Mike’s Manifesto .009
THOUGHTS ON SPORTS, MUSIC, TECH, AND THE LIFE IN BETWEEN - Captain’s Log .009
Do not host or call your festival a jazz festival, without a majority jazz acts on the lineup.
THE OPENING
Holiday weekends feel a lot different when you work in corporate. You look forward to that “free” day off. Memorial Day is usually the first holiday to jumpstart us right into the summertime. Weather permitting, relaxing is always the backdrop for 3 day weekends. Coffee shops have always been a thing I loved to sit and observe the atmosphere, but I have found it to be a place for focus and backdrop for great writing/reading days.
🏀THE GAME—SPORTS THROUGH A CULTURAL LENS
Racism, Chemistry’s Kryptonite
I remember a time where athletes were advised not to speak on politics — Because they are a brand, not role models. Legends such as Muhammad Ali, Bill Russell, Jesse Owens, spoke out against the injustices that they saw but more so, the ones they endured, publicly and privately. Then once the newer generation of sports stars came along, they made activism apart of their brand, but were still told to, “shut up and dribble.”
Well there is a specific kind of duality they comes with that. When you empower athletes to speak out, you are also opening up a subset of ones who align with a different side, more divisive ideology, to also be breed. Now that side is making it apart of their brand, their stance to be seen as “understanding” on both sides. That is a brand I can never be a part of nor will I ever subscribe to.
Jaxson Dart was the most recent athlete to come out in support of the current POTUS. Going as far as to introduce him at his most recent rally. It started circulating on the internet and his teammate, Abdul Carter, saw it and said, "Thought this s--- was AI, what we doing man?" Boy did I get a laugh at this. Now what is the one thing that can destroy chemistry in a locker room? Knowing your QB supports a larger humanistic ideological belief that does not value your community in which you are from.
Athletes will never say it out loud in the moment, but these situations ruin seasons before they even get started or wipe out all momentum while in the midst of one. Athletes are engrained to believe that the person you are in ‘battle’ with values the same thing that you do, not just on the field, court, or diamond, but in life as well. You can be different but what you cannot refute is the fact episodes like these ring a little bit louder then we are led to believe.
What I am looking forward to most is the lovely photo op with Carter and Dart, with the caption, “That’s my brother; we talked about it as men” — Let this be a lesson to all fans and people alike as well, stop inviting people to a non-existent cookout that was never going to take place.
🎵THE SOUND—MUSIC AS MEMOIR AND MOOD
SMIL - 9ICK
One song — That is all it took for me to what to engage and dive into this album. This was my first foray into a full album of his. I have heard him featured on songs from Soul Food Horns and Søren Søstrom previously. But what I loved about this album was the hip-hop producing element that he provided in the backdrop of a jazz instrumental album.
Instrumental albums do more for me today. It allows me to visually see music and life from the lens of an artist without words, which is what music does. It invokes emotions. It promotes sensitivity. It gages your mood. It provides a glimpse into where you are mentally. A good album to check out if you see fit.
📡THE DOWNLOAD—TECH THROUGH LIVED EXPERIENCE
Data Centers Are Here To Stay?
This past week, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, during a congressional hearing with the EPA, she shared a sample of the contaminated water from a Georgia area Meta Data Center. This is what sparked a lot of outrage from the masses as some would so, we have another Flint, Michigan on our hands. She was able to secure a study to permit the research into the rising cost of utilities in said communities, health impacts and conditions caused by the power consumption of the data centers, and how this rush is impacting the working class in this country.
I believe there are many people who are opposed to the rush of data centers being built. I also believe the public does not realize the computation power used for A.I. is what is driving this demand. But that is also being used as a front for the real vanity the Big Tech CEOs are pushing for — who can be the “first” to advance society with their specific A.I. platform while also saving the most money eliminating jobs. Now, the Elon Musk and Dario Amodei’s of the world have spoken in favor of a pause of the construction of data centers, but only if other countries also paused development.
Communities across the US are voting and making it known that they are in opposition of the forced altering to their home. Cumberland County, NC recently voted against the development of a data center, which is now in limbo. Prince George County, in Maryland is another recent community that has voted against data center construction.
We do know the history of these stances, but one can hope that they listen before it is too late.
❤️THE REAL—LOVE, GRIEF, GROWTH, COMMUNITY
Trusting Yourself is a Skill
Trusting yourself is a skill. And like any skill, it must be developed, nurtured, and honestly, protected.
It is a skill that many people talk about, but in ways does not know exactly how to teach you. Especially when you are young, your decisions are at times made for you. It lands now when you are old enough to make your own choices and understand the gravity of each. You figure it out the hard way, usually after you’ve ignored your own instincts one too many times and paid the price for it. After you’ve talked yourself out of what you knew to be true because someone else’s opinion carried more weight than your own. After you’ve shrunk yourself to fit spaces and people that were not once designed for you in the first place.
The hard part isn’t learning to trust yourself. The hard part is unlearning the habit of second-guessing every instinct you have. That habit was built over years—by people, by experiences, by systems that benefited from your doubt. It doesn’t disappear overnight.
What I know now is that self-trust isn’t about being right every time. It’s about having the courage to bet on yourself anyway. To move with intention even when the outcome isn’t guaranteed. To stop waiting for external validation before you believe what you already feel internally. Self-trust is the belief that you know precisely who you were yesterday, who you are today, and who you want to evolve into tomorrow.
Your intuition has been right more times than you’ve given it credit for. Always start there.
WESS RECOMMENDS — 3 LINKS THIS WEEK
SUBSTACK
The most recent piece about her concerns for the black community around AI and Finance spoke to some of the same fears I have as well. Very well written.
SONG
Like, Phonte — “Washed Gang”
Some days, I feel washed like a motha fucka….
READ OR WATCH
“all about love” - Bell Hooks
Love is and has always been a verb.
Self-trust is a choice you live into — not a feeling you wait for.
— WESS