On Lane Johnson and How People Say They Support Others Prioritizing Mental Health, Yet Don't Mean It

There are certain things many people like to pay lip service to but don’t actually believe. “I care about the environment,” they'll declare until they have to put even the most minimal effort into separating recycling versus garbage. “I believe in barely any screen time for my kids,” until they need just 10 minutes of quiet to drink some coffee and the kiddos won’t stop brawling with each other whilst the television sits ready to cue up a show. “I think mental health is important,” until someone actually prioritizes their own mental health and it inconveniences another in some manner. Mental health and focusing on our own psychological well-being is somehow controversial. It, sadly, often is not okay to say, "I'm not okay."

Lane Johnson has spent over a decade playing Football as an offensive lineman, spending his entire career with the Philadelphia Eagles. He never hesitated to throw himself right at a 300-ish-pound man on the field, but for years he was terrified to share with friends or family his diagnosis of anxiety and depression. He has won Super Bowls and found himself regarded as one of the best offensive linebackers in the NFL. He still struggled with mental health and has been public in the past about raising awareness. He has announced that he is immediately retiring from the sport for his mental health. He feels he needs to be done and is taking care of himself so he can continue to be there for his family; that's his choice. That said, a number of fans and sports commentators are beside themselves at this. “The Eagles need him!” some shout. “He can't quit now!” others may declare. Stephen A. Smith offered a take that was so especially vicious that he later apologized and attempted to clarify his wording.

This morning on, “The Breakfast Club,” radio show, host Charlamagne tha God offered a fantastic breakdown of why men are often so hesitant to declare, “Hey, even if I seem to be functional, I really don’t feel right.” I would encourage everyone to listen to that segment, which I have posted above. World Mental Health Day is this Saturday, which makes it all the more fitting that Lane Johnson’s openness about his mental health is a topic of discussion. I support him doing what he needs to be his best self. Oh, and yes, we can still talk about how this could impact the Philadelphia Eagles season and so forth. That said, let's not do so in a manner where Johnson is somehow solely at fault for anything that now could go wrong. Plenty of players find themselves out of the game for physical injuries or retire due to a number of factors during a season. Just because we can’t visually see what Johnson is possibly going through does not diminish the validity of any choices he makes for his own health—body and/or mind. 

Lane Johnson did what he thought was best for himself. We (generally) know ourselves better than anyone else, so second-guessing his own health choices comes across as tone deaf at best and maliciously ignorant at worst. Let’s all just try to support each other in times of need. Be there for each other physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and so forth. It’s a goal that sounds reasonable but is clearly so hard to put into practice.

The Continued Fear of a Black First Lady, All These Years Later

I want to talk about June 14th, 2026. However, in order to do that, I feel a need to take us back to 1990, then 2008. Bear with me.

It's April 10th, 1990. Public Enemy has released their third studio album, "Fear of a Black Planet." The title is a metaphor for the growing anxiety of white folk--specifically in America--about the growing economic, political, and social power of black people. A critical and commercial hit, it was controversial, edgy, and is found now on many, "Best albums ever,"-type lists.

It's November 8th, 2008. Barack Obama has been elected the 44th President of the United States. Everyone thought Hillary Clinton would crush him in the primaries, but Obama's amazing speeches, easy-to-like personality, laid-back demeanor, and general magnetism assisted him in beating John McCain for the office of the President. Some people use this occasion to remark that racism is somehow over. That remains wholly false. It shows that sometimes, racism can be overcome. If the person running for President is black, America will overlook/"Allow," it if he's super-smart, one of the best public speakers ever, has little to no skeletons in his closet. After all, "At least he's still a guy." 

Barack's wife is a beautiful, smart woman named Michelle who has spent her life committed to various causes aimed at helping others. Obama will serve two full terms, and before leaving office in January of 2016, will receive some of the most vicious, hateful treatment from the media and general populace any political figure could imagine. Arguably, the only person to get it worse during those eight years is Michelle.

Inauguration Day, January 20th, 2009

It's June 14th, 2026. Donald Trump is President, again, after serving from 2016 to 2020. He's only the second person to ever serve two nonconsecutive terms (the other is Grover Cleveland). It is the 250th birthday of America, and it also happens to be Trump's 80th birthday. The White House lawn is featuring a number of UFC bouts. The head of the UFC happens to be friends with Trump. The event is streaming exclusively on Paramount+, with its owner also happening to be a chum of Trump. 

A man named Josh Hokit wins his fight against Derrick Lewis, and during his post-match interview with Joe Rogan (because, of course, he has to be in this story somehow), Hokit randomly declares, “And lastly ‒ Michelle Obama is a man! Am I right, America?” It's 2026, but somehow it is simultaneously 2008, 1990, the Jim Crow era, and all the way back to the past when a white person first decided that a black person was somehow, "Less than," them. "Fear of a Black Planet," shifts into a smaller-scale but just as potent fear of a black First Lady. Almost ten years later, Barack and Michelle somehow still take up so much space in many conservatives' heads.

I sit here, now, on June 15th. I am not surprised in the least that Donald Trump had a bunch of people pummel each other on the lawn of the Capitol as a birthday gift to himself. I am also not surprised that someone said something horrific about the Obamas because even though it's nearly been a decade since Barack has held office with his wife as First Lady, Donald Trump and others just can't--as Elsa would sing, "Let it go." Let it go Obama was a good (but not great) President. Let it go people will always like him more than Trump. Let it go that he's just genuinely a better human than Trump, which might be part of the problem.

Barack and Michelle were too perfect for conservatives. There must be some dark secret. A popular conspiracy theory that started to spring up was that Michelle was somehow formerly a man, or still secretly a man. This rose to prominence along with the other old chestnuts that Barack was born in Africa or a secret Muslim. This way, you could also throw in some homophobia and transphobia with the racist/religious attacks. None of these ideas are rooted in facts, but to some people they just feel true. Falsehoods don't care about facts; they thrive on half-truths and imaginings.

Michelle Obama once said, "When they go low, we go high." A wonderful sentiment, a thought I respect. That said, I sadly disagree. I am more with popular radio personality Lenard McKelvey AKA Charlamagne tha God, who counters that statement with the idea that when they go low, sometimes you have to go down to the floor with them. Democrats and their philosophy that they are too good to, "...get down in the mud with the fucking elephants," (a great quote from the movie, "The Ides of March,") has resulted in the party looking weak, ineffective, and capable of earning defeat in situations where victory should all but be assured. 

The first time Trump, "Won," against Hillary Clinton, he lost the popular vote. That is true, despite Trump's loud protestations otherwise. The second time he ran, Trump lost to Joe Biden. On the third occasion, he handily defeated Kamala Harris (if America can barely stand a black first lady, it seems it will all but surely decline a black and female President), with Trump saying awful things and showing awful tendencies the whole time he was running. America wanted the (supposedly) rich, loud, angry fool--as long as he was white.

We're still here, June 15th of 2026. I still am not surprised at how bad things have become politically. I hold some hope, and a lot of rage. Rage can lead to destruction or simply feeling defeated. It can also inspire action to make things better. I've worked with political groups on smaller scales and larger scales quite recently in an effort to focus the anger positively. It is 2026, and America has a fear of a black planet, an LGBTQ planet, or frankly, any kind of planet with equality and diversity. That doesn't mean we'll stop fighting for it. We will go high, low, or any direction necessary to bring about positive change.

Charlamagne Tha God/Lenard McKelvey Has Never Suffered Fools

Charlamagne Tha God AKA Lenard McKelvey, is a co-host of my favorite radio show, "The Breakfast Club." He is incredibly smart and thoughtful as well as hilarious. I don't agree with him on everything, but he always says what is on his mind and explains why he believes what he does. When Biden was still running for President, McKelvey continuously pointed out how it was a bad idea and held Biden's feet to the fire. With Trump in office, McKelvey has continued to criticize the President. I guess he struck a nerve, recently.

McKelvey was a guest on a Fox News program called, "My View with Lara Trump," recently. McKelvey will appear on liberal or conservative shows, and--as I said--speak his mind. When asked by Lara Trump (who is married to Eric Trump, hence the last name) how he thinks Trump's presidency is going, McKlevey offered a measured and accurate response. “I wouldn’t give it a good rating, simply because the least of us are still being impacted by the worst.” McKelvey went on to say those in a high tax bracket such as himself will benefit from Trump's policies but, “There’s going to be so many people that’s hurt by that bill...anything that takes away Medicaid from people and will put people in a worse financial situation than they were previously in, I’m not for.” He didn't insult Trump or anything, but gave an honest assessment of Trump's failings. Obviously, Trump got pissed.

Donald Trump went on his Truth Social platform to share how he felt McKelvey was a sleazebag, racist, had a low IQ, and otherwise ranted and raved about how awful McKelvey was. On the Monday edition of, "The Breakfast Club," McKelvey responded that he never said anything about race and had never even taken an IQ test. Plus, "I looked up the definition of sleazebag, says it’s a disgusting or despicable person.' Depending on who you ask, that may apply to me.” McKelvey went on to point out that Trump was using an, "Authoritative strategy," against people, as always. He continued, "With his reaction to what I said on Lara Trump shows how authoritarians will attempt to bully people into pushing false narratives." McKelvey finished a segment of his show discussing Trump by pointing out Trump needs to focus on the economy and making good on releasing the list of Epstein's clients he suddenly hates anyone bringing up. It was a funny little way to needle the President back.

When Donald Trump insults someone, that just proves their words had an impact on him. Lenard McKelvey should be proud that he pissed Trump off, because that means McKelvey is doing something right. McKelvey or his radio personality of Charlamagne Tha God, has never suffered fools. He's had liberals, conservatives, and everyone in between on his show. When someone has a good idea, he'll discuss that. When their ideas are terrible, he won't hesitate for a second to point it out. McKelvey is the kind of person a man like Trump hates, someone who thinks before they speak and is willing to consider evidence that might counter their own views in order to grow as a human. As long as McKelvey keeps doing his radio show and any other ventures (he writes some great books and did a comic, too), I'll be there to support him!

Local Radio Station Hot 104.1 Fired All Its On-Air Talent and May Be Shutting Down/Changing Formats

I enjoy listening to the radio when I am in the car. There are a number of big syndicated shows I always eagerly tune into such as the Rickey Smiley Morning Show or the Breakfast Club with Charlamagne Tha God. We have more local programming too such the Courtney Show on 106.5 and after the morning stuff there are afternoon people I like listening to as well. Hot 104.1 briefly had its own morning show--The Home Team--but it unceremoniously was canceled a bit ago. There were still other hosts throughout the day, however, such as Shae Bae, Princess Stormm, and D.J. Raymond. Well, they've been fired. All on-air talent has been let go from Hot 104.1, quite suddenly. The owner of 104.1 is the national entity Audacy, and the plan now is, "The station will begin carrying the signal of AM station KMOX, home of live Cardinals broadcasts, according to the Radio Insight report. Audacy also owns KMOX." This doesn't bode well for the station's future.

It sounds like Hot 104.1 will potentially cease to exist and serve as the FM home of the other channel. I'm bummed at the idea we will lose a fun station that played a lot of enjoyable Hip Hop as well as R&B. We do still have 100.3 AKA The Beat (which airs the aforementioned syndicated show The Breakfast Club), but losing a station one enjoys is always a bummer. I still remember when ALT 104.9 suddenly became a random right-wing talk radio station instead of playing punk rock and spending mornings with The Woody Show. If Hot 104.1 stops existing as we know it that will be unfortunate. If people are expected to listen to terrestrial radio maybe the big companies behind it shouldn't get rid of stations and eliminate the option of people to enjoy certain genres or shows and then be mad that folks are switching to streaming/podcasts/etc. I don't work in radio, so I don't know who crunched what numbers to determine this was a good idea, but I am sad about it. I now just hope everyone who worked at Hot 104.1 is able to get new (and maybe even better-paying/more stable) positions.

The, "ILLuminati," Kickstarter Has Some Superb Talent Involved!

I've talked about a number of Kickstarters this week, but I guess there have just been some really snazzy ones lately. That said, there is a new Kickstarter campaign for, "ILLuminati: A Thriller Where Hip-Hop & Comics Collide." It is an original comic being made in a partnership between the publisher AWA and radio personality/author/all-around cool guy Charlamagne Tha God. A number of fantastic talents are involved in bringing this comic to life, including Sanford Greene, Bill Sienkiewicz, Bryan Edward Hill, Denys Cowan, and more! The story focuses on, "When a rising hip-hop star dies under mysterious circumstances, her twin sister, a young woman with psychic abilities, journeys to the City of Angels for answers and becomes enmeshed in a dark conspiracy that snakes its way through the pillars of power, fame, and pop culture."

Charlamagne has talked plenty of times about his fondness for comic books so this isn't a case where a celebrity pretends to be involved in a book, he really worked hard with a team to create this 128-page original graphic novel and it looks really cool. I'd encourage folks to check out the campaign on Kickstarter whether they want to back at a lower level and get a digital copy, or go for the notable variant covers and other cool rewards! I've already backed it and I'm excited that's it already well past its goal!

Killa Mike Won Three Grammys and Then Was Arrested. What?

I don't generally care about the Grammys due to having a general disinterest in award shows and knowing the Grammys have a bit of a stink of corruption on them. That said, I still applaud folks when they win an award. Michael Render is better known as Killa Mike. He is a great rapper, political activist, and all-around very interesting man. Even if you don't agree with everything he says (there are plenty of occasions I do and don't) the man is worth listening to. Killa Mike won the three categories he was nominated in at the Grammys--Best Rap Song, Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Album--and shortly afterward was arrested and taken out of the Crytpo.com arena in handcuffs. What?

Early reports seem to indicate Mike or someone with him got into it with an overzealous security guard who then wanted to report they felt attacked or something and this resulted in a misdemeanor battery charge. Apparently, the LAPD felt a misdemeanor charge was worthy of Mike being dragged out of the place in handcuffs and booked. This had led to all kinds of liberal and even conservative conspiracy theories, something touched upon by The Breakfast Club this morning with Charlamagne tha God's Donkey of the Day--listen here. After being booked Mike was released quickly, which is positive but then raises further questions about why he needed to be arrested in the first place in such an embarrassing and public manner? 

We don't even know exactly what happened but if Mike or his staff got into it with a security guard at the event why did said guard want to press charges once things were sorted out? This whole thing is strange and before I jump to any conclusions about this mystery security guard, the LAPD, or Killa Mike and his staff it would be nice to have answers. In this era where everyone has a smartphone and security cameras, why is there so little information or footage besides the clips of Mike being arrested? This whole thing is weird and--I believe--unprecedented in terms of someone being arrested at an awards show. The closest comparison I can make is when Olivia Wilde was served papers regarding her divorce from Jason Sudekis while at a movie convention presentation. She wasn't arrested, however. I guess we just have to wait for more as this develops.

Charlamange Tha God Will be Developing Comics

I'm a big fan of the radio show, "The Breakfast Club," which has Charlamange Tha God as a host. I also really enjoyed, "Tha God's Honest Truth," a show he hosted and which will be returning for another season this Summer. He's discussed his fondness for comic books on multiple occasions and now is going to be getting into the comic-book business. Charlamange will be working with Simon and Schuster as well as AWA to develop ideas and get talent to create various titles. He's already tapped Kevin Grevioux to do a new graphic novel for Simon and Schuster called, "Darkstorm," about, "...a reluctant superhero with PTSD who is seen as an anti-hero except to those who know him best." 

That synopsis sounds a little generic but Grevioux is a good writer so I'm optimistic about it. A comic that will be coming from AWA  is, "The Vindicators," and it centers on a, "...diverse superhero team and a relatable origin story set in a bleak dystopian future." I've enjoyed other stuff by Grevioux that I have read and I am a fan of Charlamange's work so my interest is quite piqued in all of this. I look forward to reading the upcoming comics and imagine Charlamange will discuss them on his radio show and when his television program returns.

Television Tuesday: You Really Ought to Watch, "Tha God's Honest Truth," on Comedy Central

I greatly enjoy the morning radio show known as The Breakfast Club. One of the reasons I enjoy it so much is it features Lenard McKelvey AKA Charlamagne the God. Every day he offers fascinating insights on topics ranging from race to religion, politics, sex, gender, popular culture, sports, and the intersection of all of these subjects. Recently Charlamagne got a show on Comedy Central; it airs Friday nights at 10PM Eastern and 9PM Central. Over the span of a half-hour, Charlamagne does a deep dive into a variety of subjects from how some Americans are obsessed with the losing Confederacy, to the FBI's racist history, to the most recent episode with Critical Race Theory.

Charlamagne holds many opinions on a lot of subjects, and I don't always agree with him, but I often do. He has this masterful way of taking a heavy topic, breaking it into easy-to-understand pieces, and then he excels at pointing out the hypocrisy and ignorance of others in regards to whatever he's talking about (just look at the boogeyman Critical Race Theory/telling the truth in history classes has become). Every episode of, "Tha God's Honest Truth," offers entertainment, education, and is sure to spark a lot of discussion amongst those watching. You can catch past episodes on Comedy Central's website or if you have Paramount+.