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Detroit Rapper Gmac Cash Turns Alabama Brawl Into Hilarious Rap Song

Detroit rapper Gmac Cash has taken the viral Alabama riverboat fight and turned it into a hilarious new track, and some big-name rappers are showing him love as a result.

The viral brawl took place at Montgomery Riverfront Park on Saturday evening (August 5), and appeared to be racially divided as several white and Black people were seen fighting each other on the dock.

The internet has been having plenty of fun with the incident for a few days now, and Gmac Cash took it one step further on Monday (August 7) by immortalizing the mayhem on wax.

Recapping the wild scuffle in comedic storytelling fashion, Cash gave a special shoutout to the Black guy who swam to join the fight and the Black man who smashed a foldable chair over a white woman’s head.

“Cuz came out the water like, ‘Let’s get it crackin’/ Unc came with the chair like, ‘I got some action’/ Cuz came no short like, ‘I got Sebastian/’ Even the women getting hit like, ‘Damn, what happened?'” he raps.

“Seen a couple of them boys go night-night/And we got the first Black man to swim to a fight/ If you mad at this song, don’t mention me/ But fuck that, that chair going down in history.”

Big Sean , Sexyy Red and GLC were a few that took to Gmac’s Instagram comments section with their support of the new track.

Listen to “Montgomery Brawl” below:

The mass throwdown began between a Black dock worker and a group of white men regarding a pontoon boat that was reportedly blocking dock space needed to park a riverboat.

Footage showed the men arguing with each other for several minutes before one of the white men charged at the Black man, who reacted by spinning his cap around and fighting back.

From there, several other white men jumped in and began hitting the dock worker. One witness, apparently watching from the riverboat, could be heard screaming, “Y’all help that brother!” to onlookers who were on shore.

At least one Black man heeded the call and stepped in to break up the fight. Another even swam to the dock to help out. “Get up there, young buck!” someone off-camera could be heard saying as they cheered him on.

related news

August 7, 2023

The violence didn’t stop there, though, as a group of shirtless Black men were later seen confronting the white pontoon boat driver and his family, with at least one punch being thrown. When a group of white men — and even women — rushed over, chaos ensued.

According to local outlet WSFA 12 , Montgomery Police have issued four arrest warrants over the riverfront brawl and it’s possible more will follow after they review additional footage. Police confirmed that several people have been detained and charges are pending.

“Last night, the Montgomery Police Department acted swiftly to detain several reckless individuals for attacking a man who was doing his job. Warrants are being signed and justice will be served,” Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed said in a statement on Sunday.

“This was an unfortunate incident which never should have occurred. As our police department investigates these intolerable actions, we should not become desensitized to violence of any kind in our community. Those who choose violent actions will be held accountable by our criminal justice system.”

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@itstoushiebabyy/Twitter @ace876media.ent1/TikTok

‘Black Aquaman’: Riverboat crew member who swam into brawl on dock branded hero

The footage is all over the internet..

David Covucci

Posted on Aug 7, 2023     Updated on Sep 14, 2023, 11:09 am CDT

An apparent crew member of a riverboat in Alabama became a breakout internet sensation after he swam to the rescue of a co-worker who was being attacked by a group of pontoon boaters.

For his efforts, he’s been dubbed “Black Aquaman,” among a series of other nicknames.

Riverboat fight videos explode online

The viral drama went down Saturday night in Montgomery, Alabama, and according to a series of videos and reports, a group of boaters refused to remove their pontoon boat from a pier where the city’s riverboat, the Harriot II, was supposed to dock.

Watching from the riverboat, a number of people began chanting the lyrics “Move, Bitch,” a popular song by Ludacris, at the pontoon boaters, ratcheting up the tense environment.

Attempting to move the pontoon himself, a Black staffer was then assaulted by the white group.

@ace876media.ent1 This is how it started #MontgomeryRiverfront #BoatBrawl ♬ original sound – Ace876media

As the fight played out, one of the crew members appears to have leaped off the riverboat and swum to the dock to aid in the fight.

Black Aquaman gone get in hella trouble once his momma catch him pic.twitter.com/WxgOkPzExF — Wekglobal (@wekglobal) August 7, 2023

The crew members of the riverboard, along with others on the boat after it docked, then went to confront the owners of the pontoon boat, where another skirmish broke out.

In it, what appears to be a crew member of the riverboat throws a woman into the water, as police struggle to contain the situation.

@barcardg #AlabamaBoatBrawl #Brawl #BoatCruise #BoatsOfTikTok #Boats #BoatsGoneWild #MontgomeryBoatRide #BoysGoneWild #BlackTikTok #BlackTikTokCommmunity #BarCar Ⓜ️EⓂ️🅿️HIS GO FOLLOW ME ON #FB @ #BarCarPromotions FOR MORE #Blogs & #GirlzFromTheHood GO FOLLOW ME ON #IG @ #BarCar_ & #Boss1Bitch #TheNoels #Memphis #MemphisTN #MemphisTennessee #901 #901Memphis #DannielleGriffin #DowntownGirl #DownTownMemphis #FoodCritic #Toxic #GoViral #CapCut #DannielleNoel #Workout #Dance #FitTok #DannielleGriffin66 #fy #ForYou #MemphisTikTok #Foodie #Foodies #SoulFood #SoulFoodie #SoulFoodies #foodiesoftiktok #memphisfoodie #memphisfoodies #foodtok #soulfoodtok #fypage #SouthMemphisMade #memphistn #memphistn901 #901 #fyp #viral #ForYouPage #DannielleGriffin #DannielleNoel #DannielleGriffin66 #BarCarENT #DowntownMemphis #MidtownMemphis #FoodCritic #FoodAndBeverage #MemphisTikToker #MemphisTok #blueeyes #mydolcemoment #nextleveldish #GirlzFromTheHood #BlackTikTokCommunity #BlackGirlFollowTrain #PrettyGirls #BlackGirlFollowTrain #BlackGirlTikTok #BlackTikTok #MemphisBaddie #Baddies #Baddie #baddietiktok #MemphisBaddies #SouthMemphisBaddies #40ClubMom #40ClubMommy #CatsOfTikTok #BlackLivesMatter ♬ original sound – Dannielle Noel

But the breakout star of the video was the crew member who desperately swam to offer aid on the dock.

He’s been dubbed not only Black Aquaman, but also Michael B. Phelps, a play on Michael B. Jordan, Evander Holyfish, and Lil’ Bass X.

Top 10 names given to this young hero: 10. Black Aquaman 9. JJ Fish 8. Michael B Phelps 7. Captain Hook 6. Catfish Cuz 5. Kofi Kingfish 4. Tyrone Lochte 3. 21 Tilapia 2. Lil' Namor 1. Shaquille O'Gills pic.twitter.com/a6c4lbe4HP — Mike Kincaide (@mikekincaide) August 7, 2023

Lil Bass X — JUICEBOXXCRYPTO (@djhugocastro) August 7, 2023

The scene itself got compared to something out of the Avengers .

It’s giving Avengers Endgame! Frame it pic.twitter.com/Lv9LX74ptm — Dawn (@_dawnmontgomery) August 6, 2023

The crew members and the boaters have yet to be identified, and Montgomery police say they are investigating the matter and will file the appropriate charges. The riverboat fight videos apparently helped lead to multiple arrests, according to Montgomery news outlet WSFA .

Update: Several days later, three men were charged with assault in the 3rd degree. Richard Roberts, a 48-year-old white male; Allen Todd, a 23-year-old white male; and Zachary Shipman, 25 year-old white male.

*First Published: Aug 7, 2023, 8:51 am CDT

David Covucci is the senior politics and technology editor at the Daily Dot, covering the nexus between Washington and Silicon Valley. His work has appeared in Vice, the Huffington Post, Jezebel, Gothamist, and other publications. He is particularly interested in hearing any tips you have. Reach out at [email protected].

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A waterfront brawl in Montgomery, Alabama, went viral. What happened and why?

The riverfront worker who was attacked said he “held on for dear life” as a group of white boaters jumped him in a large brawl that broke out at the Montgomery Riverfront in Alabama on Aug. 5.

In a handwritten account he filed with law enforcement after the Aug. 5 melee and obtained by NBC News, Dameion Pickett recalled what happened the day when the men refused to move their boat so a dinner cruise riverboat could dock.

“A tall, older white guy came over and hit me in the face. I took my hat off and threw it in the air,” he wrote. “Somebody hit me from behind. I started choking the older guy in front of me so he couldn’t anymore, pushing him back at the same time.”

Pickett has not made a public statement regarding the incident and did not respond to NBC News' request for comment.

Videos that went viral on social media showed a group of white men attacking Pickett. The footage caused an outcry, with the Montgomery mayor addressing the altercation and police issuing arrest warrants.

Allen Todd, 23, and Zachery Shipman, 25, have been charged with one misdemeanor count of assault in the third degree, a spokesperson for the Montgomery Police Department said.

Another man, Richard Roberts, 48, faces two third-degree assault charges and turned himself in on Aug. 8.

A fourth suspect in the case, Mary Todd, 21, turned herself in on Aug. 10 and was charged with misdemeanor third-degree assault.

A fifth suspect, Reggie Ray, 42, turned himself in on Aug. 11 and was charged with disorderly conduct. Police had previously sought Ray after he was seen wielding a folding chair in the melee on social media videos.

So what exactly happened? Read on for a full explanation of this now-viral incident.

What happened at the Montgomery Riverfront

A large brawl broke out Saturday, Aug. 5, shortly before 7 p.m. at the Alabama capital after Pickett attempted to clear a dock along the river so that the Harriott II Riverboat could dock, witnesses told NBC News . The brawl was fueled by alcohol and adrenaline, witnesses also said.

When a group of rowdy boaters refused to move their pontoon at the Montgomery Riverfront, they attacked Pickett when he untied their boat to make way for the riverboat, witnesses said.

In video shared with NBC News , after a group of what appears to be white men ran along the dock to attack the worker, who is Black, more people joined in and appeared to defend Pickett. Other footage shared with NBC News shows people punching and shoving one another, with one person falling into the water as police struggled to contain the chaos.

The Riverfront is a popular destination with a park, stadium, amphitheater and riverboat.

What police say about the fight

Montgomery Police Chief Darryl Albert, in a news conference on Aug. 8 , confirmed that a group of private white boaters had attacked a Black dockworker, identified as Pickett. Later, police would identify Pickett as the assistant boat captain of the riverboat.

He had been trying to move the private boaters' pontoon to make way for the riverboat.

As passengers aboard the riverboat — more than 200 — waited at least 30 minutes, Pickett tried to get the rowdy private boaters to move. Several members of the private pontoon group then attacked Pickett, Albert said.

Albert added that police arrived on the scene at 7:18 p.m. local time — about 18 minutes after the riverboat captain had called. He said 13 people were detained, questioned and then released.

What did the attacked dockworker say about the incident?

In a handwritten statement filed with police and obtained by NBC News, Pickett said he asked the group “five or six times” to move their boat.

When he and a dockhand were ignored and given the finger, he says, they untied the group’s pontoon boat, moved it “three steps to the right” and re-tied it to a post so the Harriott II could dock.

“By that time, two people ran up behind me,” Pickett wrote, adding that a man in a red hat yelled, “Don’t touch that boat motherf---er or we will beat your ass.”

He said the men continued to threaten him and then one of them called another man over.

“They both were very drunk,” Pickett wrote, adding that then the pontoon boat owner went over “started getting loud … He got into my face. ‘This belongs to the f---ing public.’ I told him this was a city dock.”

That’s when the brawl began. Pickett wrote, “A tall, older white guy came over and hit me in the face. I took my hat off and threw it in the air. Somebody hit me from behind. I started choking the older guy in front of me so he couldn’t anymore, pushing him back at the same time.”

Adding, “Then the guy in the red shorts came up and tackled me … I went to the ground. I think I hit one of them.”

Sharing more recollections from the fight, he said, “I can’t tell you how long it lasted. I grabbed one of them and just held on for dear life.”

Pickett was eventually helped by other people but noticed the brawl was getting out of hand, writing, “One of my co-workers had jumped into the water and was pushing people and fighting.”

He added that his nephew joined the melee and he had also seen his sister being choked during the fight.

As more chaos ensued, the riverboat had not been tied to the dock but Pickett helped the passengers off the boat. He wrote that he apologized “for the inconvenience. They all said I did nothing wrong.”

“Some of them were giving me cards with their names and numbers on it. Some said they had it all on film, so I pointed them out to MPD,” he added. After the altercation, he was treated at the emergency room where he was treated for bruised ribs and bumps on his head.

What witnesses say about the brawl

Witnesses told NBC News a similar version of events. Christa Owen said she was aboard the Harriott II with her husband and daughter when the brawl broke out.

“What was hard is we were all on the boat and witnessing our poor crewman being attacked by these guys, and we couldn’t do anything about it,” Owen said.

“It was really difficult to watch, and, like I said, we felt helpless, because we were forced to be spectators,” Owen added.

Owen was among those who recorded the altercations, explaining that it was “inexcusable behavior.”

Additionally, Leslie Mawhorter also on Harriott II, added: “They just didn’t think the rules applied to them. It was so avoidable. This never had to have happened. Everything just spiraled from there.”

“I knew something was going to go down, because their attitude was just, ‘You can’t tell us what to do.’ They were going to be confrontational regardless of who you were,” Mawhorter continued.

Have police made any arrests?

Four men and one woman are facing charges , according to police: Richard Roberts, 48; Reggie Ray, 42; Allen Todd, 23; and Zachery Shipman, 25, and Mary Todd, 21.

“There was no need for this event to take the path it did,” Albert told reporters earlier this week. “The people of Montgomery, we’re better than that. We’re a fun city, and we don’t want this type of activity to shed a dark eye on what this city’s all about.”

Was the fight racially motivated?

In the press conference on Aug. 8, Albert said investigators do not believe the incident was racially motivated.

He said that the local FBI and district attorney’s offices are involved in the ongoing investigation. 

“I don’t think you can judge any community by any one incident. I think it’s important for us to address this as an isolated incident, one that was avoidable,” Albert said. “One that was brought on by individuals who chose the wrong path of action.”

What the mayor of Montgomery said about the altercation

On Sunday, Aug. 6, Mayor Steven L. Reed released a statement saying that “justice will be served” after individuals attacked “a man who was doing his job.”

“Last night, the Montgomery Police Department acted swiftly to detain several reckless individuals for attacking a man who was doing his job. Warrants have been signed and justice will be served,” the statement posted on social media read. “This was an unfortunate incident which never should have occurred. As our police department investigates these intolerable actions, we should not become desensitized to violence of any kind in our community.”

“Those who choose violent actions will be held accountable by our criminal justice system,” the statement concluded.

Reed shared how he felt about the incident during a press conference on Aug. 7.

"I feel like it’s an unfortunate incident. Our statement that we put out the other day is that it’s something that shouldn’t have happened and it’s something that we’re investigating right now," Reed said. "We’ll continue to go through that process before we take any additional steps."

When asked if Reed thought the incident was racially charged, he said the brawl is still under investigation, and that authorities are "investigating all angles."

The investigation is ongoing.

EDITOR'S NOTE (Aug. 11, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. ET): Previous police statements listed the man attacked as Damien Pickett and one of the suspects as Zachary Shipman. On Aug. 11, officials corrected their names' spellings to Dameion Pickett and Zachery Shipman. This story has been updated to reflect the correct spelling.

Liz Calvario is a Los Angeles-based reporter and editor for TODAY.com who covers entertainment, pop culture and trending news.

Anna Kaplan is a news and trending reporter for TODAY.com.

Sam Kubota is a senior digital editor and journalist for TODAY Digital based in Los Angeles. She joined NBC News in 2019.

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Videos show huge brawl after Black worker mobbed by white boaters in Alabama

If you get Global News from Instagram or Facebook - that will be changing. Find out how you can still connect with us .

A dramatic brawl involving dozens of people split along racial lines broke out Saturday evening in Montgomery , Ala., after a Black riverboat captain was attacked by a group of white people who refused to move their illegally parked pontoon boats.

The fight was captured in multiple videos posted to social media, which helped the incident go viral Sunday, prompting both memes and serious discourse.

The conflict started when a group of pontoon boats parked in the dock space reserved for the Harriott II, a city-owned riverboat that takes passengers on short cruises up and down the Alabama River, police said in a press conference Tuesday.

After a preliminary investigation, Montgomery police have charged three of the white boaters with misdemeanour assault in the third-degree: Richard Roberts, 48; Alan Todd, 23; and Zachary Shipman, 25. One man is already in custody and the other two are set to turn themselves in within the hour, Albert said.

How the brawl unfolded

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Videos posted to social media show in great detail how the Saturday evening brawl unfolded.

The Black co-captain was captured on video untying and moving one of the errant pontoon boats when the group of white boaters come up to him and start arguing.

The co-captain points to the idling riverboat as customers on board who were watching the event unfold started singing, “Move b—h, get out the way,” referencing the 2001 Ludacris hit, in a video shared with local television station WFSA .

The argument continued for several minutes until one of the white boaters charged into the Black worker, pushing him back a couple of feet. The captain is seen on video throwing his hat into the air and fighting back, but he was quickly knocked to the ground and surrounded by about eight of the boaters who continued to beat him.

As this happened, a Black teen who was on board the Harriott jumped into the water and swam several metres to shore to aid the worker. Another Black man in a Nike shirt is seen running into the fray from a different area of the dock to break up the fight.

The fight subsided for a while as the two parties walked to different ends of the dock. Meanwhile, the Harriott, filled with the co-workers of the man who was attacked and numerous customers outraged at the scene, had time to dock.

Instead of clearing the area, the white boaters remained on the dock long enough for several Black men to leap off the riverboat and run over to the illegally parked pontoons. A second, larger brawl broke out involving dozens of people, men and women, with the white boaters now outnumbered.

At one point, an older Black man can be seen on video swinging a folding chair and hitting some of the boaters before being restrained by a police officer. Another angle shows one of the boaters, a white woman, getting pushed into the river.

Montgomery, Alabama Riverfront boat brawl.. Another perspective..😲.. introducing chair..🪑 pic.twitter.com/wvG8PIzyaB — 4ortunefame💰👑💰 (@4ortunefame) August 7, 2023

Montgomery police were seen on video handcuffing multiple participants of the fight, on both sides, as the brawl finally came to an end.

Police captain Albert said authorities have identified the man who wielded the folding chair as 42-year-old Reggie Gray. He has not been charged with any crimes but police are asking him to come in for further questioning.

Montgomery Major Steven Reed praised police for acting “swiftly to detain several reckless individuals for attacking a man who was doing his job.”

“Warrants have been signed and justice will be served. This was an unfortunate incident which never should have occurred. As our police department investigates these intolerable actions, we should not become desensitized to violence of any kind in our community,” Reed wrote in a social media post.

Last night, the Montgomery Police Department acted swiftly to detain several reckless individuals for attacking a man who was doing his job. Warrants have been signed and justice will be served. This was an unfortunate incident which never should have occurred. As our police… pic.twitter.com/5cywOwA6Uz — Mayor Steven L. Reed (@MayorofMgm) August 6, 2023

Some online observers have found humour in the brawl, with one video parodying the dramatic fight gaining traction online. The recreation of the fight was complete with the infamous folding chair and the man who swam to shore to join the fight.

Y’all I’m Dead Af Why We So Unserious 🤣😭😂 #Montgomery #Alabama #brawl #fight #funny #MontgomeryAlabama pic.twitter.com/QskI0kqqAn — X Kalijah Kane (@xKalijahKan3) August 7, 2023

Another video shows a man practising “Chair Jutsu” after witnessing his “brothers and sisters take arm in the battle of Montgomery.”

@mrrogersreview Man i loved the unity of my people #montgomery #riverboat #alabama #riverboatfight #montgomeryriverboat #fyp #chair #chairjutsu ♬ ChairJutsu Training – Mr. Rogers Review

But for Nikole Hannah-Jones, a Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist for the New York Times Magazine, the incident spoke volumes about race relations in Montgomery, a place celebrated as the birthplace of the civil rights movement.

“If you understand the history of Montgomery — one of the most prolific slave-trading cities in the U.S. turned brutally repressive apartheid regime after, and majority Black but JUST got its first Black mayor — it gives so much more perspective to this video,” Hannah-Jones wrote online .

Black people make up over 60 per cent of Montgomery’s population, according to  U.S. census data .

Police captain Albert said Tuesday that Montgomery police consulted with the FBI about whether hate crime and riot charges should be filed, given the severity of the brawl and the fact that the white boaters made “obscene” gestures and comments. He said charges of this nature are not appropriate for this incident.

One witness to the fight said she believes alcohol was involved in sparking the conflict. Christa Owen, 47, told NBC she was on the Harriott with her family, and said they felt powerless as they watched the white boaters gang up on the Black captain.

“What was hard is we were all on the boat and witnessing our poor crewman being attacked by these guys, and we couldn’t do anything about it,” Owen said. “It was really difficult to watch, and, like I said, we felt helpless, because we were forced to be spectators.

“It was inexcusable behaviour,” Owen added. “I can’t imagine anyone just disregarding moving their boat 2 feet so that a three-story dinner cruise boat could park back in that spot.”

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Montgomery Riverfront Park brawl: What we know today after 4 charged in videoed fight

A Saturday night brawl at Montgomery’s riverfront captured in multiple videos was national news Sunday but many questions still surround the incident.

On Tuesday, police said three people had been charged in connection to the incident: Richard Roberts, 48, two counts of third-degree assault; Allen Todd, 23, one count of third-degree assault, and Zachary Shipman, 25, one count of third-degree assault. All charges are misdemeanors.

Here is full coverage of the case

Roberts was in custody on Tuesday; Todd and Shipman surrendered on Wednesday .

A fourth man - 42-year-old Reggie Gray - is sought for questioning. The chief described him as the man seen on video “wielding” a folding chair and hitting a woman over the head with that chair.

On Thursday, police said Mary Todd, 21, surrendered to authorities on a third-degree assault charge . She is being held in Montgomery’s Municipal Jail.

The two victims told police the group of white men who attacked them were drunk and yelled racist slurs.

Here’s what we know today:

How did this all begin?

Montgomery police said they were called at about 7 p.m. Saturday to the 200 block of Coosa Street, the area of Montgomery Riverfront Park, on a disturbance.

“At the scene, they located a large group of subjects engaged in a physical altercation. Several subjects have been detained and any charges are pending,” a police statement late Saturday night read.

Multiple videos posted to social media suggest the brawl started when a pontoon boat stopped at the riverf ront, preventing a riverboat from docking there.

Witnesses said a riverboat worker was attacked by people onboard the pontoon boat.

What do the videos show?

A video clip shared by Josh Moon , a reporter for the Alabama Political Reporter, shows the scuffle beginning as a Black man who appears to be in a docks worker uniform talks to a white man.

Another white man — shirtless — strikes or shoves the Black man.

The incident appeared to unfold largely along racial lines.

The dock worker and the man who struck him engaged in a shoving match before the first white man placed a hand on the Black man in an apparent effort to separate the two.

Two more shirtless white men charged in, one tackling the Black man to the dock and the other piling on, rapidly joined by a fourth shirtless white man, one of whom shoved away another white man who seemed to try to intervene.

Two white women also were there, though it wasn’t clear whether they were supporting the four-on-one fight then in progress or trying to intervene.

A large and vocal audience, consisting of people on the riverboat from which the first video was shot, gathered, as did a crowd overlooking from the dock.

In the first video, the fight begins to break up as a Black bystander joins in. Another jumps off the riverboat, swimming to join in.

The first Black man, identifiable by his black shorts and white shirt, is physically confronted by one of the women.

A second video , taken moments later, shows a group of Black men running off the riverboat.

They converge on a pontoon boat that apparently carried some of the parties involved in the incident.

Within seconds fighting erupts again, between two white men and white woman who were on the pontoon boat, another white man and white woman who appeared to be trying to get to it, and more than a dozen Black men and women.

Police officers or uniformed security guards can then be seen trying to break things up.

The brawling continued for several moments before tapering off. At that point officers began cuffing participants, Black and white.

Who was involved?

The person seen swimming is a 16-year-old identified only as Aaren, a statement from publicist Makina Lashea read.

“In the face of adversity, Aaren selflessly came to the rescue of a fellow colleague, showcasing courage beyond his years,” the statement from Lashea read.

“Aaren’s unwavering commitment brings immense pride to his parents, leaving him feeling grateful and touched by the strong support of the community. With his sights set on the future, he is eagerly preparing for a successful upcoming school year.”

Chase Shipman, the owner of Vasser’s Mini-Mart in Selma, posted on social media that he was there and “tried to stop it and realized that I could not, so I tried to get away,” The Selma Times-Journal reported .

“I have a business to run and represent and no charges were filed against me because I was not involved,” he wrote, according to that report.

The Times-Journal reported that some commenters disputed his account.

A 67-year-old man on Monday “The Think Tank” with Chris Coleman on V 99.5 in Birmingham he was onboard the riverboat as part of a class reunion from Robert C. Hatch High School in Uniontown.

The man, who did not give his name, said the incident “ made me proud of Black people ... that privilege thing is over with.”

“There’s no greater love than a man who gives his life for another man,” he told Coleman. “Everybody out there was willing to give their life for that man. It was no joke.”

Anwar Price, a 42-year-old Montgomery resident, was with his 14-year-old daughter, watching a back-to-school event along the Montgomery riverside, when he saw the melee develop and then explode.

Price said he never felt endangered during the 20 minutes he spent among the flying fists and swinging chairs.

“There was no harm done to me,” he said. “Once I got in there, in the middle of everything, they saw I wasn’t trying to bring that type of energy.”

“A lot of people are trying to promote this as about racism, and I don’t really think this was a racism thing ,” said Price, who is Black.

“Honestly, I think this was just a matter of doing the right thing versus doing the wrong thing,” Price said. “It was because of a series of bad choices.”

What happens next?

“Justice will be served. This was an unfortunate incident which never should have occurred,” Mayor Steven Reed said on Sunday.

“But as in regards to public safety here in Montgomery, it’s always at the forefront of our mind and we appreciate everything that the community has done to help us in this situation as they do with incidents each and every day.”

A reporter asked Reed if he believes the incident was racially motivated.

“We can’t confirm or deny it at this time,” Reed said. “We’re investigating all angles of this and we’re talking to people who were there as we speak.”

©2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit al.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Nbc news now, alabama riverfront brawl witness reacts to fight.

A fight between two boating groups on the riverfront in Alabama turned into an all out brawl that went viral on social media. Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed said the fight never should have happened.  Aug. 7, 2023

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How a 'Good Times' Alabama Brawl Meme Got Black People Sharing On Social Media

There have been many montgomery brawl memes, but the 'good times' meme got black people everywhere sharing..

Good Times. Anytime you need a payment. Good Times. Anytime you need a friend.

Maybe it’s those last words ... “need a friend,’’ from the theme song of the classic television show “Good Times,’’ that connected with so many of us.

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The “Montgomery Uprising,” as it’s been nicknamed by the internet, has clearly made an impact. Millions of social media users have posted videos and images dissecting every moment of the Alabama riverfront brawl .

But one highly shared video has managed to snag everyone’s attention. This week, artist James Charles Morris remixed a video of the riverside altercation with the theme song from Good Times .

Scott poulson-Bryant tweeted posted tweet, adding “We just some creative ass folks.”

Then there was this poetic tweet: “My soul is rested. my heart is full. I have a Denzel Glory tear rolling down my cheek.”

That tweet came from Ohio State University History Professor Hasan Kwame Jeffries, who has the video pinned.

We caught up with Jeffries who says it struck a nerve for a reason. “It encapsulates everything that drew the Black community to this moment,” explains Jeffries.

The video starts off with the Black Riverboat worker, highlighting the “Brother Doing His Job” as the star of the production. Jeffries says the caption truly highlights the dark absurdity of the situation. “All he is doing is his job,” says Jeffries, but that didn’t prevent him from being the victim of a “potential lynch mob.”

The fact that instead of watching another “George Floyd” video, we saw Black people fighting back in mutual defense resonated with people, says Jeffries.

The video also highlights other “characters” from the brawl, including “UNC With The Chair,” “The Aunties,” “The Bruhs,” and even “Michael Evans Phelps.”

“One of the funniest things about the video is the naming of the young brother who dives Into the Alabama River,” says Jeffries. “The fact that he sees his coworker being assaulted and it pisses him off so much that he has to get there... it’s a rejection of this deeply rooted racist stereotype, Black people not having unity and also not being able to swim.”

What we’re witnessing in this video of the incident is a show of Black solidarity and resistance, says Jeffries. “It was the willingness of these folks to pick up arms in self-defense, and it’s one that we don’t hear about because of the media’s bias to non-violence,” he says. “And we have the symbolically with the chair.”

The choice of the Good Times theme song also can’t be ignored, says Jeffries. “There’s a soulful connection to good times,” he says. “I grew up on Good Times, and the theme song is arguably one of the top theme songs in television history and... one of the top theme songs in Black history.”

How A Folding Chair Won The Montgomery Brawl — and The Internet

• By CT Jones

When the historic riverboat Harriott II attempted to dock in its usual spot on the Alabama river on Saturday, the resulting argument between its co-captain and the boating group blocking the way turned into an instantly viral brawl — one that ended with at least three people with criminal charges , dozens of clips posted to social media, and an instant deluge of memes .

But the real winner of this whole thing, at least in the eyes of social media users, is a single plastic folding chair. 

According to police and multiple videos of the incident (which are shot from almost every conceivable angle), the fight that is now being referred to as the “ Montgomery Brawl ,” began with a simple request that the riverboat captain, Damien Pickett, move the boat. The Harriott II was attempting to dock in its usual spot along the city’s Riverfront Park, but was blocked by a pontoon filled with boaters.

But while Pickett, who is Black, began the fight outnumbered by the boaters, who are largely white, several Black bystanders came to his defense, eventually turning the fight into an all-out battle. Footage captured by bystanders shows a Harriot II employee jumping in the river and swimming to Pickett’s aid, a group of three men cantering up to join the fight, and even a pair of white Crocs being turned into anklets by the sheer force of body slams. But the clip that seems to have resonated with people the most is footage of an older Black man indiscriminately hitting the white assailants over the head with a simple white folding chair, WWE-style. 

Homie went WWE on them wit that chair 😂 #montgomery #alabama #brawl pic.twitter.com/J6T1WFzQTn — Peleoneros (@Peleoneros_) August 9, 2023

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In the past five days, the chair has gone from a one-off prop to the hero of the whole fight. One day after the fight, several Montgomery residents posted photos of themselves at the dock, holding up what appears to be the same chair in the video. At least two TikTok users have even claimed that the chair has gotten so popular that stock is low at Montgomery’s Walmarts and Targets. Singer Joy Oladokun even got the folding chair tattooed on her arm.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Joy Oladokun (@joyoladokun)

@evadaniel12 Got to teach the young. Preparing them for the next battle of Montgomery. If your seeing this then your kids are late training started at 9am #montgomery #brawl #training #montgomeryalabama #forthepeople #fypシ #blackpanther ♬ original sound – Kwani

@razzi_boo Stay ready you dont gotta get ready 😂😂 #montgomeryalabama #foldingchair ♬ Montgomery Brawl – Gmac cash

@sa.tomaa Replying to @Merci😎 since yall asked 😭😭 #fyp #montgomeryalabama #alabamaboatbrawl ♬ Montgomery Brawl – Gmac cash

@cheddarebiscuit You never know #montgomerybrawl #alabamaboatbrawl #minecraft #blockbench #3dmodeling ♬ Montgomery Brawl – Gmac cash

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A folding chair? There was a folding chair? Y’all seen a folding chair? I ain’t seen a folding chair. https://t.co/idLNHCvxzf — Caroline “WGA Captain on Strike” Renard (@carolinerenard_) August 9, 2023

Wow, that was fast! The National Museum of African American History already got the "Battle of Montgomery" chair on display. pic.twitter.com/RxlmlYW33q — Karen Thee Russell (@Karen_Russell) August 7, 2023

Not them posing with the chair lol #Montgomery #Alabama pic.twitter.com/UuNbYdSE93 — 🅚🅔🅝🅨🅐 🅜🅞🅞🅡🅔 🅢🅣🅐🅝 (@GossipInformer) August 7, 2023

With meme production in full overload, it’s easy to dismiss the response to the fight as just online humor. But the real reason the videos hit so hard is because of the underlying desire for Black people to see their community fighting back. On an almost daily basis, it feels like there are viral videos of Black people in America being unable to defend themselves, being targeted, or being victims. But for many people online, the Montgomery brawl, as outrageous as it was, represented the opposite: Black people standing up for themselves.

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Online, the general consensus seems to be that the fight wasn’t just a physical altercation. In a way, it was representative of a Black community willing to take wins as they come — even in the form of a white folding chair. 

“Comedy is basically one of them things that brings [the Black Community] closer,” Gmac Cash adds. “Laughing even through the hard times.”

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The Montgomery boat brawl and what it really means to “try that in a small town”

The viral fight valorized Black resistance — and punctured Jason Aldean’s racist “small town” narrative.

by Aja Romano

One of the key facets of extremism is the element of plausible deniability. As such, “ dog whistles ” — coded language used to mask a deeper extremist or discriminatory rhetoric — have become a pervasive part of the way we talk about politics and the culture wars. They’re also exhausting to unpack.

No matter how diplomatically or plainly you point out the underlying racism or bigotry of a specific image or turn of phrase, there’s always someone eager to take the code literally, to dismiss its context, its subtext, and clearly harmful impact. They’re happy to claim this is just what happens when you pucker your lips and blow, and any hateful dogs that come running are just a coincidence.

Then a song comes along like country singer Jason Aldean’s risible “ Try That in a Small Town .” The lyrics and accompanying video are layered with references to Black Lives Matter protests , sundown towns (“see how far you make it down that road”), and white protectionism (“good ol’ boys ... we take care of our own”). The video’s main location was no less than the site of historical lynchings , a particularly unsubtle jab. Inevitably, however, when you attempt to illuminate this racist imagery, a “Try That in a Small Town” defender will show up. They will assert that the whole thing is really just about, as Aldean himself tried to assert , “the feeling of community” and the desire for a return to “a sense of normalcy.”

Normal, to Aldean, seems to be a reality where Black protesters don’t disrupt the everyday lives of white citizens — even if those citizens are, as the song suggests, stockpiling guns and turning paranoid eyes on any and all outsiders. This attempt to reframe socially sanctioned racism as “just a community looking out for itself” has long been a part of the discriminatory tactics used against Black Americans, from lynch mobs to the racist, KKK-apologetic Birth of a Nation , to the legal defenses used by white men who murder unarmed Black ones. It’s a cultural tactic used not only to disenfranchise Black Americans but to then gaslight them about their own reality and experience. It’s a tactic that turns aggression into “self-defense.”

It’s one big reason, out of an infinitude of reasons, that the world was transfixed earlier this week when video surfaced of a group of Black boat workers in Montgomery, Alabama, appearing to voraciously fight back after a group of white pontoon boaters began attacking a Black boat captain.

What happened at the Montgomery boat brawl

The white boaters, coming from nearby Selma, had allegedly repeatedly caused trouble at the dock by parking their pontoon illegally in the spot reserved for a large tourist riverboat, the Harriott II. On Sunday, August 5, the riverboat had been waiting for around 45 minutes, with passengers aboard, to dock. Damien Pickett, the riverboat’s first mate and co-captain, disembarked in order to move the pontoon boat himself. In response, according to reports, at least three of the boaters attacked Pickett, punching him in the face, beating and kicking him.

This sounds like an all-too-familiar tragedy in progress: white-on-black violence, motivated by a sense of racist entitlement. Speaking to the Daily Beast after the incident, the boat’s captain, Jim Kittrell, stressed that the only motive appeared to be racial: “It makes no sense to have six people try to beat the snot out of you just because you moved their boat up a few feet. In my opinion, the attack on Damien was racially motivated.” Kittrell’s assumption seems to be bolstered by eyewitness testimony: One bystander, a victim’s family member, said in a sworn statement that she heard one of the white men drop the n-word before the fighting began.

It’s important to consider this incident in the broader context of Montgomery’s history, as well. Montgomery, one of the major historical fronts of the civil rights movement, is no stranger to racialized violence. It was there, in 1954, that a young Martin Luther King Jr. took up pastorship at a local church, where he became a spokesperson for the Montgomery bus boycotts alongside Rosa Parks. Through boycotts and years of sustained activism amid tense civil unrest, Montgomery protesters successfully challenged the rule of Jim Crow in the South and ultimately changed the nation. Montgomery also saw devastating segregationist violence throughout this period, including one of the most violent moments in the civil rights movement, “ Bloody Sunday .”

In 2023, coming after a cultural period of intensifying racialized protests, a group of white people whaling on an unsuspecting and defenseless Black man could have led to tragic consequences or, at the least, traumatized victims and onlookers.

What the video shows happening next, however, flipped the script: Seeing one of their colleagues being attacked, other Black boat workers rushed in to defend him and fight back. Bystanders also joined in, with one teen now known as “ Black Aquaman ” famously jumping into the water and swimming across the dock in order to help. One man, known to the internet as “Folding Chair Guy,” gained instant fame when he went after the three attackers with, you guessed it, a folding chair.

The suddenness of the fight, combined with the enthusiasm of the brawlers, the glee of the onlookers, and the fact that everyone had phones out recording the incident, made the Montgomery brawl — dubbed the Alabama Sweet Tea Party — into an immediate viral sensation. It produced everything from evocative Twitter reactions to a live swimming pool reenactment to a remix of Ernie Barnes’s iconic painting of Black partiers, Sugar Shack . The folding chair was instantly memorialized .

Most extraordinarily of all, no one rushed to mete out punishment for the Black dock workers who fought back. Though multiple fighters were briefly detained, all were released. Folding Chair Guy, real name Reggie Gray, has been dodging police requests to speak with him, but no one seems to be pushing too hard for his arrest either, although the investigation into the brawl is ongoing. At a press conference, Montgomery Police Chief Darryl Albert notably didn’t attempt to distort the power dynamics, stating simply that “several members of the Harriott II came to Mr. Pickett’s defense.” The three white attackers turned themselves in to police custody after warrants were issued for their arrest.

The prevailing public mood around the Montgomery brawl has not been racist backlash or anxiety over such a backlash, but rather deep satisfaction at a battle in which justice seems to have prevailed: The perpetrators were rounded up and the victims received a rousing defense from the community. For once, the marginalized underdog — a Black man being ganged up on by a group of white bullies — came out no worse for wear; Pickett reportedly walked away from the fight with only a headache and some minor cuts and bruises.

What it means to try that in a (not entirely) small town

The collective sense of satisfaction might be exactly the kind of communal security Jason Aldean was attempting to portray in “Try That in a Small Town.” This was, in fact, almost the exact scenario Aldean says he was attempting to capture in his ode to small-town vigilante justice: a group of outsiders come into town, refuse to obey the local customs or follow the local laws, and then get their asses duly whooped by the town citizenry.

While Montgomery is not a “small” town, its history of banding together to rout out racists is deeply relevant here. Montgomery is precisely the type of heartland town that deserves to have songs written about the bravery and commitment of its citizens to protecting one another, to fighting back against injustice — to defending its people and its way of life at all costs. But there’s plenty of reason to suspect that Montgomery wasn’t the kind of town — and this wasn’t the kind of scenario — that Aldean had in mind. We know that celebrating moments of Black defiance is incredibly rare in American history.

The Montgomery brawl represents an extraordinary triumphant moment in which Black resistance has been seen as a just force rather than a threat to the white establishment. Black shows of defiance, even when used in clear self-defense, are all too often wielded against the victim . Historically, instances of rebellion such as that of slave revolt leader Nat Turner have been used to justify more violence against Black people. Today, in cases where Black victims of police violence attempt to seek justice, the legal doctrine of “ qualified immunity ” — in which police have almost unlimited power to use force without fearing a lawsuit in response — is invoked.

The entire justice system, in other words, too frequently gets weaponized against Black Americans who assert themselves in the face of threats to their safety, property, and human dignity. Black citizens are rarely allowed to be “ heroic through defiance ,” to reclaim Black rebellion as an act of valor, or to wield reactive violence as a form of patriotism and idealism. That framing of violence is almost exclusively reserved for the kind of white supremacists Aldean’s song seems interested in protecting.

The Montgomery brawl was subversive, shocking, even refreshing in its memeability — not because violence is something to be enjoyed, but because the long arc of history, honed to oppress, simply could not withstand the glorious righteous fury of a bunch of boat workers who’d been forced to stand around for nearly an hour thanks to some entitled jerks who refused to follow the dock rules.

It’s worth asking whether the public’s reaction to the brawl would have been as laid back if the stakes hadn’t been so clear. These Black dockhands, after all, were working in the service of something undeniably anodyne, even arguably white-coded: a cruise on a 19th-century riverboat , with all the ties to antebellum history such a tour implies. Would this minor moment have been framed as heroic had the victims been trying instead to dock a summer cruise full of raucous Black partiers? If the dockhands had all turned out to be Black Lives Matter activists, would their rebellion have still been valiant?

It may seem silly to ask these kinds of questions about a heavily memed brawl involving a folding chair and a person known only as “Black Aquaman,” but this is exactly when we should be asking them. It’s the constant policing and challenging of ordinary Black existence by the white establishment — through microaggressions, or macroaggressions, like writing an entire song about how badly you want to lynch outsiders — that leads to the fomentation of anger that spills over into protest. That then gets used to justify more policing and challenging of ordinary Black existence.

That’s why the Montgomery brawl was, on a level, a brilliant deconstruction of the lie behind “Try That in a Small Town”: It effortlessly destroyed the song’s flimsily veiled conceit that the “community” that needs protection is that of innocent white people being besieged by scary Black protesters.

Perhaps that’s also why Aldean’s song, though it had a brief stint atop the Billboard Hot 100 after all the controversy surrounding it broke, immediately plummeted a full 20 slots. This was reportedly one of the biggest drops in history, and the biggest ever for a song that didn’t debut at No. 1.

The deepest irony of all this is that Jason Aldean — who grew up in the big town of Macon, Georgia, and now resides in the bigger town of Nashville — tries to court “ that small-town vibe ” without ever delving into what the vibe actually is. Anyone who’s from a small Southern town understands exactly what he’s referencing.

Like anywhere, small towns are full of wonderful individual people and affirming communities. But also like anywhere — and perhaps even a little more often than anywhere, given their size and emphasis on the collective — they can be subject to toxic groupthink. When the idea of a small town is freighted with notions of an “us” and a “them,” notions that can distort a sense of self and what exactly needs to be defended, they can also be as alienating, dangerous, and violent as anywhere else on earth.

That’s why narratives of Black defiance are all the more crucial as representations of what real community can be. A sweet tea party, indeed.

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SEC football rivalry rankings: Where Texas, Oklahoma feuds stand as Longhorns, Sooners join in 2024 season

Here's how the sec's historic rivalries stack up with texas and oklahoma set to join the fold.

Rivalries are a big part of what makes college football so special. Few sports have as many meaningful feuds, many of which span well over a century. Some rivalry games are as entertaining and intriguing as the national championship, if only for the tradition and surrounding fanfare. 

The SEC isn't short on featured conflicts. Some date back to the formation of the conference. Others have sprung up in recent years to accommodate for expansion.

The latest round of conference shuffling brings Oklahoma and Texas into the fold, giving the SEC claim to one of college football's most prolific rivalries and allowing others to be renewed. The latter is one of the more positive aspects of the whole realignment fiasco. 

Though the SEC has yet to set in stone which rivalries will be protected as it debates which scheduling model is appropriate for a 16-team super-conference, the 2024 and 2025 slates provide some insight into which conflicts will be preserved or brought back. Some would be impossible to do away with for good. 

With that in mind, here's how the SEC's current (and likely future) rivalries stack up against one another. 

1. Oklahoma vs. Texas (Red River Rivalry) 

The pageantry. The tradition. The stakes. The pure dislike for one another. The Red River Rivalry, née Shootout, checks pretty much every box you want in a college football blood feud. It also helps that the games are competitive. Neither team has won more than four consecutive installments since 2004, and eight of the last 10 Red River games have been decided by a single score. Texas leads the all-time series 63-51-5

2. Alabama vs. Auburn (Iron Bowl) 

Though it may not be as ancient as other entries on this list, few rivalries have produced as many memorable moments as the Iron Bowl. From Chris Davis' kick-six to Isaiah Bond's miraculous fourth-down catch in Alabama's most recent win against Auburn, the Iron Bowl has given fans a feast of highlights that will be shown for decades to come. These two in-state foes cannot stand one another, and an Iron Bowl win means a whole lot more than anything else in the regular season. Alabama leads 50-37-1

3. Mississippi State vs. Ole Miss (Egg Bowl) 

Maybe the Egg Bowl doesn't boast the same national stakes as other SEC rivalries, but that doesn't really matter here. This game will always feel like the biggest thing on either team's schedule, regardless of rankings or postseason outlooks. Few games embody the pure chaos of college football like the Egg Bowl. After all, Ole Miss lost a game in this series because one of its players pretended to urinate like a dog. You just can't get that experience anywhere else. Ole Miss leads 65-46-6

4. Florida vs. Georgia (Okefenokee Oar Trophy)

A rivalry so intense that there's a heated debate about which team should be listed first (they're just in alphabetical order here), Florida-Georgia games and the accompanying tailgates get so rowdy that the event is colloquially known as the "World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party." On the field, this rivalry has featured college football giants like Vince Dooley and Steve Spurrier, and it often decided the eventual winner of the now-defunct SEC East. Long may its importance last into the new era. Georgia leads 55-44-2

5. Auburn vs. Georgia (Deep South's Oldest Rivalry) 

As the nickname suggests, there's considerable history between these two teams. It's tied with North Carolina-Virginia (the South's Oldest Rivalry) for the second-most played series in the FBS behind only Wisconsin and Minnesota's annual battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe. Not only is it old, Auburn vs. Georgia is typically hotly contested; though the Bulldogs have ruled the modern era, one doesn't have to travel too far back to find two heavyweights trading annual blows. Georgia leads 64-56-8 

6. Texas vs. Texas A&M (Lonestar Showdown)

Time has not diminished the vitriol in this rivalry. Even though Texas and Texas A&M haven't seen one another on the gridiron in 13 years, only three rivalries in the SEC have more games than the 118 between the Longhorns and Aggies. The cold feelings are so intense that each school mentions the other in its fight song (Texas) and war hymn (Texas A&M). College football's version of the Kendrick Lamar-Drake beef, if you will.  Texas leads 76-37-5

7. Alabama vs. Tennessee (Third Saturday in October) 

Recent results have dimmed this rivalry's spark a bit. Alabama has won 16 of the last 17 contests dating back to 2007 -- Nick Saban's first season in Tuscaloosa, for those keeping track. But before that modern run, Alabama held a narrow 43-38-7 lead in the all-time series. Tennessee actually ruled the roost for a majority of the 1990s and early 2000s. And no matter what the recent record may suggest, this game still means a whole lot to both sides. Look no further than Tennessee's win in 2022; it's a miracle Knoxville was left standing. Alabama leads 59-39-7

8. Alabama vs. LSU (First Saturday in November) 

The SEC West existed for 32 years. Alabama and LSU combined to win that division 22 times. One of those two teams has made it to the SEC Championship Game in each of the past six years. Both teams have been ranked in the AP Top 25 in 16 out of the last 18 installments in this series. When Alabama and LSU face off, there's always something major on the line, adding prestige to a series that's relatively young among the SEC's rivalries. Alabama leads 56-27-5 

9. Florida vs. LSU 

These two teams have only met 70 times, but no one can say they haven't been eventful. It's hard not to love a rivalry that features a game in which Florida defensive back Marco Wilson threw a cleat leading to a 15-yard penalty and a 57-yard, game-winning field goal for LSU in soupy fog. This series is also ridiculously competitive and has featured several clashes between national championship-caliber teams. Hopefully, the new schedule structure doesn't eliminate what was a premier cross-divisional showdown. Florida leads 33-31-3 

10. Kentucky vs. Tennessee

This series may lack in overall stakes -- Tennessee hasn't made it to the SEC Championship Game since 2007, while Kentucky hasn't competed for a title since the divisional split -- but at the heart of every rivalry is a profound dislike of the opposition. Tennessee and Kentucky have that in droves. Even though the Vols have comfortably dominated things since the turn of the century, fans still circle this game on the calendar. Any Kentucky win is a momentous occasion, and the Wildcats have made things closer in recent years. The animosity has steadily grown over the century-plus that these two have been playing one another. Tennessee leads 83-26-9 

11. Arkansas vs. Texas

Another long-dormant feud given new life by conference realignment, Arkansas and Texas are old Southwest Conference foes that haven't met on a consistent basis since 1991. A good portion of college football viewers probably aren't old enough to remember the SWC in its heyday, which takes a lot of luster off this showdown. But there is a rich history between these two teams, including 10 top-10 matchups from 1961-80. Maybe a consistent SEC schedule can rekindle some of the passion. Texas leads 56-23

12. LSU vs. Ole Miss (Magnolia Bowl)

As a self-confessed lover of offensive football, this rivalry is often a joy to watch. No matter what either team looks like for the rest of the year, the Magnolia Bowl can always guarantee points. The Rebels and Tigers have combined to score at least 48 in every matchup since 2014. It's also fairly competitive (in a contemporary sense) with each team alternating wins since 2020. Still, both programs have at least one or two teams that sit higher on their personal list of rivals. LSU leads 63-42-4 

13. Arkansas vs. LSU (Battle for the Boot) 

LSU and Arkansas played sparingly through the years until 1992 when the Razorbacks' move to the SEC and the subsequent creation of divisions allowed the border states to become frequent opponents. The SEC even introduced a shiny, golden, boot-shaped trophy (formed by the outline of Arkansas and Louisiana) in 1996 to bring some prestige into this rivalry. Razorback fans have plenty of animosity towards LSU, though the feeling may not be entirely reciprocated with the Tigers' already full ledger of sworn enemies. LSU leads 42-23-2

14. Arkansas vs. Texas A&M (Southwest Classic) 

This series has gone through various ebbs and flows. Both programs were charter members of the Southwest Conference in 1915 but did not play for the first time until 1927. They didn't establish a consistent routine until 1934 and played annually until Arkansas left for the SEC in 1991. The rivalry was put on ice until 2009 when it was brought back as the Southwest Classic. The name stuck following Texas A&M's move to the SEC in 2012, and the two have jockeyed for position in the SEC West ever since. The future of the Southwest Classic is in question, and 2024 may be the last game we see between these two in Arlington -- for a while, at least. Arkansas leads 42-35-3 

15. Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt 

Is there history between these two in-state universities? Yes, in the sense that they've been playing one another for a while. In fact, at 118 games (and counting), there are only four SEC series that have been played more. But it's rarely been consistently competitive. Vanderbilt dominated the early goings -- by early, think 100 years ago -- and has done well to secure five wins since 2012, but Tennessee's considerable resources have created a gap between the two schools that might steadily grow in the NIL era. Tennessee leads 78-33-5

16. Georgia vs. South Carolina

South Carolina's biggest foe, Clemson, resides in the ACC, so that doesn't count for this list. There is a natural distaste for Georgia among Gamecocks faithful, though. The two programs share a recruiting footprint and South Carolina's hiring of Steve Spurrier, whom Georgia fans were already familiar with from his stint at Florida, really got the ball rolling in this one. It isn't the SEC's hottest rivalry, but there's no love lost here. Georgia leads 55-19-2

17. Missouri vs. Oklahoma 

Most fans could be forgiven for forgetting that Missouri and Oklahoma were once fixtures on each other's schedules. They haven't played since 2011, the annual series ended in 1995 and the rivalry trophy (the Tiger-Sooner Peace Pipe) went missing in 1975. Still, most of Missouri's natural rivals reside in other conferences, and this one at least deserves a revisit with the Sooners' move to the SEC. Oklahoma leads 67-24-5 

18. Arkansas vs. Missouri (Battle Line Rivalry) 

Missouri desperately needed a rivalry to cling to when it left its geographical roots to join the SEC in 2012, so the conference conceived a Battle Line Trophy between the Tigers and Arkansas a couple of years later. Missouri has won eight out of 10 games since the two first played as conference foes in 2014. They shared a handful of contests before that. At least there's a border to fight for between Arkansas and Missouri?  Missouri leads 10-4 

19. Missouri vs. South Carolina (Mayors' Cup) 

Also known as the Battle for Columbia. I'll give you two guesses as to why that may be. Other than coincidentally named university locations, there isn't a ton of reason for this rivalry to exist outside the fact that, as with its annual game against Arkansas, Missouri needed some manufactured bad blood when it left the Big 12 behind. Maybe it'll grow some roots as the SEC transitions into a new age. Missouri leads 9-5

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Latinx Files: The fight over Jenni Rivera’s estate

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When Jenni Rivera died in a plane crash in 2012 , she left behind a lasting musical legacy that is still going strong more than a decade later. The self-proclaimed “Diva de la Banda” was a self-made star with a veritable rags-to-riches story. She was a true trailblazer, a U.S.-born woman who took up plenty of space in the male-dominated world of música Mexicana.

Rivera also left behind an estate that at one point was estimated at $28 million.

As my colleagues Brittny Mejia and Harriet Ryan reported Wednesday , that fortune is at the center of a very public family feud between Rivera’s offspring and their grandfather, uncle and aunt. The scions of the Long Beach legend alleged in a federal lawsuit filed last year that their elders concocted a plan to funnel money from their late mother’s estate to two music companies controlled by their grandfather, Pedro.

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Rivera left everything to her four youngest children (her eldest daughter, Janney Marin, better known as Chiquis, had been disowned) and named her younger sister, Rosie, as executor of her estate. Once in charge, Rosie tapped her brother, Juan, to help oversee Jenni Rivera Enterprises, a company that in addition to music included a tequila brand, beauty products and a fashion line.

The duo were reportedly ill-equipped for the task.

“We’re talking about two people who had no real business experience, so it was like training rookies for an impending professional game,” Rivera’s onetime manager, Pete Salgado, wrote in “Her Name Was Dolores,” a 2017 book about his former client’s life told from his perspective.

The catalyst for the clash was Juan Angel López — Rivera’s youngest child — who asked his aunt for a financial accounting of his share of the inheritance in 2021. López, who was 20 at the time, wasn’t particularly discreet about his inquiry, granting an interview to a Univision reporter to speak about his demand.

“We’ve always had questions, but when we asked, they always had the excuse that we were doing so because we didn’t have confidence in them, becoming very defensive,” López said of his aunt and uncle. “They say we are disrespectful children and that we aren’t grateful.”

After back-and-forth finger-pointing on social media and in the Spanish-language press, Rosie resigned from her role as chief executive of Jenni Rivera Enterprises and relinquished her executor duties to Jacquelin Campos, Rivera’s second-oldest child. Rosie and Juan would go on to work for their father. The transfer of power was publicly presented as amicable, but that civility would prove to be short lived.

In September 2023, Campos, on behalf of the estate, filed a federal lawsuit against Cintas Acuario and Ayana Musical, accusing the companies of — among other things — copyright infringement, breach of contract and fraudulent concealment. The complaint asserts that the two entities misrepresented ownership of Jenni Rivera’s music, name, image and likeness, and had raked in millions in profit — money that should have gone to the estate.

A lawyer representing the companies owned by Pedro Rivera tried to get the lawsuit dismissed in February, but U.S. District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. ruled that the case can continue. The two sides are expected to go to trial next year.

Whatever the outcome of this legal dispute may be, one thing’s clear: there’s no love lost between the two factions of the Rivera clan.

“I reached a point where I no longer need these people in my life,” López told Univision in 2021. “I could go the rest of my life without talking to them and I believe I’d be happier.”

“I believe that family ties no longer count in this case,” Juan Rivera said after the judge’s ruling.

To learn more about the Rivera family feud, go here .

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The Mess: Celebrating the Queer-Coded Extravagance of Latine Camp

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Fidel Martinez writes the Latinx Files, a weekly newsletter that focuses on the American Latinx experience. He started at The Times in 2018 as an audience engagement editor, focusing on sports. Previously he worked as politics editor for Mitu, as a social storytelling producer for Fusion Media Group and content curator and managing editor for Break Media. He is a proud Tejano who will fight anyone who disparages flour tortillas.

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