The Dr Boyce Breakdown

An honest, All-Black review of the Dave Chappelle Netflix special.  Today Dr Boyce and Dr Alicia Watkins review the Dave Chappelle special on Netflix called “The Closer.”  Chappelle has been under fire, mostly from white liberals.  According to the Hollywood Reporter:  Amid a swirl of controversy around his new Netflix special, The Closer, Dave Chappelle took center stage Thursday night at a star-studded and sold-out show at L.A.’s iconic Hollywood Bowl. Though the superstar comedian did not repeat any of the jokes that have been loudly rejected by members of the LGBTQ community, GLAAD and the National Black Justice Coalition, he thumbed his nose at the notion of cancel culture while also promoting messages of kindness and love.  According to The Week:  The comedian performed Thursday after a screening of Untitled: Dave Chappelle Documentary in Los Angeles, and after receiving a standing ovation, he quipped, "If this is what being canceled is like, I love it," The Hollywood Reporter reports.   Chappelle was alluding to the fact that he has been under fire since the release of his newest Netflix special, The Closer, in which he says that "gender is a fact" and calls himself "team TERF," a term meaning trans-exclusionary radical feminist, while defending J.K. Rowling over her anti-trans remarks. GLAAD in a statement said that "Chappelle's brand has become synonymous with ridiculing trans people and other marginalized communities," while the National Black Justice Coalition called for Netflix to remove the special, saying, "Perpetuating transphobia perpetuates violence." Jaclyn Moore, executive producer of Netflix's Dear White People, also said she won't work with Netflix again while it continues to "profit from blatantly and dangerously transphobic content."

Black Justice Groups wants to Cancel Dave Chappelle on Netflix   It looks like Dave Chappelle is under threat of being cancelled due to the controversial nature of his new Netflix special.  We are going to have a barbershop conversation about the topic.   According to Variety:   Dave Chappelle is drawing a growing wave of criticism for his derogatory comments about the LGBTQ+ community in his newest Netflix stand-up special.  The special, titled “The Closer,” premiered on the streamer on Tuesday and is meant to serve as a final entry in a series of stand-up routines by Chappelle on Netflix. In the new release, the comedian makes explicit jokes about trans women and offers defenses for previous derogatory comments made by figures such as “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling and rapper DaBaby.  Chappelle also references criticism he faced over the past two years for makings jokes about the trans community in his specials “Equanimity” and “Sticks and Stones.”  More from IndieWire:   Dave Chappelle ends his latest Netflix comedy special, “The Closer,” by proclaiming he is finished with transgender and LGBTQ jokes “until we are both sure that we are laughing together,” adding, “I’m telling you, it’s done. I’m done talking about it. All I ask of your community, with all humility: Will you please stop punching down on my people?” For organizations such as GLAAD and The National Black Justice Coalition, that declaration is too little, too late. Chappelle already had a history filling his Netflix specials with offensive transgender jokes, and that trend continues in “The Closer.” At one point, the comedian declares himself “team TERF” (meaning a trans-exclusionary radical feminist) while saying J.K. Rowling doesn’t deserve to be “canceled” for her anti-trans beliefs.  Representatives for Chappelle did not immediately respond to Variety’s request for comment, and Netflix declined to comment on the matter.

Tonight, I am reading Dr Claud Anderson's book, "Black Labor, White Wealth."  This is part of the Dr Boyce Book Club.  You can access all lectures in The Dr Boyce Book Club by visiting http://DrBoyceBookClub.com.   Dr Claud Anderson speaks about why it's not fair to compare black people to immigrants.  Black Wealth has remained stubbornly low for a long period of time.  Much of this is due to the lack of opportunities provided to African Americans and the way in which black wealth is stolen from the community.   In his book, Dr Anderson says that there is often a double standard in America when it comes to #BlackOwned Businesses, and how black people are viewed by others.   Dan Lacy, an historian, says, "Whites denounce blacks as lazy and lacking ambition, while they resent black competition.  They are angered by taxation for welfare and other social programs, but are equally angered by equal opportunity and affirmative action job policies for blacks."    While government programs may not be the best solution for all situations, there is certainly room for debate regarding how black labor built this country, but it's led to white wealth for others.    That's what tonight's discussion is all about.

I was asked whether or not I was going to buy more #Facebook stock.

The short answer is "Yes."

There are quite a few factors that played into my decision and I discussed them this morning on TheBlackFinancialChannel.com.

Basically, Facebook is that sexy person you're dating who is also abusive.  You hate the fact that you love them so much, but you keep coming back.

Most of us use Facebook everyday, even though we can't stand Mark Zuckerberg.

#Whatsapp is so essential in third world countries, that nearly a billion people were unable to connect with loved ones or receive money during the recent outage.

Congress is too weak to stop Facebook, and #FacebookStock barely wiggles when Zuck is called in for Congressional testimony.

This company is likely here to stay and they will keep making money like the digital Pablo Escobar.

I broke all this down this morning and there is more to be said about Bitcoin.

Please take care and I look forward to seeing you again soon.

Sincerely,

Dr Boyce Watkins

BoyceWatkins.com

#b1 #Blackwealth #Stockmarket #DrBoyceWatkins

Turns out that Tesle is being forced to pay $137 million for racist treatment toward an employee.  The employee alleged that he was forced to endure a hostile work environment, and because he had never signed an agreement to arbitration, the matter was settled in court.   According to CNBC:  A San Francisco federal court decided Monday that Tesla must pay a former worker, Owen Diaz, about $137 million after he endured a hostile work environment and racist abuse working there as an elevator operator. According to his attorneys, the case was only able to move forward because Diaz had not signed one of Tesla’s mandatory arbitration agreements which the company uses to force employees to resolve disputes without a public trial. A shareholder activist, Nia Impact Capital, has asked Tesla’s board to study the effects of mandatory arbitration agreements on the company, voicing concern that they enable harassment and other problems.

President Joe Biden just signed a massive bill to give $6 billion dollars to those moving here from Afghanistan.  This is leading to a lot of people wondering, "What about black people and reparations?"  The reparations debate has been going on for a very long time and some feel that black Americans are consistently being placed behind immigrant populations that are gaining resources at the expennse of the black community.

There was a big scare with ethereum this week, so I thought I'd break it all down. 

Today we talk about the debt ceiling and how this might cause an economic crisis of epic proportions. 

SHOW LESSYou won’t believe what this company charges for one Virus test  The high price of Covid tests is one of the disturbing things that have occurred since the pandemic began.  According to the Yahoo! News, a company is charging $380 for a test they cost $20 in your local pharmacy.  At the drugstore, a rapid COVID test usually costs less than $20.  Across the country, more than a dozen testing sites owned by startup company GS Labs regularly bill $380.  There is a reason they can. When Congress tried to ensure that Americans would not have to pay for coronavirus testing, it required insurers to pay certain laboratories whatever “cash price” they listed online for the tests, with no limit on what that might be.  GS Labs’ high prices and growing presence — it has performed a half-million rapid tests since the pandemic’s start and still runs thousands daily — show how the government’s long-standing reluctance to play a role in health care prices has hampered its attempt to protect consumers. As a result, Americans could ultimately pay some of the cost of expensive coronavirus tests in the form of higher insurance premiums.  Many health insurers have refused to pay GS Labs’ fees, some contending that the laboratory is price-gouging during a public health crisis. A Blue Cross plan in Missouri has sued GS Labs over its prices, seeking a ruling that would void $10.9 million in outstanding claims.  In court last month, the insurer claimed that the fees were “disaster profiteering” and in violation of public policy.  Omaha, Nebraska-based GS Labs contends the exact opposite: that it has public policy on its side, pointing to the CARES Act passed in 2020. “Insurers are obligated to pay cash price, unless we come to a negotiated rate,” said Christopher Erickson, a partner at GS Labs.

I was watching this clip of Kobe Bryant and his rejection from the Los Angeles Clippers.  While the clip was a funny conversation between Kobe and a live audience, it made me think about how many of us go through rejections in life that we don't deserve.   I am no Kobe Bryant, but I know the pain of rejection all too well, even when I didn't deserve it.  You probably do too.  So, this video made me think about the times when people turn us away and how we can turn this rejection into one of the greatest opportunities of our lives.   RIP to Kobe Bryant and RIP to the old You, because I believe that if you dig deep into your knowledge of self, you'll find that you're better than you think.   If you'd like access to my life class on black excellence, please visit me at http://BlackKeysToGreatness.com.   Sincerely, Dr Boyce Watkins http://BoyceWatkins.com