Expert: Urgent Stories, Threats to Our Rights Buried by the Knicks Win and Other Distractions

by UB Center for Urban Studies · 06/15/2026

A Black political strategist breaks down the eight critical stories being ignored during the NBA Finals celebration.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 08: U.S. President Donald Trump watches the start of Game 3 of the NBA Finals between New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs at Madison Square Garden on June 8, 2026 in New York City. Fans attending the game expressed frustration at the heightened security measures put in place for the president’s attendance. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

The NY Knicks just pulled off the biggest comeback in the history of the NBA finals, overcoming a 29-point deficit to win the game and take a 3-1 lead in the series against San Antonio.

Like they used to say in Swansea, “Be careful that the devils aren’t sneaking in the side door while you’re singing with the angels on the front porch.”

So now that the celebration is over, let’s keep our eye on the prize by taking a look at some of the stories that aren’t getting the attention they need even though they’re causing real harm in our real lives.

Here’s a sample of those stories:

After doubling our health insurance premiums, the Trump administration is now setting up a plan where we can get loans to cover the cost of skyrocketing copays from the same insurance companies that are driving up our copays.
Trump signed a new executive order saying that the post office will no longer deliver mail-in ballots in states that refuse to hand over their voter lists so he can purge whoever he wants.
After gutting the Voting Rights Act and eliminating Black districts across the country, the MAGA DOJ is now trying to take away our right to fight racial bias in employment.
Trump’s Administrator of the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Mehmet Oz, went on FOX News to push new Medicaid work requirements, claiming that the average Medicaid recipient “watches 6.1 hours of television or just hangs out every day.” The fact is that more than 64% of Medicaid recipients are already working. The vast majority of those who aren’t working are either full-time students, full-time caregivers, retired, or disabled.
Trump’s Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins testified to Congress that America has seen six new cases of New World Screwworm in just the last two weeks. If you don’t know what New World Screwworm is, it’s a parasitic fly that feeds on live animal (including human) flesh, and it’s going to cost the American beef industry billions of dollars.
U.S. wholesale prices rose to their highest level since 2022 as the Iran War continued to drive up oil prices and business costs.
Inflation rose to 4.2%, its highest point in three years, as the cost of everything from gas and groceries to clothing and car repair continues to go up under a Republican President and a Republican Congress. Just so you know, in the last month of President Biden’s term, when Trump and the GOP were screaming about inflation, it was at 2.9%.
Real average earnings for American workers just dropped to its lowest point in three years, and when a reporter asked Trump about the latest inflation numbers and how rising prices are hurting families across America, Trump said, “I love it. I love the inflation.”