NEW YORK — Hundreds of protesters gathered in New York City Tuesday evening, showing they don’t plan to halt demonstrations, despite Mayor Bill de Blasio’s call to suspend their actions until the two NYPD officers killed over the weekend have been laid to rest. About 300 demonstrators clogged city streets after gathering at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue, proceeding as they’d planned weeks earlier. Followed by cops, they marched uptown toward Harlem, holding signs that expressed condolences to the families of the slain officers, Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, while openly criticizing de Blasio’s request to pause protests. In a statement released before the event, activists called de Blasio’s request an “outrageous” and “misguided response” that encroached on their constitutional right to peacefully…

NEW YORK — Hundreds of protesters gathered in New York City Tuesday evening, showing they don’t plan to halt demonstrations, despite Mayor Bill de Blasio’s call to suspend their actions until the two NYPD officers killed over the weekend have been laid to rest.

About 300 demonstrators clogged city streets after gathering at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue, proceeding as they’d planned weeks earlier. Followed by cops, they marched uptown toward Harlem, holding signs that expressed condolences to the families of the slain officers, Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, while openly criticizing de Blasio’s request to pause protests.

In a statement released before the event, activists called de Blasio’s request an “outrageous” and “misguided response” that encroached on their constitutional right to peacefully assemble.

“To protest is a First Amendment right,” activist Darnell Moore told HuffPost Live on Tuesday. “Particularly a peaceful protest that has an aim — the aim of responding to the types of practices that deaden lives disproportionately of black folk in our country.”

One organizer told HuffPost that although he respects the families of the officers who lost their lives, the protests must continue. “It’s not that we’re going against the mayor’s wishes,” said Siervo Del Pueblo, a 29-year-old EMT from Brooklyn. “This demonstration has been planned for a long time.”

Pueblo added that Tuesday’s location was deliberate. “Fifth Avenue was named the world’s most expensive shopping district this year,” he said. “We want to make the connection between police brutality and the ruling class of Americans and New York City. It’s a symbolic, peaceful protest.”

Meanwhile, famous New York City landmarks, including the Empire State Building, dimmed their lights for five minutes Tuesday night to send their own message.

“New York City is fortunate to the protection of the best police force in the world, allowing citizens in all five boroughs to conduct business and go about their daily lives with the expectation of the safe enjoyment of all New York City has to offer,” read a statement on the official Twitter account of the Empire State Building.

While many protesters joined peaceful vigils to honor the lives of Liu and Ramos on Monday, they said they remained committed to their original mission.

“The mayor wants to use anything he can to stop the momentum,” Frank Sha Francois, a 49-year old public adjuster and community activist, told HuffPost. “The people have the momentum, and the attention of police and politicians, and we won’t allow them to stop us from bringing attention to police brutality.”

Tuesday also brought news that a Texas grand jury declined to indict Officer Juventino Castro in the deadly January shooting of 26-year-old Jordan Baker, an unarmed black man who Baker believed matched the description of a robbery suspect.

“I hate to say it, but that [non-indictment] is business as usual,” Sha Francois said. “Where [police] are free to do whatever they want to us.”

Pueblo said he thinks de Blasio’s request to temporarily halt protests shows he’s “caving into the worst form of rhetoric from the police union and right-wing politicians.”

Pueblo referred to comments made by NYPD Police Union Chief Pat Lynch, who blamed de Blasio and protesters for the police killings. Liu and Ramos were shot to death in a parked patrol car in Brooklyn on Saturday by lone gunman Ismaaiyal Brinsley, who then killed himself.

In a social media post hours before killing the New York officers, Brinsley mentioned the police killings of Eric Garner in Staten Island and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Some have said the post shows Brinsley was motivated by revenge. Others dismissed the idea of the shooter having any political agenda and said his actions show he was a troubled individual with mental health issues.

“It didn’t have anything to do with race or anything,” Garner’s daughter, Emerald Snipes-Garner, told ABC News when she visited the memorial site of the slain officers on Monday. “It was a mental health crisis and he was dealing with [it] personally and didn’t have the proper way to express his anger.”

Protests have rocked the nation since grand juries declined to indict the police officers responsible for killing Brown and Garner, who both were unarmed. A statement Monday by activist group Ferguson Action responding to de Blasio’s request suggested that the demonstrations won’t let up.

“This movement was sparked by the grief that millions across the country have felt,” the group said. “Joining Eric Garner, Mike Brown and Tamir Rice are the thousands of lives lost in the last decade to police shootings. We are in the streets because we are fighting for the right to live our lives fully and with dignity, without the threat of unconstitutional police violence and repression. Our work continues and we invite those who stand on the side of justice to join us.”

In a blog post on HuffPost, Black Lives Matter co-founder Opal Tometti dissociated the group’s agenda to end racial injustice in policing with Brinsley’s actions.

“In light of all we know, and with respect to all who hurt most now, we must not let misconceptions prevail,” Tometti wrote. “This is a challenging moment, but we must maintain the integrity of our message and moral movement.”

Take a look at images from Tuesday’s protest:

Link:  

‘To Protest Is A First Amendment Right’: New Yorkers Defy Mayor’s Request To Pause Demonstrations

NEW YORK (AP) — A brazen scheme in which guns — even an AK-47 rifle — were taken onto passenger jets for years in carry-on luggage was described by a Brooklyn prosecutor Tuesday as a terrorism threat that should cause the airline industry to end the practice of letting some workers enter airports without security screening. “I hope this is a wakeup call for the nation,” Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson said at a news conference. “This was an egregious breach of our nation’s air traffic security.” Thompson’s comment came as he described a case brought against five people, including an airline baggage handler who …

NEW YORK (AP) — A brazen scheme in which guns — even an AK-47 rifle — were taken onto passenger jets for years in carry-on luggage was described by a Brooklyn prosecutor Tuesday as a terrorism threat that should cause the airline industry to end the practice of letting some workers enter airports without security screening.

“I hope this is a wakeup call for the nation,” Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson said at a news conference. “This was an egregious breach of our nation’s air traffic security.”

Thompson’s comment came as he described a case brought against five people, including an airline baggage handler who was charged a day earlier by federal authorities in Atlanta.

Thompson said he was not trying to scare anyone. But he said it’s “truly frightening” what investigators learned after a probe that started as a way to reduce gun violence in Brooklyn.

He said Mark Quentin Henry, 45, who was fired by Delta Air Lines in 2010 after three years for abusing its buddy pass system, took guns aboard at least 17 commercial airliners this year as they traveled from Atlanta to both New York City airports.

The prosecutor said Henry was given the guns, sometimes in airport restrooms, by Eugene Harvey, 31, an Atlanta baggage handler who worked for Delta before he was fired as a result of the investigation.

Three others were arrested on gun charges in the probe.

Henry’s lawyer, Terence Sweeney, said his client, held without bail, “maintains his innocence and he’s looking forward to his day in court.”

Henry was arrested Dec. 10. Investigators videotaped him in the Atlanta airport prior to a morning flight to Kennedy International Airport in New York, where he was videotaped leaving the airport and was followed to his residence in Brooklyn.

Thompson said when Henry was confronted by investigators, he said there were guns in a knapsack in his apartment.

“He said: ‘I just brought them from Atlanta on the plane. He made that admission,” Thompson said.

The prosecutor said investigators discovered that guns were individually wrapped and that ammunition was in the bag next to them “that he could have just put together and started shooting.”

He said the scheme “really poses a threat in terms of terrorism.”

“They can put guns on a plane, they could easily have put a bomb,” Thompson said.

Thompson said 153 guns, almost all of which were bought in Georgia, were seized during the seven-month gun trafficking probe, which led investigators to Henry and his frequent flights between Atlanta and New York.

The prosecutor said investigators believe he has been transporting guns on planes for at least five years, using companion passes available because his mother had worked for airlines for years before retiring.

On Dec. 10, Henry flew with 16 weapons, including four 9mm pistols, a .380-caliber pistol and ammunition and magazines, Thompson said. The prosecutor said he flew with the AK-47 in November.

He said it was likely he chose airplanes for the speed and ease of the travel.

“We didn’t know for sure that he was transporting guns on a plane until Dec. 10,” Thompson said, though he added that Delta was notifying investigators each time Henry boarded a plane.

Delta spokesman Morgan Durrant said Delta has cooperated with authorities.

“We take seriously any activity that fails to uphold our strict commitment to the safety and security of our customers and employees,” he said.

In a statement Tuesday, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport spokesman Reese McCranie called safety and security its “highest priority.”

He said all employees must pass extensive criminal history record checks, security threat assessments, and security training prior to being approved for access to secured areas and employees are subjected to continuous vetting and random inspections.

“In light of these recent events, we are reviewing the security plan and will make the appropriate changes to prevent future incidents of this nature,” McCranie added. The airport is considered among the world’s busiest.

The Transportation Security Administration, which is responsible for screening airline passengers, said in a statement that it takes “potential for insider threats at airports very seriously.”

It said security threat assessments and airport criminal checks made before people are hired is an ongoing process that includes random checks.

“TSA continues to closely partner with law enforcement on this investigation and, where possible, will use the findings from the investigation to improve current processes,” it said.

___

Associated Press writers Phillip Lucas in Atlanta and Joan Lowy in Washington contributed to this report.

More here – 

Prosecutor Says Smuggling Guns Onto Planes Has Been Happening For Years

This year, I really, really, really tried to get my Christmas shopping out of the way as early as possible. Then I was tasked with a work project that consumed my days, nights and weekends, plus some minor surgery that took whatever time was leftover. All of my plans went quickly out the door. And that’s why this year, like so many years before, I will do my shopping at the last minute. Yes, I could’ve done my shopping online. But I was still traumatized by the year that Amazon decided to reroute my order, leaving me to re-buy every item on my list. I’ve since given up on saying a silent prayer to …

This year, I really, really, really tried to get my Christmas shopping out of the way as early as possible. Then I was tasked with a work project that consumed my days, nights and weekends, plus some minor surgery that took whatever time was leftover. All of my plans went quickly out the door. And that’s why this year, like so many years before, I will do my shopping at the last minute.

Yes, I could’ve done my shopping online. But I was still traumatized by the year that Amazon decided to reroute my order, leaving me to re-buy every item on my list. I’ve since given up on saying a silent prayer to the gods of shipping, instead making the choice to do my shopping in-person.

Here’s what I learned from last-minute shopping. Granted, I don’t have kids, so take my advice with a grain of salt (and a shot of tequila) if you’re a parent. Everyone else? Listen up.

1. People are, oddly enough, nicer. The nastiest shopping behavior happens during the weekends before the holiday. To wit: I was nearly run over by a holiday shopper who fully intended to drive her car into a Barnes & Noble because she left her purchase at the cash wrap and thought someone would steal it. This happened three shopping weekends before Christmas.

In the last-second shopping market, yes, people are still frantic. Yet, there’s a spirit of camaraderie among those who procrastinate, were too busy or otherwise forgot about the holiday. You might get pushed, but it’ll at least be with a smile or an off-handed remark about how ridiculous the holidays can get.

2. The deals are often better than Black Friday. In fact, many retailers already start their post-holiday sales in the days leading up to Christmas.

3. The time crunch makes the decision-making process so much easier. If the store doesn’t have what you want, hey, get a gift card. Another plus: Many stores put out new merchandise in the last days leading up to Christmas.

4. You don’t have to worry about hiding gifts. Or, watching the mail like a hawk, waiting for a package to arrive … so you can hide it.

5. The stores are open late. You can still shop on your schedule, even if that means heading to the mall at 11 p.m. Just be extra nice to the retail workers who have to be there.

Excerpt from:

In Defense Of Last-Minute Holiday Shopping

Last year, we gave you a list of great Christmas songs. This year, we’re re-gifting the concept. Enjoy 21 more songs that will surely brighten your holiday season. Bing Crosby, “It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas” Johnny Mathis, “Winter Wonderland” Kelly Clarkson, “White Christmas” Eartha Kitt, “Santa Baby” Vince Guaraldi Trio, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” Elvis Presley, “Blue Christmas” Darlene Love, “Marshmallow World” Taylor Swift, “Last Christmas” The Ronettes, “Sleigh Ride” Gene Autry, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” Nat King Cole, “O Come All Ye Faithful” RUN-DMC, “Christmas In Hollis” Paul McCartney, “Wonderful Christmastime” Stevie Wonder, “Someday at Christmas” Sam Smith, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” Jackson 5, “Give Love on Christmas Day” The Beach Boys, “Frosty the Snowman” Dean …

Last year, we gave you a list of great Christmas songs. This year, we’re re-gifting the concept. Enjoy 21 more songs that will surely brighten your holiday season.

Bing Crosby, “It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas”

Johnny Mathis, “Winter Wonderland”

Kelly Clarkson, “White Christmas”

Eartha Kitt, “Santa Baby”

Vince Guaraldi Trio, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”

Elvis Presley, “Blue Christmas”

Darlene Love, “Marshmallow World”

Taylor Swift, “Last Christmas”

The Ronettes, “Sleigh Ride”

Gene Autry, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”

Nat King Cole, “O Come All Ye Faithful”

RUN-DMC, “Christmas In Hollis”

Paul McCartney, “Wonderful Christmastime”

Stevie Wonder, “Someday at Christmas”

Sam Smith, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”

Jackson 5, “Give Love on Christmas Day”

The Beach Boys, “Frosty the Snowman”

Dean Martin, “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”

Mariah Carey, “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”

Frank Sinatra, “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”

The cast of “Scrooged,” “Put a Little Love In Your Heart”

Source:  

21 Christmas Songs To Listen To This Instant

HONOLULU (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden plans to be among the mourners at the funeral for a New York City policeman gunned down last weekend. The White House says President Barack Obama has asked Biden to attend Saturday’s service for Rafael Ramos (rah-fy-EHL’ RAH’-mohs) at Christ Tabernacle Church in Glendale, New York. Biden’s wife will also attend. Ramos and his partner, Wenjian Liu (WEHN’-jihn LOO’), were ambushed Saturday. The gunman claimed he was retaliating for the police-involved deaths of Eric Garner in New York and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. He later shot himself. New York’s police commissioner says Liu’s family plans to make

HONOLULU (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden plans to be among the mourners at the funeral for a New York City policeman gunned down last weekend.

The White House says President Barack Obama has asked Biden to attend Saturday’s service for Rafael Ramos (rah-fy-EHL’ RAH’-mohs) at Christ Tabernacle Church in Glendale, New York. Biden’s wife will also attend.

Ramos and his partner, Wenjian Liu (WEHN’-jihn LOO’), were ambushed Saturday. The gunman claimed he was retaliating for the police-involved deaths of Eric Garner in New York and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. He later shot himself.

New York’s police commissioner says Liu’s family plans to make arrangements after arriving from China.

Obama is on vacation in Hawaii.

Excerpt from: 

Joe Biden To Attend Funeral For NYPD Officer Rafael Ramos

WASHINGTON — Sometimes one’s best effort is just not good enough. It’s at those times that one is a loser. In no particular order, here are the biggest losers of 2014. DEMOCRATS — Lost so bad in November President Barack Obama wouldn’t even give it a gerund — no shellacking, no thumpin’, no nothing. Republicans just wanted it more. (Note: Obama never actually did this. On camera at least.) BOBBY JINDAL — Guy is trying to gain weight so he can seem presidential, then absolutely panics when Ebola comes nowhere near his state. The nation expected more from Kenneth. DRUG WARRIORS — Legal bud in Colorado and Washington didn’t break society. SHISMAREF, Alaska — Climate change takes a village. No bueno. THE CIA — So much lying …

WASHINGTON — Sometimes one’s best effort is just not good enough. It’s at those times that one is a loser.

In no particular order, here are the biggest losers of 2014.

DEMOCRATS — Lost so bad in November President Barack Obama wouldn’t even give it a gerund — no shellacking, no thumpin’, no nothing. Republicans just wanted it more.

BOBBY JINDAL — Guy is trying to gain weight so he can seem presidential, then absolutely panics when Ebola comes nowhere near his state. The nation expected more from Kenneth.

DRUG WARRIORS — Legal bud in Colorado and Washington didn’t break society.

SHISMAREF, Alaska — Climate change takes a village.

THE CIA — So much lying and torturing and murdering pixelated peoples with flying robots.

CHRIS CHRISTIE — Picked a fight with the wrong nurse.

CHRIS DODD — The former Democratic senator from Connecticut turned movie lobbyist took his sweet time speaking out after the movie industry basically capitulated to threats from a rogue dictator.

JOURNALISM — Rolling Stone set back the campus sexual assault movement about 30 years, and Mark Zuckerberg’s former roommate accidentally destroyed The New Republic.

LIBERAL ZIONISM — Not really a thing anymore. With another war against Gaza and pending legislation that would basically end Israel’s democracy, it’s hard for liberal Zionists to cling to much hope. It’s not even clear whether their favored 2016 presidential candidate is with them on the issue. And the year ended with the theater director for the Washington, D.C., Jewish Community Center getting canned for performing a play that was critical of Israel. A play written by an Israeli. That was first performed in Tel Aviv. Molotov!

MARK PRYOR — After his shellacking in Arkansas, he got sanctimonious. “Let’s take off the red jersey and take off the blue jersey and let us all put on the red, white and blue jersey. Our nation’s challenges — large and small — require us to get on the same team. Team USA.”

Okay, whatever, Mark. Just send us your Wal-Mart government relations contact info when you’ve got it. Go team!

CHRIS CHRISTIE — He’s lost what, like 80 pounds? Way to go.

THE WASHINGTON REDSKINS — They’ve never faced louder demands for a name change and the team seems more dysfunctional than ever.

SYKES-PICOT — These ill-fated borders aren’t holding up so well in the post U.S.-occupation era. Iraq, like liberal Zionism, isn’t really a thing anymore, nor is Syria.

GABBY GIFFORDS — Her gun safety group sunk nearly a third of its fortune into re-electing Giffords’ former top aide Ron Barber (D) in her former Arizona district. Yet Barber, who is more or less the nicest guy south of Santa Claus (and might even be him), lost in a nail-biter recount. And Democrat Mark Udall, whom Giffords’ group also supported, went down in his Senate race in Colorado.

Meanwhile, the gun safety agenda is stalled at best. In late December, when a mentally ill man shot and killed two police officers in New York City, gun control was barely mentioned; blame was heaped on liberals instead.

CHRIS CHRISTIE — Oh yeah, Bridgegate. That was bad.

WAR OPPONENTS — We’re bombing all over Iraq and Syria, yet the streets are not filled with antiwar protesters. All that skeptical lawmakers wanted was a note from the president spelling out whom he can and can’t bomb, and they couldn’t even get that. In the meantime, we’ve spent more than $1 billion bombing Islamic State militants since August and there’s no end in sight.

BLISSFUL IGNORANCE OF TERRIBLE POLICE-COMMUNITY RELATIONS — For years, the debate over police brutality, militarization and immunity was confined to the comments section of a Radley Balko blog post. But it’s no longer possible to believe the Mayberry model prevails.

STEVE STOCKMAN — You suck, Steve! Goodbye to America’s worst congressman.

Click HERE to see last year’s losers.

Link to article: 

The Official Biggest Losers Of 2014

A Texas grand jury has officially cleared an officer of any wrongdoing after he fatally shot an unarmed man back in January. Officer Juventino Castro will face no charges in the deadly shooting of 26-year-old Jordan Baker, Chron News reports. Activist Deric Muhammad embraces Renae Tran as she holds on to son Jordan Baker, Jr. at the candlelight vigil for Jordan Baker in the parking lot where he was shot by police on Sunday, Dec. 21, 2014, in Houston. Baker was shot by Castro in an alley behind a Houston strip club. Castro was off duty at the time, and Baker was unarmed. Castro said he believed Baker matched the description of a robbery suspect who had targeted the strip …

A Texas grand jury has officially cleared an officer of any wrongdoing after he fatally shot an unarmed man back in January.

Officer Juventino Castro will face no charges in the deadly shooting of 26-year-old Jordan Baker, Chron News reports.

Baker was shot by Castro in an alley behind a Houston strip club. Castro was off duty at the time, and Baker was unarmed. Castro said he believed Baker matched the description of a robbery suspect who had targeted the strip club in the past, ABC13 reported at the time.

In a police report filed after the killing, Castro said there was a scuffle and a foot chase into the alley after the officer asked to see Baker’s ID. Castro told investigators he shot Baker after the man allegedly charged the cop.

Days before the decision not to indict Castro, family members gathered at the courthouse to plead that justice be served, My Fox Houston reported.

“You have an opportunity to get this right,” chanted many in attendance on Sunday.

The decision comes at a tense time between police and civilians. The non-indictments of Mike Brown and Eric Garner have started social movements, including Black Lives Matter, to address the perceived racial bias among police and sparking demonstrations across the country.

It’s unclear at this time if Castro will stay on the force or face disciplinary action.

“He did everything right,” Janet Baker, the victim’s mother, said at the time of his death. “He’s a college student, he was working part time. He does everything for his son. His son is his life.”

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Officer Juventino Castro Will Walk Free After Killing Unarmed Man Jordan Baker

Before Maya Angelou passed away in May at the age of 86, she had been working on a rather unique project that blended her beautiful poetry with contemporary hip-hop music. For the project, Dr. Angelou recited her own poems, while producers Shawn Rivera and RoccStarr focused on original beats and instrumentals. The result was “Caged Bird Songs,” an album whose title plays off to Dr. Angelou’s iconic book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. The album was released in November, and now, one of its 13 songs has a music video. “Harlem Hopscotch” is Dr. Angelou’s poem that was published in 1969. One foot down, then hop! It’s hot. Good things for the ones that’s got. Another jump, now to the left. Everybody for …

Before Maya Angelou passed away in May at the age of 86, she had been working on a rather unique project that blended her beautiful poetry with contemporary hip-hop music. For the project, Dr. Angelou recited her own poems, while producers Shawn Rivera and RoccStarr focused on original beats and instrumentals. The result was “Caged Bird Songs,” an album whose title plays off to Dr. Angelou’s iconic book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

The album was released in November, and now, one of its 13 songs has a music video. “Harlem Hopscotch” is Dr. Angelou’s poem that was published in 1969.

One foot down, then hop! It’s hot.
Good things for the ones that’s got.
Another jump, now to the left.
Everybody for hisself.

In the air, now both feet down.
Since you black, don’t stick around.
Food is gone, rent is due,
Curse and cry and then jump two.

All the peoples out of work,
Hold for three, now twist and jerk.
Cross the line, they count you out.
That’s what hopping’s all about.

Both feet flat, the game is done.
They think I lost, I think I won.

The video itself features incredible dancers flipping, breakdancing and shimmying through the streets of Harlem and several locations in Los Angeles, including Venice Beach and downtown LA. Choreography comes from Emmy Award-winning duo Tabitha and Napoleon Dumo (NappyTabs), best known for their work on the hit television series “So You Think You Can Dance.” The video also features appearances by actress and singer Nia Peeples (“Fame,” “Pretty Little Liars”), dancer/choreographer Derek Hough, actor Alfonso Ribeiro, actress/singer Zendaya, dancer/choreographer Ian Eastwood, Quest Crew, and dancers from both “So You Think You Can Dance” and “America’s Best Dance Crew.”

Dr. Angelou’s grandson, Colin Johnson, reminisces that music was such a huge part of his grandmother’s life. “She loved everything, from pop to country and, of course, hip-hop. With her dedication to social activism and how she illuminated the struggles and injustices of the urban experience through prose, there’s a direct correlation to hip-hop today,” he says. “She was really excited about her street-wise commentary being presented in this way.”

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The Music Video For ‘Harlem Hopscotch,’ From Maya Angelou’s Posthumous Hip-Hop Album, Is Here (VIDEO)

When Michael Sam was drafted into the NFL in May, he made history as the first openly gay man to come into the league. But, the Mizzou graduate says, there are definitely other gay men currently playing professional football. In his first interview since being cut from the St. Louis Rams and later being waived by the Dallas Cowboys, Sam sits down with Oprah and reveals that other gay players in the NFL contacted him after he was drafted. “Very few reached out to me and pretty much just told me their gratitude and how thankful they were that I had the courage [to come out publicly],” Sam says in the above video. …

When Michael Sam was drafted into the NFL in May, he made history as the first openly gay man to come into the league. But, the Mizzou graduate says, there are definitely other gay men currently playing professional football.

In his first interview since being cut from the St. Louis Rams and later being waived by the Dallas Cowboys, Sam sits down with Oprah and reveals that other gay players in the NFL contacted him after he was drafted.

“Very few reached out to me and pretty much just told me their gratitude and how thankful they were that I had the courage [to come out publicly],” Sam says in the above video. “They wished that they had the courage to come out.”

“Gay men in the NFL reached out to you and called you?” Oprah says.

“Yes,” Sam says. “[They] just showed their respect and admired my courage… It was very good.”

Though Sam declines to say exactly how many gay players reached out to him, he does tell Oprah that it was more than one. She clarifies, “You’re using the plural. ‘Men.’ Not ‘man.'”

“Men,” Sam confirms. “There’s a lot of us out there. I’m not the only one. I’m just the only one who’s open.”

Oprah’s interview with Michael Sam airs on a special episode of “Oprah Prime” on Saturday, Dec. 27, at 10:30 p.m. ET, immediately after the 90-minute documentary “Michael Sam.” Find OWN on your TV.

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Michael Sam: Other Gay Players In The NFL Reached Out To Me (VIDEO)