Notes on Brittney Griner’s Captivity

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000 per season in the WNBA. In Russia, where she was playing in the off season, she likely earns millions. It is why more and more American women basketball players have to play overseas when the WNBA is not playing.</p><p id="c579">I keep wondering who would be able to secure Griner’s release like Jackson likely would have been able to do maybe just 10–15 years ago before U.S.-Russia relations deteriorated. Who could convince an autocrat like Putin to stand aside on this one?</p><p id="6792">We must also take into account the U.S. plays this game as well.</p><p id="c832">When Wanzhou Meng, chief financial officer of Huawei, a leading Chinese company, was detained on fraud charges filed in the U.S. in December 2018, the U.S. tried to extradite her from Canada where she was detained. It took Meng two and a half years to get back to China.</p><p id="8f5e">Brittney Griner is the latest victim of the world’s dirty geopolitics. Let us hope this ends quickly.</p><p id="d42e"><b>Thanks for reading — check out my free monthly newsletter & subscribe please —</b></p><div id="c933" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/the-left-jab-3-2249fa79bf34"> <div> <div> <h2>The Left Jab #3</h2> <div><h3>We Are One</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*4Pv0gU6wLV7uDJ_ue_JMLw.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="f1f6" class="link-block"> <a href="https://briangilmore.medium.com/membership"> <div> <div> <h2>Join Medium with my referral link — brian g gilmore (bumpyjonas)</h2> <div><h3>Read every story from brian g gilmore (bumpyjonas) (and thousands of other writers on Medium). Your membership fee…</h3></div> <div><p>briangilmore.medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*XzR5CuNXHWWA5chl)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><h2 id="b41d">Additional Writings on Medium</h2><div id="c34f" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/who-owns-the-earth-6f262f11a7f7"> <div> <div> <h2>Who Owns The Earth?</h2> <div><h3>The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s 1967 message of interrelatedness is relevant today.</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="b

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Gone are the days when the Rev. Jesse Jackson could fix this

(Brittney Griner, Photo by Lorie Shaull, 2019 — Creative Commons License)

As WNBA superstar, Brittney Griner continues to not show up home in America, freed from captivity in Russia, I can’t help but think of the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

Jackson was the man if anyone found themselves suddenly behind enemy lines imprisoned or captured in some failed military operation. He went into countries of just about any political status or persuasion and delivered the person back home.

Now, those days are gone.

Rev. Jackson has Parkinson’s disease and is 80 years old. He is likely not up to retrieving Griner despite his record of delivering diplomatic miracles.

In 1983, American Lt. Robert Goodman was shot down over Syria and captured. Jackson flew over and secured the release of Goodman after meeting with Syria’s President, Hafez Al-Assad, someone he already had met previously.

Also, in June 1984, Rev. Jackson met with Fidel Castro in Cuba and secured the release of 22 Americans being held in Cuba. Years later, Jackson also convinced Sadaam Hussein to release multiple American prisoners and as late as 2012, secured the release of two prisoners held in The Gambia. There are other moments where Jackson used goodwill and diplomatic skills to prevent a bad ending.

None of the individuals released over the years to Jackson were famous or as high profile as Brittney Griner either. Griner needs such intervention at the highest level or any level right now. Corporate, political, faith based, even a international leader from another country who can step in and speak for her would be good.

Today, even if Rev. Jackson were to get involved, the world has changed so much. The USSR is no more. The remnants of that empire is now Russia, a free market, authoritarian nation with white nationalist proclivities. Russian leader, Vladimir Putin and Jackson will not connect.

While no one has been able to verify Griner’s story, it has been strongly suggested Griner is being held as a diplomatic hostage. The U.S. has imposed devastating sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine. Griner being a famous athlete helps her some but that remains to be seen.

Griner’s imprisonment also shines a light on the low salaries American women professional basketball players currently earn. Griner earns just over $220,000 per season in the WNBA. In Russia, where she was playing in the off season, she likely earns millions. It is why more and more American women basketball players have to play overseas when the WNBA is not playing.

I keep wondering who would be able to secure Griner’s release like Jackson likely would have been able to do maybe just 10–15 years ago before U.S.-Russia relations deteriorated. Who could convince an autocrat like Putin to stand aside on this one?

We must also take into account the U.S. plays this game as well.

When Wanzhou Meng, chief financial officer of Huawei, a leading Chinese company, was detained on fraud charges filed in the U.S. in December 2018, the U.S. tried to extradite her from Canada where she was detained. It took Meng two and a half years to get back to China.

Brittney Griner is the latest victim of the world’s dirty geopolitics. Let us hope this ends quickly.

Thanks for reading — check out my free monthly newsletter & subscribe please —