Why is KOBE’S Death So Tough on So Many, Especially Blacks?
CAPS denote my own writing style… I am not screaming… I promise...
Please allow me to start with a brief analysis of America A/K/A my amazing adopted homeland that I love as it relates to the death of the legendary Kobe Bryant and his other co-passengers when his Helicopter crashed California. It is amazing how so many people can see the same event differently. While the latter should be part of one's expectations management scheme, hearing a news anchor accidentally call Black basketball players "niggers" on national television was rather perplexing to say the least... many even felt that the non-Black co-passengers weren't mentioned enough or that the FOCUS on too much on KOBE. HOWEVER, what people failed to realize was that compared to KOBE these people were practically STRANGERS to the rest of Americans and the World and KOBE was practically FAMILY as he was in people's living rooms for nearly two decades either inducing them to love to love him or love to hate him... But anyhow, back to my GREAT adopted homeland, America and subsequently TO THE IMMORTALIZED KOBE BRYANT!
America is the best laboratory and experiment on Earth. And if you call it a MIRACLE, you'd also be right, but its legal system (jurisprudence) was designed to induce certain things to happen seemingly miraculous, just like a woman's anatomy was designed to make child birth appear to be miraculous. But in the end, America is a SPECIAL COUNTRY and people flock to it every day because it is THE BEST. PERIOD... anyone who doesn't so realize is still living under a ROCK.
HOWEVER, it is a dichotomy and the closest to a meritocracy as one can get on Earth. It can be perplexing as it is a CAPITALIST SYSTEM... thus unless one is on government assistance, one practically eats what one kills. Often nothing seems impossible to an American and everything can be impossible at any given time concurrently for any given reason including race, color, national origin and religion despite the legal protections afforded by the Constitution. But, let us not forget that America’s efforts at legislating MORALITY came about because people were not able to WILLINGLY love one another or treat each other fairly to begin with (WHITE MEN mistreated WHITE WOMEN and about ALL OTHER GROUPS… and America has been about their REDEMPTION as well… an attempt to even the playing field and make non-White-males whole)… so UNCLE SAM, like a parent, had to find clever ways to encourage them to at least TRY TO APPEAR TO BE OVERTLY FAIR even when many are STILL COVERTLY unfair and often even still filled with racial and religious hatred. It is an eerie thing to observe, yet I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else and I do treasure my American experience wholeheartedly because I became who I am as an adult today partly because of my American experience and many amazing Americans of all races and religion that were there for me when even my own relatives were not. YES, I had to work my rear end off, but I didn't do it all alone. I will never TRASH America because of that, and will always be grateful for being given a chance to become TRULY EDUCATED and TRULY AMERICAN and a chance to know that I can become as WEALTHY as I want to be RIGHT HERE in AMERICA! Many may not know what the latter means, but trust me if you do, you should feel HONORED and BLESSED to be called “AN AMERICAN!”
Anyhow, on to THE GREAT KOBE now… It is IRREFUTABLE that America (or even the World) at large should be both proud of KOBE, and saddened about his death concurrently. And quite importantly BLACK AMERICA and particularly BLACK MALES should IMMORTALIZE HIM… I DO 100%... in fact, I, obviously ADORE HIM… Although he is younger than I am by a few years or so, He is ONE OF MY AMERICAN ICONS and HEROES… HE IS OUR DUDE, OUR HERO… OUR NIGGA!
In a society (and often World) controlled by rich White men who control the media that control the minds of most non-wealthy-White-males (including White women), and who have ensured that most Black men are stripped of enough opportunities as to have equal access to education and wealth as a means of controlling the Black community and in turn strip away the confidence and poise that even the most dominant of Black men would have had to lead in their community, it suffices to say that there aren’t enough Black American men like KOBE BRYANT out there.
KOBE’s ascent or rise was different… Although he is an American, he is also a World citizen… speaks at least one other language (e.g., Italian) and had been exposed to other cultures and people, other than JUST the old and new American cultural norms, which quite frankly had historically established a systematic culture of disenfranchising, demoralizing and emasculating its Black men (by creating only a list of FIRSTS) until some of its most prominent Blacks established AMERICA as patently RACIST to the rest of the World (enough to bring about Civil Rights for all) and eventually as having a PERSONAL VENDATA or at least a LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP with the BLACK AMERICAN MAN with an understanding that any REVOLUTION would only come from HIM (the only ENTITY that can FORM and PROTECT a TRULY SUCCESSFUL BLACK COMMUNITY) and thus, what better way to PREVENT such a thing then by SYSTEMATICALLY taking CONTROL away from him and giving it to the BLACK WOMAN and the HOMOSEXUAL… and change BLACK MALE PLIGHT to FEMINISM (under the guise of countering MISOGYNY) and HOMOSEXUALITY (under the guise of countering HOMOPHOBIA)… in a nutshell, wiping away the plight of BLACKS and particularly THE BLACK MAN… that was the result of the last 15 years, as cemented by the Obama administration and the ME2 era of the Trump administration.
But KOBE and guys like KOBE knew better as also did THE MAN WHO RAISED HIM (his Black father, a previous NBA player who had also lived abroad) had been exposed to things other than the OLD OVERLY RACIST America. Thus, KOBE had a chance to develop his true CHARACTER and CONFIDENCE… he wasn’t stepped on, put down, humiliated and induced to believe that he is INFERIOR like FAR TOO MANY young BLACK AMERICAN MEN ARE…
So, he was OUR SPECIAL NIGGA… a representative of HOW AN UNTAINTED and MENTALLY-LIBERATED YOUNG BLACK MEN can be, an even people like LEBRON JAMES were graduates of the KOBE MENTALITY academy (as he so attested) and the result is self-evident. And as a MENTALLY-free Negro myself, I understand the plight of YOUNG BLACK MAN and that’s why it is MY MINISTRY (via www.StrategicOnes.com)...
KOBE loved his family… anyone who can stay HAPPILY MARRIED for nearly two decades (i.e., 20 years) must love his wife and/or at leas his children (in his case his daughters)… it must have been SO DICHOTOMOUSLY BITTERSWEET to realize that he would not have been able to save his daughter GIGI (who is so much like him) yet be soothing to realize that THEY WILL HAVE FOREVER BEEN REMEMBERED TOGETHER and hopefully their souls will remain forever LINKED!
I wonder what he was thinking about during the last few seconds when he must have realized that he wasn't going to survive… How AGONIZING was that?
His beautiful wife… A last apology…
... his lovely daughters… his business endeavors… his legacy… WOW... WOW... WOW...
I guess we’ll never know, but perhaps one day we’ll get to know about THE GREAT KOBE via the woman who knows him the MOST, his beautiful surviving wife, VANESSA LAINE BRYANT, who now has to carry the TORCH… but she was able to deal with a SUPERSTAR of a man, and something tells me that SHE’LL DO JUST FINE in the end no matter how hard it will be in the middle. I send her and her family my SINCEREST CONDOLENCES and LOVE!
Needless to say, a MENTALLY-FREE and non-systematically mentally-effed brotha should “sound” and “act” like KOBE, and when HE WAS TAKEN from us (especially Black Men who idolized him), a ROLE MODEL to OUR BLACK BOYS was also taken from us… A Black man was who was NOT afraid to KEEP HIS HEAD UP HIGH and BE ELOQUENT even as a TEEN-AGER… a REFINED BROTHA… someone who was willing to be himself and sacrifice his all with no apology... someone who believed and knew that he was one one of the greatest minds who had ever lived came about.
I was so EFFING PROUD OF HIM… (crying)… SO SO PROUD OF HIM and only a FEW OTHER SPORTSMEN or SPORTSWOMEN have my respect the way KOBE did... he was like ALL THE PREVIOUS GREATS except better... w/ just a bit more swag... just a bit more skills here and there... just a better smile and even with better looks too... Geez, he seemed to have been designed or destined for GREATNESS... and even stayed with ONE TEAM throughout his whole career.
HE WAS…
CLASSY
CONFIDENT
AMBITIOUS
PASSIONATE
HARDWORKING
EMPATHETIC
HANDSOME
WELL-SPOKEN
CULTURED
CLEAN CUT
GENIUS IN HIS TRADE
RESPECTFUL
FAMILY-ORIENTED Etc...
And a plethora of other POSITIVE ADJECTIVES that normally are not attributable to Black males in America. At the ripe age of 22, Kobe decided to become a husband and a father. And at his level that showed resolve, character and a desire to invest in himself, and live life purposefully, and do the same for others opposed to wasting his life away or watching them do the same.
KOBE was a GENIUS... A CHILD PRODIGY. He was America’s KOBE but he was even more so the KOBE that many Black men and young men vicariously lived through. LIKE ALL GENIUSES, he induced his competitors to “step up their games” and self-improve as to not look ridiculously inferior in their performance compared to him.
As many entered College at 17, he was entering the NBA as a very prepared and WISE teenager and was never intimidated by the moment or opportunity and other more mature, and even more physically imposing players. He was a boy in a World of men who was determined to establish his manhood via his fierce competitiveness and that he did. When erred, he self-redeemed and made his family is core starting at the very age of 22 when he got married. It set the tone at pass He beat a lot of records and the only other athlete that are comparable to him were the most talented well-known athletes on Earth, namely Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul Jabar, and Wilt Chamberlain. People that he himself emulated… it is incredible… b/c like great people like Dr. King, Prince Diana, they all seem to die young.
Perhaps those that discover their calling sooner in life and actually live it and impact others sooner ultimately don’t have to worry about many things any more, as they all seem to die young, which perhaps tells us that once their time is up, just like angels they leave us too soon.
KOBE was partially raised in another country (or other countries) and other than his genetics (basketball lineage family through his father), the former had to do a lot to do with his SELF-CONFIDENCE, POISE and especially his mental toughness. He was not MENTALLY EFFED UP or ENSLAVED… at his death he is worth nearly a BILLION DOLLARS, and his investment firm alone is worth at least a couple of billions, plus he has an academy that help others get involved in the game… not to mention endorsements over the years… THE MAN had his head on his shoulders and he had inspired countless other players to become entrepreneurially wise as well.
Shaquille O’Neal says it even better…'My spirit just left my body' during an emotional speech about Kobe Bryant, as his former LAKERS teammate. A lot of Black folks especially Black men feel the same way, and I am at the top of the list.
While I want to STRIVE EVEN MORE for more wealth, I also want to celebrate life with my best friends and loved ones after I found out that KOBE died… realizing that EVEN millions cannot save one from certain dire situations... ONLY 100% FAITH in ALMIGHTY GOD could have... UNLESS it was HIS TIME to go to his maker. We'll never know!
SHAQ said it best:
"And the fact that we lost probably the world's greatest Laker, the world's greatest basketball player, just ... listen, people are going to say 'take your time and get better,' but it's going to be hard for me," O'Neal said. "My spirit just left my body, I just wish I could be able to say one thing ... one last thing to the people we lost. Because once you're gone, you're gone forever."
“I haven’t felt a pain that sharp in a while.. it definitely changes me.”’@SHAQ on the loss of his brother, KOBE.
ON THIS END, I will forever be HEART-BROKEN for losing KOBE at such a young age… I saw him give HIS ALL for nearly 2 decades in the SAME TEAM... he was so good that he was never traded because he in a way his name became synonymous to that of the LOS ANGELES LAKERS. His jersey deserves to be retired, as he deserves to be immortalized and through IMMORTALIZING HIM others and particularly young BLACK MEN can emulate him like he EMULATED many other GREATS like Michael Jordan who were ambitious enough to DECIDE TO BECOME GREAT and realize that through HARD WORK even the SEEMINGLY IMPOSSIBLE may only be so AS OF NOW... the latter does not relate ONLY to basketball, but also to everything that one does if s/he eventually desires to achieve any level of GREATNESS.
My SINCEREST PRAYERS/CONDOLENCES go to HIS WIFE, DAUGHTERS, PARENTS and closest loved ones and friends… PERSONALLY, I have LOST MY MOTHER and BROTHER or some other close relatives and thus know how painful it can be to go through such tough losses. ONLY GOD can lead them to PEACE again. I pray for PEACE for the BRYANT family!
RIP Mr. Kobe Bryant... When I LOOK AT YOU, YOU STILL LOOK LIKE YOU'RE VERY ALIVE TO ME.
I LOVE YOU my BROTHUH!
Thanks for reading the FEEDBACK from my objective observation of the totality of the KOBE SITUATION... GOOGLE ==> "KOBE MAMBA MENTALITY" and apply the latter in your VENTURES.
I will be incorporating his MAMBA MENTALITY on a personal quest to create many MULTI-BILLIONAIRES within the next 3 years via my MULTI-INDUSTRY CONSULTANCY (LORINS.biz or TurnkeyVentures.net)... Inquire Within!
IN A RUSH~
CHEERS,
-- Peter's (Pierre's) Son Lorins... The Son of the Great Pastor Pierre Lorins
Dr. Pete Lorins is the Chief Editor of LorinsPOST.com and this article was sponsored by www.StrategicOnes.com