#StephenASmith: “Enough With the FEELINGS – Show Me the FACTS, #NABJ!!!” #StephenA Responds To The #NABJ #ThumbsDown Criticism

Posted on August 17, 2026 by toddpanther

And here’s what NABJ said about Stephen A, according to #RichardPrince’s account:

NABJ Gives 5 – a Record – Its ‘Thumbs Down’

NABJ President Explains Why Stephen A. Smith Got a Thumbs Down Award

https://www.contrabandcamp.com/p/why-the-national-association-of-black

*******************

https://www.instagram.com/reels/DcIJWIUJXh1

********************

FROM AI:

JASMINE CROCKETT

Stephen A. Smith criticized U.S. Representative Jasmine Crockett’s political style, questioning if her fiery rhetoric and use of “street verbiage” against Donald Trump actually helped her constituents, before later issuing an apology after facing severe public backlash.

The Original Comments

Smith questioned on his program whether cussing out or opposing Donald Trump counts as “work,” arguing that politicians should focus on working with those in power to get things done for their district.He specifically critiqued how Crockett chooses to express herself, describing some of her communication as “street verbiage” that he doubted would be effective in legislative negotiations.

His remarks drew swift, widespread backlash from viewers, public figures, and media personalities who accused him of using coded language to police the tone and demeanor of Black women in politics.

JOY REID

The public feud between Stephen A. Smith and Joy Reid erupted when Smith blamed Reid’s departure from MSNBC on low ratings. Reid fired back on a podcast, accusing Smith of being paid massive sums by white-dominated media structures to criticize and denigrate Black women for entertainment. Smith hit back, calling the accusations baseless and stating that his critics should be “ashamed”.

Key Dimensions of the Feud

The Spark: Stephen A. Smith discussed Joy Reid’s exit from MSNBC on his show, citing a drop in her viewership numbers and claiming “the numbers don’t lie.”

Reid’s Response: Reid appeared on Naked Sports with Cari Champion and dismissed Smith’s focus on ratings, comparing his compensation to his audience size and alleging he profits by acting as a mouthpiece to say “nasty things about Black people”

Escalation: Smith dedicated segments of his digital platform to push back against Reid and other media figures like Don Lemon, accusing them of a coordinated effort to get him fired or canceled by invoking his association with ESPN and Disney.

Broader Context: The spat widened as part of a larger ongoing debate regarding Smith’s political commentary, his critiques of figures like Representative Jasmine Crockett, and accusations from media peers that he disproportionately targets prominent Black women.

SERENA WILLIAMS

On ESPN’s First Take, Stephen A. Smith criticized Serena Williams for doing a Crip-walk cameo during Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, which featured the Drake diss track “Not Like Us”.

Because Williams and Drake previously dated, Smith claimed she was publicly “trolling” her ex. He remarked that if he were married to her, he would question why she was doing so and told her to “go back to his ass”.

After receiving heavy social media backlash, Smith defended his remarks on The Stephen A. Smith Show and social media, stating he was just “joking around” from a “man’s perspective” and that people were taking it too seriously. Serena’s husband, Alexis Ohanian, later addressed the situation and playfully confronted Smith on air regarding the comments. Serena herself later responded, calling her husband’s handling of it eloquent and noting she thought the whole thing was hilarious.

KAMALA HARRIS

Stephen A. Smith stated that he regrets voting for former Vice President Kamala Harris, feeling like a “damn fool” for supporting her. He criticized her post-election book and media behavior, arguing that she came across as leaderless during her campaign and only became outspoken later to sell books.

Voter Regret and Political Critique

Feeling Misled: Smith mentioned on The Sage Steele Show that he initially voted for Harris to prevent single-party chaos, but now feels he and others “fell for it” and ended up feeling like fools.

Book Backlash: He slammed Harris’s post-election memoir and “I told you so” remarks, arguing she was too quiet and protective of Joe Biden during the race only to become candid later for profit.

Political Future: Smith declared that her political career is effectively over, stating that the Democratic Party is unlikely to back her moving forward.

Past Campaign Criticism

Avoiding Interviews: During the 2024 campaign, Smith criticized Harris for sticking strictly to pep rallies and ducking formal press conferences or sit-down interviews.

Tied to Biden’s Record: He argued it was entirely fair for the public and the media to press her on the administration’s record, since she had actively claimed ownership of it.

MICHELLE OBAMA

Stephen A. Smith called out Michelle Obama after she compared ESPN to The Real Housewives of Atlanta and labeled him “just like every other talk show host”. Smith expressed offense at her 2024 campaign rhetoric implying a vote for Donald Trump was a vote against women, though he still praised her as a historic First Lady.

The Podcast Exchange and Pushback

Michelle Obama’s Critique: On her podcast IMO, Michelle Obama stated that listening to ESPN for an hour felt like watching reality TV drama with people yelling and not getting along, singling out Smith.

Smith’s Response: On The Stephen A. Smith Show, Smith defended ESPN’s on-air chemistry and success, stating he took “major offense” to her campaign messaging that attempted to emotionally compel voters by framing a vote for Trump as an anti-woman stance.

Broader Context: Smith argued that voters weighed other critical factors like the economy, immigration, and national security ahead of single issues, while maintaining that Obama remains one of the greatest First Ladies.

Of Serena Williams, Barbara Ehrenreich And Evolution

Posted on September 3, 2022 by toddpanther

Imagine what you want then get out of the way
Remember energy follows thought so be careful what you say
So be careful what you ask for
Make sure it’s really what you want
Because your mind is made for thinking
And energy follows thought

—Willie Nelson, “Energy Follows Thought”

***

“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.”
–Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing

While watching Serena struggle through her last (?) second set last night, I got the news update on my phone: Barbara Ehrenreich had died. That nonfiction champion of working people was 81, 41 years older than the history-breaking wonder woman I was watching on ESPN.

I immediately went back to Williams because it’s consistently amazing to watch her form and spirit, even when she loses. And I confess I had been watching the U.S. Open all week to see how she would lose, how she would leave the field and then go to—what’s her word?—oh, yeah, “evolve.”

It’s a very reflective time for me because it’s the silver anniversary of someone who once yearned to be smart yet did a real dumb thing: leave a fulltime job to go to graduate school. Thirty years ago, give or take a week, when I was much less foolish and reckless than I am now, I decided to leave home and become a writer. I am so grateful for my life of failure that resulted from that decision.

When I decided to ditch covering Newark, N.J. mayors for mastering decimal numbers at Maryland and D.C. libraries, Bill Clinton hadn’t yet been elected and The Dark Knight and the X-Men had just made the jump from comic books into serious FOX Kids Saturday-morning-network animation. Will Smith was still the Fresh Prince and Serena and Venus were white Roman goddesses found in mythology books.

Here’s what I didn’t know back then:

You can’t enter a penthouse from the outside, because there are neither outdoor stairs nor a side door.
Writing is like golf; like Smith says in my favorite movie of his, you can’t win, you can only play. It’s not a career because there’s no future with it; it’s something that belongs only to the present–you do it full-time until it’s no longer feasible and viable.
Writing’s friend is also its enemy: stealing calm and stillness, even sacrificing it.

This was the period where Williams was professionally born and Ehrenreich came of nia age. Off to work. Never give up, never surrender, as the Captain Kirk-ish lead of Galaxy Quest made famous at the end of a decade devoted to Star Trek.

Is giving up or staying the course nature or nurture? Ta-Nehisi Coates, a man whose father told me once drove a cab, said on some Facebook video I once saw that people don’t fulfill their writing ambitions because they give up. Because that was Winner Advice, which is by its nature dishonest, he didn’t say why they give up. In a famous 2009 graduation address to the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, Ehrenreich was more forthcoming: “You are going to be trying to carve out a career in the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. You are furthermore going to be trying to do so within what appears to be a dying industry. You have abundant skills and talents – it’s just not clear that anyone wants to pay you for them.”

Every single time I force myself twice monthly to pay a very nice woman to clean my apartment, I remember the line Ehrenreich dropped that scared me the most (and still does): “You won’t get rich, unless of course you develop a sideline in blackmail or bank robbery. You’ll be living some of the problems you report on – the struggle for health insurance, for child care, for affordable housing. You might never have a cleaning lady. In fact, you might be one. I can’t tell you how many writers I know who have moonlighted as cleaning ladies or waitresses. And you know what? They were good writers. And good cleaning ladies too, which is no small thing.”

By the time the famous author said this, Williams was still grand-slamming on the way to GOAT status and I was a lifer, still searching for literary immortality in a post-literate culture, armed with nothing but graduate degrees, the memorized arcs of a 1989 James Baldwin documentary and the Alex Haley episodes of Roots: The Next Generations, and a six-figure student loan debt. I had not yet accepted that writing doesn’t exist in the real world where people pay serious dues every day to ensure their survival. Unless you are in the Talented Tenth it’s an invisible, irrelevant profession. Don’t believe me? On May 23^rd of this year, I went online and got my Wu-Tang clan-generated name: PHANTOM ARTIST. Yeah! Um, wait…. On August 22^nd, I went back to try a second time, wary as 55 approaches next year. Wu-Tang renamed me LUCKLESS HOODOO. I accept my fate.

The destinies of other scribes happily cross over into the academy. All the living writers I followed as a 20-something are journalism professors now—most at Howard University, Hampton University and the place I got let go from 10 years ago next spring, Morgan State University. I learned during my six MSU years that being a professor is not a writing job. I was taught in the 20th century that if you want to go write, write; If you want to make writing your fun nights-weekends-and-summer hobby, the analog mantra went, go be a professor. Twenty-two years into somewhere else, reality can be quite a witch when compared to memory. Other than my mentor Herb Boyd (himself a part-time professor for decades) and my friend Richard Prince, the only full-time Black writer I follow in 2022 has been in prison for 40 years.

For some there is only one path. Williams never gave up, never surrendered. Neither did Ehrenreich. But on the other hand, if you are not like them–either not the very best or not in that opportunity zone–that survival move and mode, I now know, slowly turns into professional evolution and eventual advancement in the real world outside your window. Thirty years later, pretty much everybody I know evolved well: they either/and: a) know what it’s like to get a promotion; b) make six figures or near it, c) have a house paid off and/or d) are fantastic and proud parents.

Ehrenreich and Williams have shared that accomplishment story, and on their own terms. They have inspired many who, like myself, will never get higher than fifth place in life’s Olympics—who will remain invisible to history but fulfilled in the private spaces. That in itself is a GOAT-level accomplishment.