DragonI

Amanda Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history, really just did that.  #InaugurationDay 

“There is always a light, if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.” – @TheAmandaGorman

WATCH: https://bit.ly/3ixc21y

— Complex@Complex

Kobe Bryant, Daughter Gianna Dead in Helicopter Crash: Live Updates

The retired N.B.A. star, 41, and his daughter Gianna were among nine people in a helicopter that crashed in Calabasas, Calif.

www.nytimes.com

The N.B.A. sent a confirmation of Bryant’s and Gianna’s deaths to all teams and league employees Sunday afternoon, according to two people familiar with the document.

The other victims of the crash included John Altobelli, a longtime baseball coach at Orange Coast College, a junior college in Costa Mesa. Calif., as well as Altobelli’s wife, Keri, and daughter Alyssa, university officials said.

Bryant and his daughter were on their way to an academy where he coached her team.

Outside the Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, Calif., fans laid flowers and lit candles at an impromptu memorial for their star. The gym had handwritten signs on the door: Closed.

Drafted to the N.B.A. directly out of high school in 1996, Bryant was named an All-Star in 18 of his 20 seasons for the Lakers and helped lead the team to five championships.

The winner of the N.B.A.’s Most Valuable Player Award for the 2007-8 season, and the N.B.A. finals M.V.P. in both 2009 and 2010, Bryant showed a rare commitment to success on both ends of the court, with a résumé that included two scoring titles — and an 81-point game in 2006 that is the second-highest single-game total in N.B.A. history — along with 12 appearances on the league’s All-Defense team. He also thrived on the international stage, where he won gold medals for U.S.A. Basketball in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.

How many hills and mountains we had to climb? How many wings have we had to sacrifice just to survive? Slavery to segregation Freedom and the liberation No account of how much we paid And deep within this revolution There lives a Harlem institution Where many dreams were born and legends were made

So don't turn back now We've come too far not to make it Don't turn back now Don't turn back now It might be hard You can take it Don't turn back now

How many wings have we had to overcome And how many lives must we lose until we are one? Until we have won

Music is a revelation Sound of every generation Powerful enough to free us from chains Laughter after everything we've been through There is nothing that we can't do There is nothing to stand in our way

So don't turn back now ...

We can never give up We were born to win We can win when times get rough YES WE CAN

We're the builders of a nation We're the source on inspiration We're not backing down until we have won

So don't turn back now We've come too far not to make it Don't turn back now Don't turn back now It might be hard 

But we can never give up You can take it Don't turn back now 

Hold each other Hold each other Don’t give up Never give up

Eddie Murphy Returns to ‘Saturday Night Live’

Murphy, who helped keep ‘S.N.L.’ alive in the ’80s, hosted for the first time in 35 years, with help from his old characters and a ton of special guests.

www.nytimes.com

It took 35 years, but Eddie Murphy came back to host “Saturday Night Live.”

The last time Murphy hosted the show, it was Dec. 15, 1984, just a few months after this one-time wunderkind (who joined “S.N.L.” when he was 19 years old) quit the program to focus on his flourishing film career. 

In the sketches that aired that night, he revisited several of his beloved characters, including Buckwheat, Gumby and Mr. Robinson.

“I was gone for a bit, but now I’m all right. My neighbors was all black, but now they white. The check cashing place turned into a bank. Elevator works and the stairs they don’t stink. The white people came and changed everything, But I am still your neighbor.”

“My neighborhood has gone through so much. It has gone through something called gentrification. Can you say that? It’s like a magic trick. White people pay a lot of money and then poof! All the black people are gone. But where do they go, boys and girls? Back to where they come from, of course: Atlanta. Now it’s just me by myself. You’re all probably wondering how Mr. Robinson can afford to live in this neighborhood. That’s the word of the day: squatters rights. It’s like finders keepers but for other people’s houses.”

I'm begging the American people to pay attention to what is going on. Because if you want to have a democracy intact for your children, and your children's children, and generations yet unborn we've got to guard this moment…this is our watch. 

— Elijah E. Cummings @RepCummings

‘I only have a minute, 60 seconds in it, forced upon me, I did not choose it, but I know that I must use it, give account if I abuse it, suffer if I lose it. Only a tiny little minute, but eternity is in it.’

— Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Maryland Democrat and Civil Rights Leader

[Verse 1] Paranoid and pissed off Now that I got the money Fifty acres and a model A Right in the middle of Trump country I told you, “There goes a neighborhood” Now Mister Williams ain’t so funny I see you looking out your window Can’t wait to call the police on me [Pre-Chorus] Well I know you think I’m up to somethin’ I’m just eating, now we’re still hungry And this is mine now, legit I ain’t leavin’ and you can’t take it from me I remember when you used to tell me [Chorus] *** NSFW

Spike Lee Invokes 2020 Election in Impassioned Oscars Speech: ‘Let’s All Be on the Right Side of History’

BlacKkKlansman director Spike Lee delivered an impassioned speech at the Oscars tonight after the film won Best Adapted Screenplay.

www.mediaite.com

The word today is irony. The date, the 24th. The month, February, which also happens to be the shortest month of the year, which also happens to be Black History Month. The year, 2019. The year, 1619. History, her story. 1619. 2019. Four hundred years, our ancestor was stolen from northern Africa and brought to Jamestown, Virginia. Enslaved. Our ancestors worked the land.

My Grandmother who lived to be 100 years young, who was a Spelman College graduate even though her mother was a slave. My grandma, who saved 50 years of social security checks to put her first grandchild — she called me 'Spikeypoo.' She put me through Morehouse College and NYU Grad Film. NYU!

Before the world tonight, I give praise to our ancestors who helped build this country into what it was today along with the genocide of its native people. If we all connect with our ancestors, we will have love and wisdom. We will regain our humanity. It will be a powerful moment.