Lady Gamecocks demonstrate ability to play with grace and poise on and off the court

Lady Gamecocks’ poise admirable

After the Lady Gamecocks’ basketball team’s blistering performance against SEC rival Kentucky, I was able to observe in person the post-game press conference with stars Aliyah Boston and Zia Cooke.

They handled every reporter’s question with humbleness, grace and ease, with (Dawn Staley’s) emphasis on “team” at the forefront.

Even though both ladies have broken the 1,000-point threshold and other records, they remain focused on team goals and dynamics, praising their teammates for the parts they all play in the success of this #1 team in the nation.

South Carolina fans should be so proud of the poise these young women exhibit both on and off the court.

The grittiness, basketball intelligence, and intense attitude all of Coach Staley’s teams bring to the court are all fun to watch, but I especially appreciate the fact that they as individuals are positive role models for our young people.

Although I’m not a USC grad, this team makes me proud to be part of the Gamecock Nation.

Beth Trump, Columbia

Network of mutuality

In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in his “Open Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

King’s words seem to remind us how South Carolina’s economy has always been part of a larger inescapable network of mutuality, an historically painful truth we are still trying to unravel today.

The late former Gov. Fritz Hollings navigated through the network as he wove the threads of economic and workforce development together with those of racial integration. Harvey Gnatt entered Clemson University four months before King’s letter from a Birmingham jail.

I am not an economist or politician.

I am the president and CEO of the Urban League of the Upstate. The Nation Urban League, dedicated to economic empowerment and social justice, appointed Whitney M. Young Jr. executive director in 1961. Dr. King mobilized black churches as Young collaborated with policymakers, and corporate partners.

Young said, “Someone has to work within the system to change it.”

I envision King’s single garment of destiny, manufactured in South Carolina, stitched with one indigo thread.

Gail Wilson Awan, Ph.D., Greenville

Mandate power?

If it is a good idea for the government to require non-government employers nationwide with 100 or more workers to have staff vaccinated or tested, then a law to that effect should be passed by the legislature and not the president.

How good such an idea may be is immaterial when considering whether the president has the authority to impose it.

That authority already resides in Congress, as stated in Article 1 Section 1 of the US Constitution.

This pandemic does not justify a transformation from republic to monarchy.

What mandates will future presidents impose on the private sector?

Lance Davis, Columbia

Speak truth

Lindsey Graham accuses President Biden of politicizing the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

He must not remember his own immediate reaction to and condemnation of the assault on the Capitol and his apparent disgust at Trump for his actions.

One year ago, Graham placed full blame on the Trump administration as did Mark Meadows, Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz and other Republicans.

What we ask is that our leaders speak truth to power.

What does he think the president should have said? Something like, “Those guys who were dressed in war-paint and costumes and who vandalized the Capitol and who beat and even murdered the police who were trying to defend Republicans and Democrats were simply enjoying a peaceful protest!”

Really? If Lindsey Graham and current leaders will not speak truth and demand accountability for those who stormed the Capitol and those who instigated the assault, we stand in danger of losing our precious democracy. Vote!

Nancy Larsen, Lugoff