An Open Letter to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Stop Selling Out. #FreeTheUyghurs

I.

Over the last 20 months, we have all seen how false our sense of security is under the current status quo. A status quo that bolsters corporatocracy, technocracy and lies. The Covid-19 pandemic has put a daunting spotlight on our political leaders, public officials, government institutions and the overall state of this republic. Many everyday people have rightful doubt about the genuineness, honesty and integrity of power here in America. Time and time again the Free People have played this establishment’s game of 3 card-Monte. It has consistently revealed the same card; which reads “sold out” in bold print. Vaccines and vaccine mandates represent the zenith of a most recent abuse of power. Doubling down has become the default response for being wrong. Now in the shadow of a radical authoritarianism, many are left heartbroken by individuals we once regarded as heroes.

I’m writing this letter to you in the same manner as I did LeBron James and Kyrie Irving — with a little more of a personal context. Two Black athletes should be able to talk with some familiarity, especially in the public square. Who is there to hide from? Who is there to put on an act for at this point? We’re in the 12th hour. You probably know my story or you may know of it at least. If not, don’t worry… the enigmatic nature of it wasn’t fortuitous and it isn’t at all unrelated to the topic at hand. I’ll give you the cliff notes to help calibrate this dialogue.

I was the young basketball player who called for a halt in the NBA, professional sports and corporate world, to address the real epidemic of our time; mental illness. Just after being drafted back in 2013 and discovering our league had no mental health policies, I demanded we change that immediately. I said we must treat mental health as the greatest social issue humanity faces. I implored the NBA community or greater sports world, to coalesce and spearhead that movement. Which of course professional sports was perfectly positioned to do, on many issues, as the watering hole for a global corporate community. I also cautioned against the conflict of interest between business and health that had grown wild within our ecosystem. In retrospect that conflict of interest was truly a microcosm for all of society. For speaking publicly on these perspectives, I was Blackballed by the league. I was mocked by the media, lambasted by fans and isolated from the players. Many will make the claim that I’m only re-hatching my story to say, “poor me” or cash in on whatever currency victimhood may hold. These detractors, like so many, fail to see the fundamental need for historicity and the role it plays in maintaining a coherence of logic. Historicity is what make us human and allows us to grow our morality across time. Ironically, the lack of historicity and the poor accounting of facts is what exacerbates psychological deterioration. We are witnessing a crisis of incoherence. I refer back to my story to draw the stark contrast between now and then. Now NBA legends like yourself call for a non-negotiable coalition of athletes, that must meet the challenge of Covid-19 through vaccination. However, when it was mental health you were all silent. When you weren’t being silent, you certainly weren’t besmirching the establishment or any key individuals that stood in the way of mental health progress. I don’t know if that shows a lack of urgency around mental health or just the hyper-politicization of this pandemic and all the likeness opportunities that lie therein. Then again, Mental Health has always been a real tough topic to politicize. Nevertheless, the gerrymandering doesn’t seem to ease up.

It’s not only around the topic of mental health that we find a dereliction of social duty. Especially when it comes to those privileged with a professional sports “platform”. That isn’t by accident either. A true mental health conversation threatens the establishment on a fundamental level, which also threatens those who seek to preserve the status quo underneath it. But I’m not here to talk about that with you. This conversation is far more simple.

To coalesce athletes in pursuit of a greater good is a completely reasonable idea. In fact, it’s probably necessary in a society where entertainment has replaced faith and we see an aggressive infection of idolatry spreading throughout the population. The question that must still be confronted is — who’s idea of a greater good will this coalition actually be serving? Is that “greater good” really all that good? As a general principal, the beginning of an effective coalition shouldn’t start with totalitarian edicts. Instead it should begin by asking the right questions. Hopefully I will provoke some decent questions with this letter.

II.

Much is still left unanswered regarding Covid-19, despite the thin veil of surety that many decision makers try and maintain. One thing is for sure — our greatest fears about manipulation and malfeasance from the establishment have been found warranted. The malfeasance started most notably with Gain of Function research. Well before the first cases of Covid were ever diagnosed in Wuhan. Whether or not Covid-19 originated from Gain of Function research, can never exculpate our Medical Industrial Complex of it’s decision to put the public at great health risk. Gain of Function, in and of itself, reveals the pattern of scientific elitism that always threatens to rear its ugly head. It certainly has been understated for it’s importance in most Covid conversations.

I believe this pandemic did originate from a Gain of Function project. As do many credible scientists from around the world. Unfortunately in this absurd political climate, the resurgence of discussion around Gain of Function research and the Lab Leak Theory, comes at the expense of coalescing scientists. Men and women who genuinely fear their professional careers may never be the same just for asking the right questions. Scientists who believe that they too will be blackballed by the establishment for having the courage to speak out. Here in America the scientific establishment is greatly influenced by grant funding from the National Institute of Health (NIH), headed by Dr. Anthony Fauci. A man that somehow has become a national hero in the mainstream narrative. Historically, he also happens to be a champion of Gain of Function research and once even said that the research itself outweighed the risk of a pandemic causing lab accident. I don’t trust him. I don’t trust that mentality. Yes, he’s a pair of steady hands. Yes, he’s already contradicted himself more times than I can count. He constantly moves the goal post on behalf of the establishment or on behalf of multiple establishments. Including the ones that he’s intimately involved in. All of that is true… but I don’t trust him because the eyes never lie. And not once has Dr. Fauci said, the scientists who speak out against him shouldn’t fear professional retaliation.

Whether cultural or brutish, unrelenting intimidation from the establishment is not uncommon in this story. Looking at the onset of Covid-19 in Wuhan shows us more of the same. There we saw a Chinese government lie and censor it’s own frontline doctors. Which has now happened here at home to frontline doctors such as Dr. Pierre Kory. The ICU lung specialist who has been on the frontline with covid patients for several months. He urged the medical world to utilize compelling data about early treatment therapeutics such as Ivermectin. Only to be censored by Big Tech and colluded against by the liberal media. We must never forget the first emergency room doctor to sound the alarm about Covid-19 (Li Wenliang) was detained by the Chinese government and accused of  “fear mongering”. In the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, China’s influence over the World Health Organization (WHO) also came into question. We witnessed the WHO say any claim the virus had come from China, was xenophobic or racist. A liberal contingent in Washington D.C. played along. Or maybe they were the architect, that part is still unclear. Regardless, the WHO’s reluctance in setting firm expectation on China to share information with other nations, cost lives and undermined any chance at containing the covid outbreak in it’s early stages. For America this was just another chapter of an ongoing information war that has metastasized with China.

We know the rest of the story here at home — we went from mask to no mask, then back to mask, then double masked, social distancing indoors and outdoors, back to outdoors, then standing up, sitting down, shelter in place, lockdowns (which we disobeyed after George Floyd was murdered), etc. In retrospect, the significance of the George Floyd protests can’t be overstated as essential context in the story arc of the pandemic. After George Floyd was murdered, media coverage failed to illustrate that the majority of Blacks were on the sidelines, not the frontlines. Some had convinced themselves the frontline effort was not worth the risk of contracting Covid-19. Some people just had more important things to do. Many selected for pseudo-awareness campaigns — Such as posting pictures or quotes on social media, making performative statements in “solidarity” with Minneapolis and BLM, putting names on the back of jerseys, etc. The same passive mentality that later lent itself to the “insurrection” narrative. A narrative that basically presupposes, under no circumstances does tyranny of The State justify a hostile revolt against the federal government. Which is another shining example of poor historicity and constitutional knowledge. It’s a way of saying all the activism must stay within the system’s predetermined boundary. Around the time of George Floyd, Kyrie Irving tried to lead a coalition of players that would drive fundamental change in the NBA. He was met with the same rejection that he’s being met with now. This pattern of rejection and castigation is conspicuous to say the least… why do the guys who actually seek change have no coalition? I’ll digress on that for now.

It’s been a mess ever since the pandemic hit our shores. And why wouldn’t a pandemic cause pure chaos? Maybe it was arrogance that had us expecting it would be anything other than chaos. Maybe it was the same arrogance that got us into this mess to begin with. What people were right to expect, is that those in positions of power who are paid by our tax dollars, show us enough civility not to insult our intelligence. Or at least exhibit some resemblance of honesty. The opposite has happened over the last 20 months. Consequently, an already warranted skepticism of the establishment has now turned into a rightful and necessary rebellion. The cry out for George Floyd, about the whole system being guilty, didn’t aim high enough. We should have demanded to defund the Federal Reserve, not the police.

III.

George Floyd’s murder coincided a mania about masking and “super-spreader” events as demonstrations raged around the country. Now well into a second year of this pandemic, the most worrisome thing about our Covid-19 response isn’t masks — It’s the one size fits all vaccine approach that’s been crudely plastered across mainstream media. On top of that there’s a cultish effort to censor anybody who challenges it. This points back to my fight for mental health policy in the NBA. Including my advocacy for comprehensive health models and individualized healthcare – Which is the most logical approach to medicine. Not coincidentally, this too was also censored. The one size fits all method is something you now aid and ebbed. Going on a variety of liberal leaning talk shows to criticize Kyrie Irving and any other NBA players who stave off vaccination. Calling their actions irresponsible and dangerous, particularly for their own Black people. In the process you have said things that are simply untrue regarding this pandemic. Most egregious of these — “The vaccine and masks are the best weapons we have to fight this war.” First, that’s just corny and clearly an establishment talking point. Secondly, it’s a complete lie. There is substantial evidence emerging from around the world that Ivermectin has shown itself to be an effective therapeutic and prophylactic for Covid-19. Corticosteroids has already been through a similar process. It’s effectiveness was denied by the mainstream only to be walked back shortly after. These two weapons were systematically suppressed. Which leads any logical person to conclude that the best weapon “in this war”, is the freedom of information. Then proper checks and balances on regulatory institutions. The suppression of potential live saving therapeutics for the political animus of this liberal establishment is racism. Many Black lives could’ve been saved from adequate early treatment. And that really has become one of the goto narratives for vaccination hasn’t it? That Black and Brown communities have been most effected by this virus — so if you challenge vaccination you don’t care about Black lives? Isn’t that what you said? It’s odd, I don’t recall seeing you on the frontlines after George Floyd was murdered. And now it’s on the heels of another Black misfortune that we should allow the same “guilty system” to assume absolute authority?

This vaccine rollout has endured the same plague of incompetent messaging and hollow promises many social issues have. Often being led by people we have plenty of reason to distrust. People that usually give us a reason to distrust them in real time. With all that being said, the central point of writing this letter to you isn’t even to talk about vaccines – It’s the vaccine mandates that are a completely different ball game.

For me questions are by far the best intellectual tool we have, so I’m going to ask a few to try and shock the system… Why has the coverage of this pandemic swayed so heavily toward democratic politics here in America? Why has the rise of censorship crept up and exploded off the back of this pandemic? Why is there no significant cohort of athletes that view censorship as a pertinent issue, when we have always fought so vehemently for the freedom of speech? When we say “the system” or “systemic racism”, what institutions are we talking about exactly? Does the Medical Industrial Complex not make the list? Is Abortion a part of the Medical Industrial Complex? What would America look like with 30 million more Black people? Who was Margaret Sanger? Why is COVID thee issue that has sprung so many public figures into a “we must act” modus operandi? Is it really out of fearing COVID or a radical lack of belonging and connection? What’s changed since George Floyd’s death? What does revolution look like? What does it sound like? What does it feel like? Who’s actually willing to revolt? What did Malcom X tell us about liberalism? Why have liberals banned Minister Louis Farrakhan? Why have we sat back and allowed that? What does that say about Alex Jones? What happened to Occupy Wall St.? What is the Federal Reserve? Who runs the Federal Reserve? Where did the $30 trillion dollars of national debt really go? Are Whites really the enemy? Why are LGBTQ Whites and White Liberal Women precluded from white supremacy? Is it possible that working class Whites, Blacks and everyone else have been duped into a petty game or color and race, while the elites run off with the green? Didn’t Fred Hampton say something similar? Was the Rainbow Coalition, founded by Fred Hampton in 1969, predicated on this socio-economic intersection? Why was he was assassinated 8 months later? Was it not until 1978 that Gilbert Baker popularized the rainbow flag as a symbol of gay pride? Is this a form of cultural appropriation?

Where are the coalesced athletes calling for a liberation of 2 million plus Muslim Uyghurs who are currently locked in concentration camps in East Turkistan? How many individuals, institutions and nations are in the pocket of China? Either directly or aspirational? As a Muslim, why are you not the leading the coalition for your Uyghur brothers and sisters to be freed?

IV.

These vaccine mandates and the “anti-vaxx” or “vaccine denier” shaming campaigns you’ve lent your voice to, stand upon the most cultural authoritarian platform there is. A platform that boasts a mockery — “You have the right to choose, but not without consequence”. Whenever the consequences are imposed through fiat, by a government with such a long track record of political corruption, it’s usually well describe as tyranny. Now on national television you champion the “discipline” or exile of young Black men, who are asking legitimate questions about the moral and ethical nature of these mandates? Or the scientific certainty of their methodological application? Or the spirit of the establishment that’s administering them? These players have shown the courage to forgo professional security for moral principal. You’ve basically belittled their right to even ask questions and receive a real answer. You’re undermining them by characterizing their position as sowing confusion. You’re undermining Black men, you’re undermining Black people, you’re undermining freedom. You are the one who is confused sir. Where is your fealty? I mean, this is a neofeudalist society. You want to take money from a Black community that is already economically underdeveloped, in favor of the establishment? Kyrie doesn’t want to lose money, he wants freedom and privacy, there’s a big difference.

We know for a fact that you can still contract and pass Covid-19 after being vaccinated. That’s not misinformation, it’s a scientific fact. Jonathan Issac was spot on to say “Unvaxxed doesn’t mean infected and vaxxed doesn’t mean uninfected.” In layman’s terms, teams shouldn’t be abandoning a weekly testing method until more “effective” vaccines are developed. Which also means there’s a suitable alternative to the coercion that is being sent down by the league. It not only applies to the NBA, as usual, but our entire workforce. Like the healthcare workers who are now being fired for not getting vaccinated. Ironically this is happening in the middle of a pandemic that we claim is always on the doorstep of becoming apocalyptic. The same workers that were essential a year ago are now expendable if not vaccinated. Even though many of them already contracted Covid while risking their life to fight on the frontlines of this pandemic. Where is your respect for their sacrifice? Where do they rank on your list of weapons in this war against the pandemic?

There is a risk to these vaccines (regardless of how small) and people should be able to choose whether or not they take that risk — Without the fear of institutional consequences and/or persecution. Where is the acknowledgment of natural immunity? The blatant effort to ignore the science of natural immunity is a complete nonstarter. Where are the medical exemptions in these mandates? Furthermore, by what authority does a private company like the NBA get to change the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement? Are there any consequences for that? Should these teams not have to pay every dollar, if they don’t use their political influence to lobby for the rights of their employees? The same way they do when it’s time to build arenas with tax dollars? In your ultimatum “If you don’t get vaxxed you don’t get paid” you’re effectively placing the burden of the fight for labor rights on the worker. Why should the working class have to bear the brunt of a fight against the federal government? The working class already carries the financial burden of this entire capitalism experiment. They carry the debt that was so arrogantly accrued by the federal government and The Federal Reserve. Do you realize what kind’ve of precedent that sets? Shouldn’t the onus be on these billion dollar mega institutions, to stand up and check the tyranny of this federal government? They get all the preferential tax loops. That is injustice at it’s finest; economic injustice.

Shame on you Kareem. You’re are acting as a mouthpiece for the same system you denounce and decry. And it is the exact same system. You’re talking out of both sides of your mouth. Remember when Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf raised his hands in prayer during the national anthem? Plenty of people said — “You can choose to do that, but there may be consequences.” Freedom of speech is something we must uphold. It doesn’t matter if we like and agree with what’s being said. When you affirm the consequences of a corrupt establishment, without challenge and self-sacrificing rebellion, you are selling out the Free People Sir. We are not all so mesmerized by the glamour of celebrity that we forget due diligence with regard to critical thought and philosophical first principles. I will not stand by and let this establishment prop up any misleaders without immediate pushback. We will continue to go on the record and bear witness. You do not represent Black people. You do not represent The Free People. You are representing you and if anybody else, The Black Bourgeoise, who protect the status quo of corruption underneath this establishment. At any and all costs. ARTIFICE!

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Royce Alexander White

Free People of America

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P.S. UGG boots are constructed in China.

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Free The Uyghurs!

GodSpeeds