The Snob Went to Cabo, Everyone Else Went to NABJ, Except Stephen A. Smith, Who Was Clowned By NABJ

I love Baja California. I love how authentic it is, and while some places can be quite fancy, Baja itself is not. It's beachy desert vibes; chill, friendly locals; and sweaty tourists and immigrants from "El Norte." But be warned: this is Mexico, and there's no such thing as ADA compliance (among other El Norte things), so there was no escape from my mortal enemy — a flight of stairs with no railing.

The vertigo was vertigo-ing!

(Also, we live in the United States, where they're currently trying to weaken the Americans with Disabilities Act, so maybe soon we won't have stair railings, among other things, either!)

But I had a lot of fun on this recent trip, just as I did twice before last year when I went to Todos Santos and Cabo San Lucas to visit one of my closest friends, BET's Head of Editorial and my long-time creative partner, Yesha Callahan.

Yesha (pronounced AYE-ee-SHA, if you're nasty) and I have known each other for nearly 20 years, having met in our early 30s. We met at Married At First Sight star, matchmaker Paul Carrick Brunson's "The Modern-Day Matchmaker" event in Washington, D.C., during the early days of the Obama Administration. I had just moved there in 2009, and I didn't know then that by going to the event I'd make two friends who I still have to this day: Yesha and Very Smart Brotha (now senior editor at theGrio), Panama Jackson.

I have pictures from the night we all met, but Yesha has sworn them to secrecy because we both look so much better now. Back then, we were wearing Millennial-coded "office baddie" outfits to get day drunk on the Donovan rooftop (now Hotel Zena). (RIP, Obama-era D.C.! Your brunches were lit, and your clubs were poppin'. I wish I could explain it, but you kinda had to be there.)

But look at us now! Started out as bloggers, and now we're here. We've gone from writing for the now-defunct Clutch Magazine Online to writing for Daily Show co-creator Madeleine Smithberg on BET's Don't Sleep to ghostwriting for the same "sad panda"-esque comedian to writing TV shows that never got picked up because they were "too smart" (????) to working at The Root during its craziest era to living our best lives as journalists. Thank God we don't look like what we've been through!

(What we've been through is "writerly poverty.")

An award-winning filmmaker, Yesha is responsible for all the incredible digital covers BET has been doing of late. You can read her musings on her Substack, I Identify As a Problem.

Now for some quick "Snob takes!"

Snob takes

No Power in Gary: People in Gary, Ind., still don't have power after storms knocked out power lines. It's been a week, and residents of this majority-Black city are distressed and in crisis. Where is FEMA? With all the government cuts, probably not in Gary any time soon. (Fox 32 Chicago)

NABJ vs. Stephen A. Smith: The National Association of Black Journalists had its convention in Atlanta last week and gave a "thumbs down" award to Stephen A. Smith for his tendency to go after Black women, including Black female journalists. (Other "thumbs down" losers included Jeff Bezos' Washington Post and David Ellison-owned CBS News.)In response, Smith took it to social media and YouTube, then went on Fox News to cry to Sean Hannity, while NABJ President Errin Haines spoke with Capital B and journalist Roland S. Martin, who is also active in NABJ as a member of its board of directors. Smith wants a public audience with Haines, but Haines reportedly wanted to talk in private.

No one is above critique, especially not Smith, but also, no one wins when the Black media family feuds. I hope they eventually talk, as going on Fox was not the move. Was no one else available? Don Lemon is also on the YouTubes! Maybe Joy Reid? I dunno. Let's at least try to talk to another Black journalist (preferably a Black woman), Stephen! This is family business!

Psst! I'm always here!

(Full disclosure: I know and/or have met or have history with all these people, as less than 6 percent of all reporting journalists are Black. The world of leading editors and more visible Black journos is even smaller. The amount of mental and literary gymnastics it took to write this and remain half-ass neutral was exhausting. Please clap.) (Capital B)

This Latest Power Sequel Is A Wild One: What in the Tariq St. Patrick and Brayden Weston was this? Is Power: Kidz Bop Edition real life now? The ever-astute Jemele Hill points out that if this were a Black fraternity slanging cocaine, their mug shots would be everywhere. Of course, I think publishing mug shots is horrible regardless of race, as a lot of innocent or just flawed but harmless people have their lives ruined by it alongside the people who did do the do and deserve the scrutiny. The press should normalize saving all mug shots for convictions or not pubbing them at all, as they're prejudicial. Mug shots can taint public perception, ruining the whole "innocent until proven guilty" concept that is supposed to exist (but sometimes doesn't) in U.S. law. (Pennsylvania Capital-Star)

The Unserious Spouses of Married At First Sight: Everyone on this season of Peacock's Married At First Sight, except for maybe one couple, is deeply unserious. Miss "What happened on January 6th?" especially. In fact, most of the men are so unserious, I can't even be bothered to learn their names. As I told screenwriter LaGina Hill on Threads, the most unserious were: "Jet ski guy who pretended to be serious, Sir Cheats-A-Lot, MR. LOVE BOMBER, the 'scared of sex' Porta-Potty heir, [and] that wee man with the inflated ego."

Also, to my ol' buddy, professional matchmaker and MFAS's ... um ... (he's not a therapist, so consultant? Life coach? Relationship coach? I think it's relationship coach!) Relationship coach, Paul Carrick Brunson, WHAT ARE YOU WEARING? You can't clown Jet-Ski guy's 'fits when you're dressed like you're about to sing backup at an Earth, Wind & Fire concert! I kid, though. Paul's been married for 10,000 years and genuinely wants to help people find love, so good on him for landing this gig! (Peacock)

THE SNOB POD IS COMING!: And last, but never least, THE BLACK SNOB podcast is coming after Labor Day this September! Have you subscribed to our YouTube yet? We've already got some fun guests lined up, and we'll be announcing them soon!

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