On Monday Spike Lee moderated a Black Athlete Forum at his alma mater, the historical 
Morehouse college in Atlanta. Jim Brown, Alonzo Mourning, Etan Thomas, and Alge Crumpler were among the panelist for the event. The night was supposed to be dedicated to introducing Ron Thomas as the head of the new sports journalism department at Morehouse, and to discussing the lack of black sportswriters.
The panel wound up talking about a variety of topics… Everything from the media’s negative portrayal of black athletes to the athletes themselves needing to make better decisions and being accountable for their decisions. The discussions were reportedly eloquent and stirring, and the audience, made up of students and invited guests, were given a chance to chime in as well.
Things were easin on down the intended road until C. Vivian Stringer intersected with 
Jason Whitlock. Stringer, the head coach of the Rutgers women’s basketball team, gave Whitlock, the K.C. Star sportswriter that dissed her during the Imus flap, a piece of her mind. Even though I’m not a fan of the new Whitlock, I feel sorry for any brotha that has to face a black woman scorned, especially if there’s 300+ people in the room. Jason’s lucky she didn’t have a framed picture of the two of them together that she could smash in the street in front of his apartment at 530 in the morning, waking up the neighborhood and embarassing the hell out of him.. But I digress..
Stringer took exception with an article JW wrote in which he said:
Rutgers women’s basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer led a massive pity party/recruiting rally.
and:
Stringer just wanted her 15 minutes to make the case that she’s every bit as important as Pat Summitt and Geno Auriemma. By the time Stringer’s rambling, rapping and rhyming 30-minute speech was over, you’d forgotten that Tennessee won the national championship and just assumed a racist plot had been hatched to deny the Scarlet Knights credit for winning it all.
Presented with an opportunity to address Whitlock, Stringer went off..
“I made a statement that it wasn’t black or white. The truth of the matter is that we have been fooled for such a long time. We have such promise and we all are important. We need to step on each other’s heads to get the little piece of the American dream. It became green. It was power. You [Whitlock] understand that. That’s the reason why you chose these few minutes to get your one moment of [fame]. Because other than that, who knows Jason Whitlock?”
C. Vivian wasn’t finished:
“I’m amazed. I just want to understand your mindset. I want to understand people like you. I’ll be doggoned if I sit back and let that man speak of them as he did. The truth of the matter is [Jackson and Sharpton] were the only people who spoke up. I didn’t care if they fired Imus or not. But I know this — I was going to defend those young ladies.”
I applaud C. Vivian Stringer for speaking her mind to Jason Whitlock, but I wish it had been under different circumstances. The reason for the panel, students, and guest getting together was to discuss what could be done to increase the African-American presence in press boxes and locker rooms covering sporting events. I know it’s unlikey that Ms. Stringer would bump into Mr. Whitlock at any other time so she had to speak her piece while she had the chance. With that said, I hope the students weren’t the only ones that learned something that evening.
Sparks Fly at Morehouse Panel on Black Athletes. Courtesy of Diverse Education
Black Athlete Forum hit plenty of powerful notes. Courtesy of ESPN.com
C. Vivian Stringer and Jason Whitlock exchange words.(Transcript) Courtesy of ESPN.com
Time For Jackson And Sharpton To Step Down. Courtesy of Jason Whitlock, AOL Sports
Jason Whitlock: The Clown Prince of Bizarro World. Courtesy of The Edge Of Sports
Jason Whitlock crowned King Of The Blacks by Tucker Carlson. Courtesy of YBB
Jason Whitlock+Hip Hop Producing= Doctor J. Courtesy of YBB
Listen to the Kansas City Chief’s new game day song, It’s On Now, produced by Jason Whitlock. Courtesy of YBB
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