I understand both sides. I really do.

Michael Jackson had the bigger fame. I do not see how anybody can sit there with a straight face and deny that. Michael became something beyond a singer. He became a world figure. A child in a small town knew him. A dancer overseas knew him. A grandmother who did not buy pop albums still knew that glove, that hat, that moonwalk, and that little kick before he slid across the floor. He was one of those rare people who did not need an introduction after a certain point. The room knew before the announcer finished talking.

But fame is not the same as influence. That is where the debate gets good.

Fame is everybody knowing your name. Influence is somebody moving like you, singing like you, building a beat from you, or borrowing your stage language fifty years after your first big moment. Fame gets loud. Influence gets buried deep. Fame makes headlines. Influence shows up in somebody else’s song, somebody else’s footwork, somebody else’s band, somebody else’s drum break, and sometimes folks do not even realize where it came from.

That is why James Brown is hard to move out of the way.

Before Michael became the King of Pop, James Brown had already made rhythm the main character. You can hear it in “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag.” You can hear it in “I Got You. (I Feel Good)” You can really hear it in “Cold Sweat.” Those songs were not just records playing on the radio. They were lessons. James was showing everybody that a song did not have to float on melody alone. The beat could talk. The bass could talk. The horns could talk. A grunt could be part of the arrangement. A scream could land right where a snare drum should have been.

That was not by accident either. James Brown knew exactly what he was doing. Folks sometimes act like he was just wild energy in a suit, but that brother was disciplined. He ran that band like a man running a business and a church choir at the same time. If the drummer missed something, James heard it. If the horn section came in lazy, James caught it. If the groove was not right, nobody on that stage got to relax. He might have been sweating through his clothes, sliding across the floor, and dropping to his knees, but do not mistake movement for chaos. James Brown was control dressed up as fire.

Now let us walk through the eras a little bit, because that is where this debate gets even richer.

In the 1970s, James Brown was already a grown man’s storm. “Get Up I Feel Like Being A Sex Machine” was not built like a regular song. It felt like a command. “Super Bad” had so much strut in it you could almost see somebody stepping out of a Cadillac in a sharp coat. “Soul Power” sounded like Black pride with horns behind it. “Make It Funky” did exactly what the title said. No mystery. No begging. Just make the thing funky and let the people catch up.

Then there was “The Payback.” Lord have mercy, that record still sounds like trouble walking slow. Not foolish trouble. Not reckless trouble. I mean the kind of trouble that comes from a man who has been wronged and is not asking permission to feel what he feels. That groove is patient. Mean. Grown. It does not rush because it knows it already owns the room. “Funky President” had a political edge to it, but it still moved. “Papa Don’t Take No Mess” sounded like somebody’s uncle who did not have to explain himself twice.

And I cannot talk about James Brown’s influence without giving proper respect to “Say It Loud, I’m Black And I’m Proud.” That song was bigger than radio. It helped Black folks say out loud what society kept trying to beat down, hide, and make us feel ashamed of. James Brown gave pride a rhythm. He made Blackness sound bold, strong, and public at a time when many of our people needed to hear somebody say it without fear. That record was not just funk. That was identity. That was a whole people straightening their backs, lifting their heads, and understanding that being Black was not something to apologize for. Michael Jackson became the bigger global superstar, but James Brown gave Black people an anthem that helped us embrace ourselves.

At the same time, Michael was coming through the 70s in another way. With the Jackson 5, he had already touched America with “ABC,” “The Love You Save,” “I’ll Be There,” and “Never Can Say Goodbye.” That little boy could sing pain before he had lived enough life to explain it. That was the mystery of Michael early on. His voice was young, but it carried something older. You could hear innocence and heartbreak standing beside each other.

By the late 70s, Michael was no longer just the little brother with the big voice. “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” announced that he was stepping into his own grown sound. “Rock With You” was smooth enough to make a whole room feel like the lights had dimmed. “Off The Wall” had joy in it. Not forced joy either. It sounded like release. That album was the door opening before the whole world rushed in.

Still, even then, you could see James Brown’s shadow. Not in a cheap copycat way. Michael was too gifted for that. But Michael studied the great ones, and James was one of the great ones he studied closely. The sharp stops, the quick feet, the body control, the way a dancer could attack silence between beats, all of that had roots. Michael polished it until it looked like magic. James gave it to you like sweat flying off a man who had something to prove.

Then the 1980s came, and Michael Jackson took over the planet.

“Billie Jean” was more than a hit song. That record felt like a door opening into a new kind of stardom. The bassline was simple, but it had a walk to it. When Michael performed it and gave the world that moonwalk, everything changed. “Beat It” crossed into rock without leaving soul behind. “Thriller” turned a music video into an event. People did not just watch it. They gathered for it. “Wanna Be Startin Somethin” had that restless energy that could still fill a dance floor. Then came “Bad,” “The Way You Make Me Feel,” “Smooth Criminal,” “Dirty Diana,” and “Man In The Mirror.”

That run was not normal. That was a man standing in the middle of pop culture and telling everybody else to move around him.

Michael understood the screen better than most entertainers of that time. He knew the pause mattered. He knew the entrance mattered. He knew the clothes, the lighting, the dancers, and the camera angle all worked together. After Michael, big pop performance could not be lazy anymore. If you wanted to be that kind of star, you had to bring a full show. You could not just sing into the microphone and expect folks to call it legendary.

James Brown in the 80s was not sitting at the same table commercially. He was not the young ruler anymore. But that does not mean he was gone. “Living In America” put him back in front of a new crowd, and even if that record had a shinier 80s sound, it still reminded people who he was. The interesting part is that while Michael was dominating the decade on television, James Brown was living inside the music from underneath. Hip hop was rising, and those producers kept digging into James Brown’s catalog like they had found gold in the backyard.

That is where influence starts outlasting chart position.

By the 1990s, Michael was still huge. “Black Or White” was a worldwide moment. “Remember The Time” gave us that smooth groove and one of his best videos. “Jam” had a harder edge. “In The Closet” was grown and tense. “Scream” with Janet sounded like two famous people tired of being chewed up by the machine. “They Don’t Care About Us” had anger in it. “Earth Song” was dramatic, maybe too dramatic for some people, but it showed Michael still wanted to make music that felt big. “You Are Not Alone” proved he could still stand inside a ballad and make the world listen.

But the 90s also showed just how deep James Brown’s reach had gone. Hip hop was not just borrowing from him here and there. It was building with pieces of him. Producers used his drum breaks, his grunts, his grooves, his screams, his band hits, his whole sense of rhythm. Public Enemy, Eric B. and Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, LL Cool J, Heavy D, N.W.A, and plenty more moved through music that had James Brown somewhere in the walls. A young person could be riding around listening to rap and still be hearing James without knowing it.

That is the kind of influence you cannot measure by screams at a concert.

Michael influenced performers who wanted to become stars. James influenced the very structure of the music they were standing on. Michael made you ask how to create a moment. James made you ask how to make the body move.

By the 2000s, things had changed again. Michael’s public life had become heavy, and the industry had shifted. Still, “You Rock My World” showed he could still glide through a groove. “Butterflies” was beautiful and does not get enough respect. “Break Of Dawn” had a late night R&B feel that grown folks could appreciate. “Whatever Happens” had a different kind of maturity. The Invincible album did not rule the world like Thriller or Bad, but that does not mean the music had no value. People were sometimes so caught up in the noise around Michael that they stopped listening fairly.

Even with all that noise around him, Michael’s fingerprints were still all over the place. You could see it in Usher’s footwork, Chris Brown’s sharp dance breaks, Ginuwine’s smoothness, Ne Yo’s stage style, and even Justin Timberlake trying to carry that pop and R&B mix. None of them were Michael, but you could tell they grew up in the world he helped build. The hat tilt, the pause before a move, the dancers lined up behind the star, the way a man could walk on stage and already look like a performance before he sang one word, Michael helped make that normal.

James Brown in the 2000s was an elder by then, but he still did not feel small. He was already permanent. Young artists did not need him to have a new radio hit to prove he mattered. The samples had already proved it. The dancers had already proved it. The funk bands had already proved it. The rappers had already proved it. Even the way people talked about stage presence had a little James Brown in it. When folks say somebody “worked” the stage, that road runs through James.

Coming from the South, I hear James Brown in a particular way. He sounds like sweat, church, tobacco roads, juke joints, shiny shoes, hard times, and a man who learned how to turn pressure into command. He was not always pretty. He was not supposed to be. He had that raw thing in him. That thing older folks recognize when somebody has had to fight for every inch. His music did not ask you to sit still and admire it. It grabbed you by the shoulders.

Michael was different. Michael gave us wonder. He gave us fantasy. He gave us polish. He could sound soft on “Human Nature,” wounded on “She’s Out Of My Life,” bold on “Bad,” lonely on “Stranger In Moscow,” and almost spiritual on “Man In The Mirror.” People who reduce Michael to the glove and moonwalk are not listening carefully enough. That man had feeling in his voice. Real feeling. He could make a line sound like a secret.

James Brown carried a different kind of weight, plain and simple. “Please, Please, Please” sounded like a man begging with his whole chest, not just singing into a microphone. “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World” had all that old school pride, pain, ego, and hurt sitting inside it at the same time. But “Say It Loud, I’m Black And I’m Proud” was something else. That one was bigger than a hit record. For a lot of Black folks, that song helped put some steel in the spine. It came through the speakers saying what many of our people needed to hear out loud. You did not have to shrink. You did not have to be ashamed. You did not have to explain your Blackness to anybody. James Brown could entertain the room, but he could also remind you to stand up straighter before the song was over.

So where do I land?

Michael Jackson was bigger. No question. Bigger fame. Bigger global reach. Bigger videos. Bigger pop moments. Bigger worldwide image. At his peak, Michael was not just competing with other singers. He was competing with the idea of fame itself.

But James Brown may have been deeper. He changed the groove. He changed the band. He changed how rhythm worked in Black popular music. He helped shape funk, and funk helped shape hip hop, R&B, dance music, and so much more. He influenced Michael too, and that matters in this conversation. If the man you are comparing him to studied him, then you cannot brush him aside.

I look at it like this. Michael Jackson was the tallest tree in the yard. Everybody could see him from the road. James Brown was part of the root system under the ground. You might not always see roots, but you better believe the tree needs them.

Michael made the world watch.

James made the world move.

And where I come from, brother, movement tells the truth.

Staff Writer; Jamar Jackson

This brother has a passion for poetry and music. One may contact him at; JJackson@ThyBlackMan.com.

The traditional path to business ownership required capital, location, licensing, and years of relationship-building before revenue materialized. Digital platforms have compressed that timeline significantly. A well-built online business can reach customers in multiple countries before it turns six months old. That geographic reach was once reserved for corporations with international offices and logistics infrastructure. Today it is available to any operator who understands the technology.

Where the real opportunity sits

The most durable digital businesses are not built on content alone. They are built on infrastructure — platforms that process transactions, manage users, and deliver services at scale. The entrepreneurs who have understood this early have moved from building individual products to building systems that other businesses run on.

This is visible across industries. Fintech platforms now power payment flows for businesses that never touch a bank branch. SaaS companies provide the back-end for operations that look, from the outside, like entirely different companies. In online entertainment, Vegangster represents this model — a platform infrastructure provider that equips operators to launch and scale digital businesses rather than building everything independently from zero.

The pattern is the same across categories: the platform layer captures value consistently, while individual products rise and fall.

What digital ownership actually requires

The accessibility of digital business models can obscure how much operational discipline they still demand. A platform-based business still needs clean financial management, customer acquisition strategy, and an understanding of the regulatory environment it operates in. The difference is that the infrastructure constraints — physical space, supply chains, local staffing — are largely removed.

For entrepreneurs entering the digital economy, the most important early decision is often not what product to build, but which platform layer to build on or with. Choosing an infrastructure partner with documented reliability, real integrations, and transparent pricing is the equivalent of choosing the right commercial real estate in a physical business — it shapes everything downstream.

The compounding advantage

What separates digital wealth-building from traditional models is the compounding dynamic. A physical business generates revenue proportional to its capacity. A well-structured digital operation can grow revenue without proportionally growing costs — because the marginal cost of serving an additional customer through software infrastructure is close to zero.

This is why the entrepreneurs who entered digital platforms early, even in categories that seemed niche or speculative, have built significant asset bases. The question for the next generation of Black entrepreneurs is not whether digital platforms represent a real opportunity — that case is settled. The question is which categories still have room to move, and how quickly operators can build the operational knowledge to compete in them.

The digital economy does not have a fixed number of seats. It expands with participation. That is the part of this conversation that does not get enough attention.

Staff Writer; Ricky Brown

A lot of Black men understood early that Obama was going to face pressure most presidents never had to deal with. You could feel it before he even entered the White House. Folks questioned where the man was born. They mocked his name. Some acted uncomfortable simply because a confident Black man with intelligence and composure suddenly stood in front of the entire world commanding attention. Brothers watching all this unfold knew exactly what was happening even when television tried pretending otherwise. Many of us grew up understanding how quickly society can become threatened once a Black man carries himself with confidence without asking permission from anybody.

What impressed me most about Obama was the restraint. Now let us be honest as Black men for a second. There were countless moments where many brothers would have snapped publicly dealing with the level of disrespect he faced. People interrupted him. Mocked him. Lied about him daily. Tried reducing everything about him down to anger, race, or conspiracy theories. Yet the man stayed composed over and over again. That taught many young Black men something important without him even saying it directly. Emotional control is power too.

See, many brothers grow up being told we must remain calm in situations where others are allowed to lose control freely. One emotional reaction can cost us jobs, opportunities, freedom, or even safety. Obama understood that reality deeply. He knew certain people desperately wanted him angry because anger would have fed stereotypes already sitting inside their minds. Instead, he often answered pressure with preparation, patience, humor, or silence. Watching that level of discipline inspired many brothers quietly whether they admit it or not.

The thing I respected was that Obama never came off weak either. Some people confuse composure with softness because modern culture worships loud behavior. Obama never needed fake toughness to command respect. He walked into rooms filled with world leaders and looked completely comfortable standing there. The brother understood who he was. Young Black men needed to see that badly during those years because too often society pushes brothers toward extremes. Either you are expected to be overly aggressive or completely passive. Obama showed another lane entirely.

And let us talk honestly about what it meant seeing a Black family inside the White House carrying themselves with dignity. That mattered deeply inside Black households across America. Seeing Obama speak proudly about his daughters. Seeing the respect between him and Michelle Obama. Seeing structure, education, love, and discipline connected to a Black family on the world stage changed how many young brothers viewed themselves mentally. Some people will never fully understand how powerful that image became for Black America.

For years society pushed narratives about broken Black homes constantly. Television loved showing dysfunction while ignoring millions of hardworking Black fathers raising families quietly every day. Obama represented another image entirely. The brother looked like somebody grounded. Somebody thoughtful. Somebody trying to lead while still protecting his family from the madness surrounding politics. A lot of older Black men respected that because many came from generations where carrying yourself with dignity mattered heavily.

Another thing young brothers connected with was Obama making intelligence look powerful. Let us keep it real. In some environments, young Black boys get pressured into hiding intelligence just to fit in socially. Some brothers grow up feeling like education somehow makes them less authentic. Obama changed that mindset for many people. The brother read books openly. Spoke carefully. Thought deeply before answering questions. He made professionalism look strong instead of corny. Teachers noticed it. Parents noticed it. Young Black men noticed it too.

Even the way Obama handled criticism taught lessons. There were politicians and media personalities saying outrageous things about him constantly. Some crossed lines previous presidents probably never would have experienced publicly. Yet Obama rarely lowered himself into emotional chaos. That patience frustrated many people because they wanted him rattled publicly. They wanted to see the angry Black man stereotype come alive on television. Instead, Obama stayed disciplined.

Now that does not mean everybody agreed with every political decision he made. No president escapes criticism. Some brothers wanted him to move differently on certain issues. Others wished he addressed race more directly during particular moments. That conversation is fair. But this article is bigger than political debates. This is about recognizing how the man carried himself under unbelievable pressure while the entire world watched his every move.

A lot of Black men saw pieces of themselves in Obama’s balancing act. Going into workplaces where you know people question your intelligence before you even speak. Feeling pressure to remain composed while others get emotional freely. Understanding one mistake can follow you longer because you are Black. Obama navigated all of that publicly on the biggest stage imaginable. That reality connected deeply with many brothers trying to survive similar pressures in everyday life.

I also think older Black men felt emotional watching Obama because they came from generations that never believed they would see a Black president during their lifetime. Some lived through segregation. Some marched during Civil Rights years. Some grew up watching Black men denied opportunities openly. Then suddenly there was a Black family living in the White House carrying themselves with grace while representing America globally. That meant something beyond politics.

Young brothers especially needed that example though. They needed to see a Black man operate with confidence, intelligence, patience, humor, and emotional discipline without constantly proving masculinity through aggression. Obama gave many young men permission mentally to think bigger about themselves. College suddenly felt more reachable for some. Public speaking looked cool again. Reading books did not seem lame anymore. Representation matters whether people admit it or not.

One thing I always respected was how Obama never seemed desperate for validation. The brother looked secure inside himself. He could joke naturally. He could speak seriously when needed. He could stand firm without screaming. That type of confidence inspired many Black men because true strength usually speaks calmly.

Now before somebody jumps straight into policy arguments, understand this piece focuses more on the cultural and emotional impact Obama had on many Black men across generations. Brothers respected how the man handled pressure because life already teaches many of us how heavy pressure can become.

And honestly, I would like to know what moment during Barack Obama’s presidency connected with you personally the most. Was it election night? A speech? Watching him interact with his family? Or maybe it was simply seeing a Black man carry himself with grace while the whole world waited for him to fall apart publicly?

Staff Writer; L.L. McKenna

Politics explained through the lens of justice and equity. Offering perspective that informs, challenges, and empowers.

One can contact this brother at; LLMcKenna@ThyBlackMan.com.

Some of us were trained before we had words for it. Do not smile too much. Do not look too happy. Do not let folks think you are soft. Do not let strangers read you. Watch your mouth. Watch your hands. Watch your face. Boy, that is a lot to put on somebody who is still learning how to be alive. Yet many of us grew up hearing warnings wrapped in love, because our fathers, uncles, coaches, and grandfathers knew the world could mistake an open spirit for weakness.

I understand why they taught it. I am not sitting here acting brand new. There are places where a Black male has to pay attention. A wrong look can cause trouble. A wrong tone can invite foolishness. A wrong step can turn a simple day into something heavy. We know that. Still, I wonder what all that caution has cost us. A man can spend so much time protecting himself that he forgets what his real face looks like when nobody is threatening him.

There is a certain kind of smile I miss seeing. Not the picture smile. Not the one people use when they are trying to sell something. I mean that slow, easy one that comes when a man is at peace for a minute. You might see it when he is holding a grandbaby. You might catch it when old school music comes on at a cookout. You might notice it when he tastes something that reminds him of his grandmother. Nothing big happened. No trumpet sounded. His soul just had a small opening, and something good walked through it.

We need to stop acting like a good moment has to be earned. That is where many of us get trapped. We tell ourselves we can rest later. Laugh later. Sit down later. Enjoy our people later. After this bill. After this repair. After this doctor visit. After this school issue. After this job stops acting crazy. But later is slippery. Later will let a man chase it for forty years and still not turn around. At some point you have to take the mercy sitting right in front of you.

I am not talking about being careless. A grown man ought to handle his responsibilities. Nobody who loves his family wants to be lazy, childish, or absent. That is not the point. Responsibility was never meant to rob a man of his light. You can pay bills and still laugh at the table. You can be firm and still show warmth. You can correct a son and hug him afterward. You can lead a home without walking through it like a storm cloud. Some of us think we are showing strength, but the people close to us may only feel distance.

A wife can feel that distance. Children can too. They may know you love them, but they may not know how to come close. They hear the car pull in and start checking the mood in the room. They know whether the chair squeaks, whether the keys hit the counter hard, whether the television goes on before anybody gets a word in. That is not written to shame any man, because I know work and pressure can drain the best of us. Still, we ought to ask ourselves what our homes feel like when we enter them.

A father’s smile can change the weather inside a house. It can tell a little girl she does not have to perform for affection. It can tell a boy manhood does not have to look like silence and a clenched jaw. It can tell a wife that her husband is still reachable, not just present. That matters. A lot of families have men who provide, but everybody tiptoes around them. Provision is important, but warmth is part of covering a family too.

I think about the older men I grew up around. Some of them laughed loud at the barbershop, then went quiet the minute they got home. Some could joke with friends, but struggled to speak gently to their own children. Some had been hurt so long they did not know how to soften without feeling exposed. I see them differently now. Back then, I thought they were just hard. Now I know many were carrying things nobody ever asked about. Grief. War memories. Racism on the job. Debt. Failed dreams. Bad knees. Regret. Pride. A man can bury a whole life under the words, I am fine.

That is why brothers need other brothers who will tell the truth without clowning pain. We need friends who can say, “You alright?” and mean it. We need circles where a man can admit he is tired without somebody calling him weak. We need older men who can show younger ones that faith is not only about enduring. It is also about receiving. God did not breathe life into us just so we could grind ourselves into dust. There is blessing in a quiet meal, a child’s laugh, a decent night of sleep, and a sunrise you actually stop to notice.

Southern folks know how to stretch a small blessing when we let ourselves. A plate from somebody who can cook. Shade under a tree. A neighbor waving from the porch. Rain hitting a tin roof. Somebody at church singing off key but meaning every word. A fish fry where nobody is in a rush. These things may not impress the world, but they have carried our people through many seasons. Maybe that is the lesson. Gladness does not always come dressed up. Sometimes it shows up in work pants, with a paper plate in one hand and a folding chair waiting in the yard.

There are times when a smile will not come easy. Loss can sit on a man’s chest. Bad news can steal the taste from food. Money trouble can make sleep feel impossible. Marriage strain can turn home into a place of tension. Sickness can humble anybody. I would never tell a hurting brother to pretend. Pretending is not healing. But I would tell him not to give all his days to sorrow. Even in a hard season, one honest laugh is not betrayal. It is not denial. It is a small reminder that pain is not the owner of the whole house.

So I am saying this to myself as much as anybody else. Stop waiting until every problem is solved before you let your face soften. Stop treating gladness like a paycheck you have not earned yet. Stop thinking your family only needs your labor. They need to see you live. They need to know you can feel good without apologizing for it. Brother, you do not have to prove you suffered enough. You do not have to win every fight first. Black men, joy is not something you have to earn. Sometimes it is already near you, waiting for you to stop pushing it away.

Staff Writer; Lee Walker

This brother is a fitness trainer with 12 years of experience, focused on building strength, clarity, and real health within the Black community. Through his writing, Mr. Walker hopes to uplift younger Black men and men in general through honest conversations about fitness, financial pressure, fatherhood, discipline, mental wellness, and the importance of brotherhood.

Have questions? Reach me at LeeW@ThyBlackMan.com.

I thought that since I went to college to be an engineer it would rub off on at least one of my six children. After all, they are all of my flesh and blood. But that didn’t happen. In fact, no two of my children have similar career interests.

There is something common to all of them, however. They all want to be winners. That’s true about everybody. Really, who in their right mind wants to be a loser? I’m convinced God has wired us that way; that is, to desire to want to win in life.

Winning requires more than a desire to win. We also must have or develop a winner’s attitude. This mindset is not incidental to salvation. A person can be born again, confident of his salvation, and still be driven by a loser’s mentality. The apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, writes about the winner’s attitude. The points we can draw from his letter are very practical and can be immediately implemented:

1. Be determined to win. “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize?” Paul asks (1 Cor. 9:24). “So run, that ye may obtain.” What he is saying here is that we should live our life as if we are running in a race for which there is but one winner, and we are determined to be that winner. No, he is not saying we should go around competing with everybody. But he is saying that winners become winners because they first determine to be winners.

2. Strive for mastery. Observe any great athlete on TV. One of the reasons he electrifies a crowd is because he has mastered what he does. This mastery does not come overnight. To get there, one must become “temperate in all things” (v. 25a). That means he must endure the road to perfection with much patience and persistence.

One thing that intrigues me is the finesse with which figure skaters perform. I can only imagine how long it takes for them to master their performance. They do all of this working for a crown that’s here today and gone tomorrow, but from the Lord we will receive an incorruptible crown (verse 25b).

3. Remain focused. We must maintain some sense of purpose in life. Paul talks about this in terms of a boxer. In order for him to hit his target, as opposed to missing his target and beating the air (verse 26), he has to remain focused on his opponent. We must do the same in life. We need a clear purpose, and we must focus our energies toward that purpose. No one can be a winner going through life aimlessly.

4. Play by the rules. In verse 27, Paul talks about the possibility of his preaching and winning others to Christ while at the same time himself becoming a castaway! What he is talking about is being disqualified. Even if you are not a baseball fan, you have no doubt heard the controversy surrounding Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants. At my writing this newsletter he is within one home run of tying Mr. Hank Aaron’s record. Many baseball lovers, however, do not and will never respect Mr. Bonds’ accomplishments because he allegedly used performance-enhancing drugs. I don’t know if he did or did not. But his case illustrates the importance of our playing by the rules so in the end we are not disqualified.

There are some people who will do anything to get ahead in life and to realize their dream, but God never regards cheaters as winners.

Notice the verbs used in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27: run, strive, fight, etc. These verbs suggest that opposition exists to our becoming a winner. This opposition comes from the devil. Hence, winning is not happenstance.

A winner’s attitude has nothing to do with where you are in life at this very moment. As you read this newsletter, you may be in the worst of times, but you can still adopt the biblical principles above, and they will revolutionize your life.

The medical profession recognizes the power of a winner’s attitude. I have witnessed a couple of instances where a person was in the hospital at the point of death, the doctors had done all they could, and the family had been praying constantly. After all of that, the only thing standing between the patient and death was the life support system to which he was connected.

Acknowledging that medicine and techniques have been exhausted, the doctor will say something like it’s really left up to the patient now. What does he mean by that? He is saying that a patient’s mere determination to live and not die can bring him through at times. Apparently, even when the body is at the point of shutdown, and all bodily organs have been compromised by the shadow of death, a winner’s attitude can energize one’s morbid being.

“If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth,” Jesus said to a man” (Mark 9:23). The Lord was saying to him that if he could believe that Christ could do for him what he was requesting, then it was possible. Let me paraphrase this for you:

No matter what your situation is, and no matter how finished you appear to be, if you pray to God with a winner’s attitude, and if you believe that what you are praying to God for is possible, then to you it is possible.

From what I have said up to this point, it should be obvious that a winner’s attitude requires more than positive thinking. You don’t become a winner simply by repeatedly telling yourself that you are until you believe that you are. Think about the pointers we drew from Paul’s letter: be determined, strive for mastery, remain focused, and play by the rules. A winner’s attitude is a way of life characterized by these actions.

There is a lot of truth in the trite cliché, “attitude determines altitude”. I firmly believe that a winner’s attitude can soar us to great heights.

Up to this point I have been purposefully ambiguous about the application of the four pointers above from Paul’s epistle. Though I have been talking about winning I have done so generically. The truth is that the concepts will work in any noble endeavor in life. Perhaps you work as a teacher in the public school system, for example. I say to you that if you are determined to be a success, strive for mastery, remain focused, and play by the rules, you will be a great teacher.

As you have been reading this article you may have been thinking about how you can implement the principles to boost your success in your career. Again, the concepts will work for you. But Paul’s focus in the epistle is on our walk with the Lord and our service to Him. That’s where we are being challenged to implement the principles above. They will make us winners in our walk with the Lord. In turn our winner’s attitude will spill over into every other aspect of our life. More importantly, our trophy will be an incorruptible crown that only the Lord can give.

Staff Writer; Frank King

You can contact this devout Christian at: King@ThyBlackMan.com.

            For example, we are told inflation is on the rise which is true, but they are not telling us the actual causes of inflation or what inflation really is. We think inflation is rising costs for consumer goods and services which is true but that is not the cause. Inflation is a result of actions the ruling class do not want us to know about. Why? Because once we found out and we were in our right minds we would hold them accountable for their dastardly deeds and crimes against humanity.

            The truth is, inflation is caused by a rise not in prices but in the amount of money in circulation; which in a fiat system like America has, directly impacts the value of the money in circulation since it is not backed by anything tangible like gold. Western economists use what I call mumbo gumbo speak to obfuscate the reality the US economy which is based upon money, is manipulated by the central banksters. Their machinations have a direct influence on the supply of money in circulation at any given time.

 “Central banks can influence M2 supply by either issuing more money into the economy or by incentivizing people to spend less. Quantitative easing is one way that a central bank can increase money supply and stimulate the economy. To reduce the supply of M2 in an economy, a central bank might issue bonds or other government-backed securities which lenders can buy; in doing so, they loan the government money. This means that a central bank’s money reserves increase at the expense of the money available in the economy. Central banks can also increase or decrease interest rates to influence M2. If interest rates are lower, borrowing will likely become more popular, which will increase the supply of money. Conversely, if interest rates rise, then the cost of borrowing will also go up which will deter people from taking out loans. This will decrease the M2 money supply in an economy.” M2 Money Supply (Emphasis is mine.)

            This is why Trump was applying so much pressure on the former US central bank chair Jerome Powell; Trump wanted Powell to reduce interest rates meaning the cost of borrowing money. In effect Trump wanted to make it easier for people to get deeper in debt! `But what also was/is in play was the actual increase in the US money supply (M2) over the past few years. In fact, this increase has been humongous in the trillions of dollars.

“Since 2009, the TMS money supply is now up by more than 206 percent. (M2 has grown by more than 160 percent in that period.) Out of the current money supply of $20.4 trillion, nearly 30 percent of that has been created since January 2020. Since 2009, in the wake of the global financial crisis, more than $14 trillion of the current money supply has been created. In other words, more than two-thirds of the total existing money supply have been created since the Great Recession.” Money Supply Growth in 2026 Rises to Multi Year High as the Fed Pumps New QE (Emphasis is mine.)

            The constant rise in M2 is making existing money worth less and less; which means you need more dollars to purchase goods and services. Trump’s foolish tariffs, his misuse of tariffs and his insane war on behalf of Israel against Iran, are causing massive repercussions which negatively impact US and global economies. The loss of global trade, numerous supply chain disruptions, US dollar debasement as the central banksters print more and more dollars are making life miserable for ordinary Americans while overvalued stocks are making the ownership and managerial classes richer every day!

            Suffice it to say inflation is not going to stop or go down. Due to the wars in Iran and Ukraine there will be food, oil, chemical and petroleum-based product shortages which will affect our pocketbooks and wallets. And this is merely the tip of the spear!

 Trump has already said he is not concerned about how this affects Americans! In an earlier post I predicted the Iran war will continue and it has. Now we are looking at a perfect storm of devastating consequences that will not only smack the American Empire but the whole world; which by the way is why this is being manipulated by the powers who shouldn’t be!

Written by Junious Ricardo Stanton

Official website; http://fromtheramparts.blogspot.com

But they’re not. FIFA, which oversees the once-every-four-years soccer tournament, is slapping astounding prices on the tickets. No one has to buy them.

This should be very obvious.

That said, some products are priced in ways that understandably bring out villagers with pitchforks. Bread in 18th-century Europe, for example. Rapidly rising prices for the “staff of life” helped foment the French Revolution. The peasants demanded what they deemed a “just price.”

I don’t know what’s the “just price” to sit in one of the 85,500 seats at a stadium in New Jersey. Tickets for the World Cup Final to be held there are being offered in the many thousands.

If someone chooses to pay more than $8,000, the starting price on the SeatGeek page, what’s that to me? The inability to see a World Cup game in person is not my idea, or any sane human’s idea, of deprivation. And, you know, the games will all be on TV.

The rabid passions that explode after soccer games in Europe and Latin America are hard for the average American to understand. A sports columnist for La Stampa, a newspaper in Turin, Italy, once told me that after writing something critical about one of the local team’s star players, he woke up the next morning to find a death threat scrawled on the brick wall facing his apartment window.

Clearly, FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) is treating the 2026 games to be played in 16 North American cities as an opportunity to squeeze the sport’s well-to-do fans, especially in the United States.

The attorneys general of New York and New Jersey have served FIFA with subpoenas, demanding it reveal its sales practices. Are fans being misled? If so, there may be a case. But this seems more a case of FIFA extracting thousands from willing buyers for its tickets. I don’t understand why anyone would pay so much to see a game, but if they want to and can do it, what’s that to me?

Scalpers peddle wildly overpriced tickets to shows, concerts and various sporting events. Even the box offices are charging prices that seem shocking to many. But the seats get filled.

An acquaintance confessed that she and her mate recently paid $1,800 to see Bruce Springsteen rail against today’s political scene. The “intimate” setting was Boston’s 19,000-seat TD Garden (TD as in TD Bank).

“Crazy but worth it,” she said.

Ticket prices are a touchy subject for FIFA. Outside the U.S., soccer has been considered the peoples’ game. And there was a time when the federation exercised more self-control. In 1994, the U.S. Soccer Federation proposed charging $1,000 for a ticket to the final at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. FIFA put its foot down on what seemed an exorbitant price at the time. It didn’t want to upset the fans, so FIFA claimed.

To keep the fig leaf of “affordability” in place, FIFA this year is issuing 104,000 tickets at the bargain price of $60 each. That sounds like a lot of tickets, but it’s less than 2% of the 6 million to be sold.

The other tickets are being tagged through “dynamic pricing.” That means the price changes according to demand. This is similar to Uber surge pricing, whereby the cost of a ride rises at times when demands for the service are high.

FIFA says it hopes to rake in $11 billion from the upcoming World Cup, with the revenues to be distributed to its 211 member nations. Is that the explanation for high prices? If so, so be it.

Written by Froma Harrop

Official website; https://twitter.com/FromaHarrop

The defendants are Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four alleged mass murder co-conspirators. Mohammed is the second person that the government has characterized as the ringleader of the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Originally, the feds had labeled Osama bin Laden as the ringleader. Yet, rather than charging and arresting bin Laden, in order to keep him quiet it sent a team of Navy Seals to his home in Pakistan to murder him and his wife and their children.

After that, the feds labeled Mohammed as the orchestrator of 9/11 even though that, by the time of bin Laden’s death, Mohammed had been in U.S. custody for eight years. During that time, he was brutally tortured by CIA officers and other U.S. civilian agents.

His torture was truly repellant. He was waterboarded 183 times. He was hanged by his wrists while naked and in well-lit walk-in refrigerators such that he was freezing and denied sleep for days. His head was smashed repeatedly against wooden walls. His rectum, through which he was fed, was so brutalized that he bled for months, often ingesting into his intestines his own blood and fecal material.

At the end of three years of these criminal attacks at foreign sites operated by cooperating intelligence agencies with the torture administered by Americans, he told his torturers what he thought they wanted to hear. Then he was transferred to the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he has remained since 2007.

Upon his arrival at Gitmo, a different set of interrogators took over. The video tapes of his hundreds of torture sessions were destroyed but not the transcripts of his confession. The purpose of the second round of interrogations was to elicit another confession by agents who could testify to a judge that they did not torture him, and that his confession to them was not coerced.

Though some of these interrogators at Gitmo were FBI agents, no one read him his Miranda warnings, advising him of his right to silence, to counsel and to the legal implications of anything he told his new interrogators. Mohammed made admissions to this second group of interrogators substantially similar to those he made to his torturers.

The government, which once denied but now admits to the torture, nevertheless was prepared to argue that his second confession was voluntary. Then, the feds had a change of heart. And, two years ago, his lawyers entered into plea negotiations, at the request of the government because the military lawyers and their Department of Justice legal colleagues concluded that they could not ethically defend torture in an American courtroom.

Federal law, the federal rules of criminal procedure, the canons of legal ethics and state bar licensing authorities all prohibit lawyers from using coerced testimony in a courtroom.

The government and all defense lawyers entered into a plea agreement that provided for full public confessions, a public confrontation by family members of 9/11 victims during which the defendants agreed to reply truthfully to their questions, and, of course, life in prison at Gitmo.

The Army general in the Pentagon in charge of all Gitmo prosecutions — herself a former military judge — approved the plea agreement, as did the military trial judge, and all five defendants.

Then, the Biden administration Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin fired the general who approved the plea agreement and revoked the Pentagon’s approval. A federal appeals court upheld his revocation. At that point, Mohammed was on his fourth military judge and his fifth team of prosecutors.

After the court affirmed the Pentagon’s change of heart, the military judge who had approved the plea agreement retired. The current and fifth judge has presumably read the 44,000 pages of documents and transcripts that 15 years of litigation has generated as he announced last week that he will rule on the admissibility of the second round of confessions this summer.

The present judge, who did not preside over any of the hundreds of hours of proceedings in the case, including those during which the horrific tortures described above were related in an American courtroom, must now decide if the second confession was voluntary. Though the government now admits that the first confession was not voluntary, its relevance here is not the words Mohammed told his torturers but the degradation of his mental faculties due to the egregious tortures such that the second confession was also not voluntary.

Was Mohammed so conditioned to the power of his interrogators that his will was attenuated?

The standard of proof that the government must meet to get the second confession admitted is voluntariness beyond a reasonable doubt and to a moral certainty. That’s the same high standard for proving guilt in all American courts. If the feds fail to meet this standard to the satisfaction of the judge, the case will proceed to trial without the jury hearing the confession.

This is a two-edged sword for the government. If the confession is read to the jury, then the defendants and their experts can relate to the jury all the horrific things the government did in order to produce the confessions. But if the confession does not come into evidence, then the jury will not hear of the tortures unless there is a conviction and the torture testimony is presented in mitigation of punishment.

What we have here is a lawless system of brutality. Torture and all it produces is a profound violation of natural rights, the Constitution’s guarantee of due process, as well as federal law. Even practitioners of this medieval behavior have acknowledged it produces unreliable statements. It is the tool of monsters.

On the eve of America’s 250th anniversary, we are asked to accept government at its worst; one that the Framers thought they had prohibited and one to which the governed never consented.

Written by Judge Andrew P. Napolitano

Official website; https://twitter.com/Judgenap

He still cannot explain how to pay for it. Can anyone?

Single-payer health care has been the progressive left’s signature domestic demand for four decades. It has generated presidential campaigns, mass rallies, congressional cosponsors and an inexhaustible supply of Twitter righteousness. What it has never generated once is a workable legislative proposal.

Brookings Institution economist Jessica Riedl has spent years waiting for one. Her challenge is simple: Show us a progressive bill that specifies

(a) a provider payment system that actually saves money under America’s existing, already expensive health infrastructure, and

(b) a financing mechanism to replace the roughly $32 trillion in private premiums and out-of-pocket costs that would need to be covered by federal taxes over the next decade.

Despite hundreds of legislative proposals and multiple presidential campaigns built around the issue, no one has met the challenge.

It’s not for lack of pretending. Sen. Bennie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) have bills that people trumpet as serious legislative vehicles. But as Riedl notes, the proposals are only aspirational. They enumerate generous new benefits with great enthusiasm and then instruct the secretary of Health and Human Services to figure out the rest. The phrase “The Secretary shall …” appears 62 times in the Sanders bill alone.

OK, but what about Europe and Canada? Progressives inevitably say: They made it work! This is a rhetorical sleight of hand that collapses on contact with basic facts.

European countries built modest, government-controlled health infrastructures from the ground up over several decades. They contained costs — meaning, among other things, they rationed care — as they expanded access. America did the opposite.

We built the most expensive, technologically advanced, sprawling health system in human history, which consumes nearly 20% of GDP, under mostly private incentives and market pricing. As Riedl puts it, “We cannot simply pay European prices for the more vast American health infrastructure that exists.”

The central theory of single-payer savings has always been this: Slash payments to providers to offset the surge in the use of universal, no-cost-at-point-of-service coverage. The Congressional Budget Office took a serious look at this fantasy. Its conclusion was that national health expenditures might actually rise, and demand for care would outrun supply. The final result would be European-style rationing, delays and forgone services, all leading to worsening health care.

Then there’s the inconvenient question of how to get the tax revenue needed for a single-payer system to replace private health care premiums, out-of-pocket expenses and state health programs. Although neither Sanders nor Jayapal has an answer, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget does. Financing a Sanders-style system would require a new 32% payroll tax, a 25% income surtax or a 42% value-added tax, more than doubling every individual and corporate income-tax rate.

CBO found that such a system would reduce GDP by 6% to 10% by 2030. From a movement that claims to care about working Americans, that number deserves more than silence.

The state-level record confirms what the nasty arithmetic and voters’ disgust tell us. Vermont passed single-payer legislation in 2011 and assigned an expert commission to make the numbers work. After three years of failure, Gov. Peter Shumlin abandoned the plan, admitting that the required 11.5% payroll tax per company plus the 9.5% income tax per Vermonter (with small businesses paying both) would be politically unsurvivable even in Sen. Sanders’ home state. Colorado voters rejected their single-payer initiative in 2016 after analysis showed that even tripling taxes wouldn’t cover the costs.

Back in California in 2022, the state’s nonpartisan legislative analyst estimated that the proposed single-payer system created by the California Guaranteed Health Care for All Act would cost between $494 billion and $552 billion annually. Imagine the taxes needed to more than double that state’s spending overnight.

After the bill died without a vote, Assemblymember Ash Kalra reintroduced it in February 2026, and it failed to advance again few months later. California has now killed single-payer twice in four years.

The absence of a workable plan after 40 years tells you everything you need to know. This is Riedl’s essential insight and the one that cuts deepest. It’s unworkable. It’s expensive. And it will kill the supply of health care. Steyer knew all this in 2020 when he ran for president. The only thing that’s changed is politics.

Written by Veronique de Rugy

Official website; http://twitter.com/veroderugy

For many of us middle aged Brothers from the South, MJ was never just pop music. He was family reunions, skating rink lights, school dances, talent shows, and grown folks turning up the radio when the right song came on. You might have first heard “Billie Jean” from somebody’s old stereo, saw “Thriller” at a cousin’s house, or learned about “Beat It” because the guitar sounded too wild to ignore. However he reached you, once that one record landed, you understood why folks treated him like something rare.

His 1980s run still feels unreal because the records were big, but they also had soul in them. The new film’s box office success proves younger listeners are not just curious about the legend. They are embracing the music, asking questions, and finding out why Michael Jackson could stop a room before he even sang a full line. Ranking his best songs from that decade is not easy. You can argue over the order all day, and somebody at the barbershop will still say you left one out. Still, these five records show why Michael became the measuring stick.

1. “Billie Jean” is the crown jewel of Michael’s 1980s catalog. That bass line alone can change the air in a room. You hear a few seconds, and everybody knows what time it is. That is the mark of a record that belongs to history.

The song is mysterious, but never confusing. It tells a story about fame, temptation, rumors, and pressure. Michael sings like a man trapped between denial and fear. He sounds cool on the surface, but nervous underneath.

What makes it brilliant is the restraint. The production does not overcrowd him. The groove keeps moving, and Michael slides through it with sharp little phrases, hiccups, and emotional sparks. He made minimal sound feel massive.

The Weeknd might be the modern singer most suited for its mood because he understands nighttime tension. Giveon could bring depth. Usher could handle the sleek performance. Still, none of them would have that exact haunted innocence Michael carried.

“Billie Jean” remains number one because it changed everything. The song, the video, the Motown 25 performance, the glove, the moonwalk, all of it became one cultural storm. That was not just music success. That was a moment when the world stopped and watched a Black artist bend popular culture around his feet.

2. “Beat It” was Michael walking into rock territory and not asking permission. That was major. A Black artist from Gary, Indiana took hard guitars, street tension, and dance floor energy, then made everybody listen. That took nerve.

The message is simple, but not weak. Walk away. Live another day. Do not let pride write a check your body cannot cash. Any man from the South who has seen foolishness outside a club, cookout, or corner store understands that wisdom.

Eddie Van Halen’s guitar solo gave the record fire, but Michael’s vocal kept it grounded. He did not try to become a rock singer. He stayed himself. That is why the blend worked.

Today, someone like Lenny Kravitz could honor the rock edge. Miguel could bring a wild vocal color. Bruno Mars might turn it into a stage workout. But the original had a rare balance of danger, discipline, and dance.

“Beat It” proved Michael could cross lanes without losing his identity. That is why the record still punches.

3. “Man in the Mirror” is not just a song. It is a church moment dressed in pop clothes. That is why it hits Black folks a certain way, especially those of us raised around choirs, testimony service, and Sunday morning conviction. You can hear the gospel bones inside it.

Michael does not oversing at the start. He lets the message walk in slow. Then, as the choir rises, the whole record turns into a call to action. By the end, it feels like everybody in the room should be standing up.

This is one of his most powerful vocal performances because it grows with purpose. He starts thoughtful, then becomes urgent. That kind of build is not easy. A singer has to believe the message or the record falls flat.

John Legend could sing it today with grace. Kirk Franklin could arrange a strong gospel version. Beyoncé could make it grand. Yet the tenderness in Michael’s voice gave it something fragile, and that fragility made the message stronger.

The record still matters because people still need that mirror. Before we talk about the world, we have to face ourselves. Michael gave that lesson a melody.

4. “The Way You Make Me Feel” has that street corner confidence. It feels like a man stepping out clean, smelling good, walking with a little too much pride because he saw somebody who made his heart jump. Down South, we know that feeling. Sometimes one smile can make a grown man act brand new.

The rhythm has a rolling bounce that gives it flavor. It is playful without being silly. Michael sings like he is flirting, but he never lets the vocal get lazy. He pushes, teases, and leans into every phrase.

This record also shows how well he understood timing. The spaces between his lines matter almost as much as the words. That is where the attitude sits. He lets the band breathe, then jumps back in like he never left.

Usher could sing this today and probably give it grown man charm. Lucky Daye might add a smoother R&B shade. Bruno Mars would understand the bounce. But each version would still be standing in Michael’s shadow.

What keeps this record alive is joy. Not sadness. Not mystery. Just joy. It is the sound of attraction before life gets complicated.

5. “Smooth Criminal” is one of those records that sounds like a movie before you even see the video. The bass line moves like footsteps in a dark hallway. The beat snaps with danger. Michael is not just singing here. He is acting, dancing, whispering, and building tension all at once.

What makes the record special is how sharp it feels. Nothing drags. Every part has a purpose. The “Annie, are you okay?” line became part of pop language, but the real power is in how he turns panic into rhythm. That is hard to do.

From a music critic’s ear, this is one of his finest examples of control. He knew when to hold back and when to strike. Some singers chase big notes. Michael chased moments. On this track, every breath feels placed.

If someone touched this record today, Bruno Mars might understand the swing and showmanship. Chris Brown could handle the movement side, though vocally it would need restraint. The Weeknd could bring darkness, but he might smooth out the danger too much.

Still, nobody really replaces the original. “Smooth Criminal” works because Michael made crime, fear, and style dance together without losing the groove.

Michael Jackson’s 1980s songs still travel because they were built with imagination, discipline, and feeling. He did not just chase hits. He built worlds. Each record had its own weather, its own walk, its own color, and its own reason for staying around.

The new film’s box office success proves something many older fans already knew. Young listeners are not finished with Michael Jackson. They are discovering him in their own way, through theaters, streaming, reaction videos, and family stories. Some legends fade into memory. Michael keeps stepping back into the light.

For those of us who came up hearing these songs in real time, it feels good to see another generation leaning in. They may not understand what it felt like when “Thriller” changed television or when “Billie Jean” made the moonwalk immortal, but they can still feel the greatness. That is the beauty of real music. It does not need permission to live again.

Staff Writer; Jamar Jackson

This brother has a passion for poetry and music. One may contact him at; JJackson@ThyBlackMan.com.