An Open Letter to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

By Royce White

Part I.

Over the last 20 months, we have all seen how false our sense of security is under the current status quo. A status quo that bolsters corporatocracy, technocracy and lies. The Covid-19 pandemic has put a daunting spotlight on our political leaders, public officials, government institutions and the overall state of this republic. Many everyday people have rightful doubt about the genuineness, honesty and integrity of power here in America. Time and time again the Free People have played the establishment’s game of 3 card-Monte. It has consistently revealed the same card; that reads “sold out” in bold print. Vaccine and vaccine mandates represent the zenith of their most recent abuse of power. Doubling down has become the default response for being wrong. Now in the shadow of a radical authoritarianism, many are left heartbroken by individuals we once regarded as heroes.
I’m writing this letter to you in the same manner as I did LeBron James and Kyrie Irving — with a little more of a personal context. Two Black athletes should be able to talk with some familiarity, especially in the public square. Who is there to hide from? Who is there to put on an act for at this point? We’re in the 12th hour. You probably know my story or you may know of it at least. If not, don’t worry… the enigmatic nature of it wasn’t fortuitous and it isn’t at all unrelated to the topic at hand. I’ll give you the cliff notes to help calibrate this dialogue.
I was the young basketball player who called for a halt in the NBA, professional sports and corporate world, to address the real epidemic of our time; mental illness. Just after being drafted back in 2013 and discovering our league had no mental health policies, I demanded we change that immediately. I said we must treat mental health as the greatest social issue humanity faces. I implored the NBA community or greater sports world, to coalesce and spearhead that movement. Which of course professional sports was perfectly positioned to do, on many issues, as the watering hole for a global corporate community. I also cautioned against the conflict of interest between business and health that had grown wild within our ecosystem. In retrospect that conflict of interest was truly a microcosm for all of society. For speaking publicly on these perspectives, I was Blackballed by the league. I was mocked by the media, lambasted by fans and isolated from the players. Many will make the claim that I’m only re-hatching my story to say, “poor me” or cash in on whatever currency victimhood may hold. These detractors, like so many, fail to see the fundamental need for historicity and the role it plays in maintaining a coherence of logic. Historicity is what make us human and allows us to grow our morality across time. Ironically, the lack of historicity and the poor accounting of facts is what exacerbates psychological deterioration. We are witnessing a crisis of incoherence. I refer back to my story to draw the stark contrast between now and then. Now NBA legends like yourself call for a non-negotiable coalition of athletes that must meet the challenge of Covid-19 through vaccination. However, when it was mental health you were all silent. When you weren’t being silent, you certainly weren’t besmirching the establishment or any key individuals that stood in the way of mental health progress. I don’t know if this just shows a lack of urgency around mental health or hyper-politicization of the pandemic and likeness opportunities that lie therein. Then again, Mental Health has always been a real tough topic to politicize. Nevertheless, the gerrymandering doesn’t seem to ease up.
It’s not only around the topic of mental health that we find a dereliction of social duty. Especially when it comes to those privileged with a professional sports “platform”. That isn’t by accident either. A true mental health conversation threatens the establishment on a fundamental level, which also threatens those who seek to preserve the status quo underneath it. But I’m not here to talk about that with you. This conversation is far more simple.
To coalesce athletes in pursuit of a greater good is a completely reasonable idea. In fact, it’s probably necessary in a society where entertainment has replaced faith and we see an aggressive infection of idolatry spreading throughout the population. The question that must still be confronted is — who’s idea of a greater good will this coalition actually be serving? Is that “greater good” really all that good? As a general principal, the beginning of an effective coalition shouldn’t start with totalitarian edicts. Instead it should begin by asking the right questions. Hopefully I will provoke some decent questions with this letter.

Part II.
Much is still left unanswered regarding Covid-19, despite the thin veil of surety that many decision makers try and maintain. One thing is for sure — our greatest fears about manipulation and malfeasance from the establishment have been found warranted. The malfeasance started most notably with Gain of Function research. Well before the first cases of Covid were ever diagnosed in Wuhan. Whether or not Covid-19 originated from Gain of Function research, doesn’t exculpate our Medical Industrial Complex it’s decision to put the public at great health risk in the name of said research. Gain of Function research in and of itself reveals the pattern of scientific elitism that always threatens to rear its ugly head. It certainly has been understated for it’s importance in most Covid conversations.
I believe this pandemic did originate from a Gain of Function project. As do many credible scientists from around the world. Unfortunately in this absurd political climate, the resurgence of discussion around Gain of Function research and the Lab Leak Theory, comes at the expense of coalescing scientists. Men and women who genuinely fear their professional careers may never be the same just for asking the right questions. Scientists who believe that they too will be blackballed by the establishment for having the courage to speak out. Here in America the scientific establishment is greatly influenced by grant funding from the National Institute of Health (NIH), headed by Dr. Anthony Fauci. A man that somehow has become a national hero in the mainstream narrative. Historically he also happens to be a champion of Gain of Function research and once even said that the research itself outweighed the risk of a pandemic causing lab accident. I don’t trust him. I don’t trust that mentality. Yes, he’s a pair of steady hands. Yes, he’s already contradicted himself more times than I can count. He constantly moves the goal post on behalf of the establishment or on behalf of multiple establishments, Including the ones that he’s intimately involved in. All of that is true… but I don’t trust him because the eyes never lie. Not once has Dr. Fauci said that the scientists who speak out against him shouldn’t fear professional retaliation.

READ FULL STORY at White’s Substack page.