping point away from the inculcation of a Loving God and all the related horseshittery.
The most — and possibly only — beneficial consequence of premature death is the reminder that life is to be lived to the fullest. Each. And. Every. Damn. Day.
Or, as John Lennon put it better: “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”
Inspire the living and you will have honored your friend, redshirt. If she was a positive person, as you say, what might she want others to hear? Good luck with this challenging task.
NotMax
@PaulWartenberg2016
You’re staring at your phone while driving. No matter how slow the traffic, stop doing that.
rikyrah
@Amir Khalid:
My heart broke when I read that story earlier this week. Put her egg donor and boyfriend
UNDER.THE.JAIL ????
satby
@redshirt: This is ridiculously late, but any eulogy should always be a celebration of the deceased person’s life, not a dwelling on the injustices they may have suffered, or a soliloquy of the speaker’s philosophy, or about the audience. You said your friend always remained positive in spite of all the tough stuff she went through, so honor that spirit in her because that positivity was important to her. No one really leads a fully charmed life, everyone has travails though some get more than their fair share. How we deal with trouble, how we maintain hope in spite of it, is what is the best of the human spirit. Sounds like your friend had that in abundance, so talk about that.
debbie
@redshirt:
Listen to satby. Is that how you want her friends to remember her? The more chuckles at a memorial service, the better.
laura
@redshirt: because suffering is a way in which we connect. Our shared humanity is united in suffering and it is a bond, albeit a painful way to find our common link. Out of suffering, we can find and share compassion.
My mother’s funeral is Monday and we will gather today, and her last year’s were a lesson in suffering, and I truly believe that we don’t connect over the trivial, or the good, it’s the bad, the difficult, the loss that cuts right to the heart of the matter.
I wish you well in your speaking to suffering.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@redshirt: More lateness, but I’ll add this bit (in case nobody else mentioned it).
Kundera’s “Immortality” has lots of thought-provoking passages on the transience of life and what it means to be remembered.
Near the start of chapter 2:
– Linky
Help people there remember her and the benefits she brought to those who knew her – even if they never knew her. Help her achieve some measure of immortality.
Some people get dealt a very bad hand, but they often find ways to find (at least occasional) joy. Don’t bring up the bad stuff to the detriment of the good memories you want to convey.
Good luck, and condolences to you.
Cheers,
Scott.
satby
@laura: Laura, I am sorry you’re in such pain over your mom’s passing. I lost mine in April. Just don’t forget that the sum of her life isn’t the last painful years, but the whole of her life: the love for her children, family, friends. The many joys as well as sorrows she may have had.
Wishing you and your family peace at this difficult time.
raven
They are showing a piece about the Brazilian,Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima. marathoner who was assaulted while he was in first place at the Athens Olympics. He finished third. THAT was a fucking crime.
Ben Cisco
@redshirt: Speak what you know. They will either understand, or they won’t.
laura
@satby: satby, you have been in.my thoughts as well -our shared journeys. Writing her obit and planning a loving celebration if her life has given me great comfort. Today will be family and friends and music and food. We lost a dear friend a year ago to pan can. Karen planned her own service, and I am feeling her loving presence in preparations for my mother.
If you are interested, you can view Mary Mayhue’s obituary at Daniels chapel of the Roses website.
And thank you again.
redshirt
@laura: My condolences laura. I hope you and your family get through this difficult time together.
redshirt
@Ben Cisco: I hope you’re doing well. Thank you.
J R in WV
@laura:
I too am sorry to hear of your loss, your family’s loss.
As Satby said, think of the years before her illness, the times when she laughed with you when you were young. My Mom died of COPD from many years of smoking Pall Malls. She got hooked on free packs handed out at Saturday afternoon football games when she went to the University.
The closer to death she got, the less negative she became about it. She whispered to me that, lifelong Republican that my parents were, she voted for the Democrat, Clinton, twice, because of the anti-abortion policy of the Republican party. “Don’t tell your Dad!”
A day or two later, she went instantly, in his arms. At about 5 am. He called me a little later, and when the phone rang, I knew before touching it what the news was. The only time he ever called me before noon.
Sorry for your loss, really. We mostly all share that loss eventually… so we B-Jers are truly with you in spirit.
ETA, shorter.
The Other Chuck
@redshirt:
Not how karma works. Karma is just the momentum of the wheel, and wheels turn for good or ill. At least that’s what I got out of my Buddhist phase (which I never completely left, but I don’t call myself one anymore)
Miss Bianca
Wandering in late, as usual…
NGDB are cool. I’ve gotten to meet some of them over the years – John McEuen, particularly, as he’s a friend of a friend of mine on the Western Slope – and they still rock.
Tho’ I still think The Byrds’ version of “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” is the definitive one. Just sayin’.
WaterGirl
Boy, I haven’t listened to Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in forever. They were part of my music collection when I had albums, but they never made it to my CDs. That may have to change.