SPORTS SPEAK UP!
sportsspeakup@abqjournal.com
TOMMIE SMITH AND
John Carlos, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, Lou Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). These men protested racial inequality long before Colin Kaepernick and there will be many more to follow so long as readers … continue to be willfully ignorant of the message these athletes try to convey. We must not be afraid to denounce police and military who abuse their power and in doing so disrespect the badge and the uniform. … Nationalism is not patriotism; Kaepernick has never protested against the flag or the military. Those unwilling to understand this are the problem, not the solution.
— Bryan R Pullen
I STRONGLY COMPLIMENT
Colin Kaepernick for kneeling during the national anthem to protest nonviolently the police murders of many black people in the U.S. I do not pledge allegiance to the U.S. flag or any nation’s flags. I stay quietly seated. My country is the world. All people on earth are my sisters and brothers.
— Don Schrader
DREW BREES
was panned from all angles for stating that he didn’t approve of anyone taking a knee during the anthem and then issued a profuse apology. There was no need to apologize because many of us feel the same way. If those who support Kaepernick want to protest police brutality, they can take a knee in front of police stations. Brees recently donated $5 million to help those in need in Louisiana during the pandemic, helping feed up to 10,000 people per day. Many people talk a good game. Very few produce one.
— New Mexico Patriot
IF JEFF BEZOS
doesn’t come through for UNM, let’s look to the second wealthiest person in the world (est. $100 billion), also with ties to Albuquerque. Some 45 years ago, a couple of new residents named Bill Gates and Paul Allen arrived in our city to work for a company named MITS, located near Central Avenue and San Pedro Blvd. They housed themselves across the street at the then Sundowner Motor Lodge. On April 4, 1975, Microsoft was founded, forever changing the world. Everyone’s a Lobo? Hopefully Gates won’t forget the city where his astronomical good fortune began.
— Left Field Lobo