BY SIMONE J. SMITH

“I wanted to tell my story for a long time; I wanted to tell everyone all at once. Now I can speak the truth and tell everyone exactly what was going on. I am here to tell the truth.”

For twenty-four hours in the summer of 1988, Canada’s Ben Johnson was the most celebrated athlete on the planet. Then just like that, his life changed forever. He was stripped of the 100-meter gold medal he’d possessed for just three days.

Disqualified! For what?  Just like that, he plummeted from champion, new multi-millionaire and global star to what Canada propagated as a disgrace. I will never forget hearing my dad read the headlines when he won. “Canada’s Ben Johnson Wins Gold,” to “Jamaican Born Ben Johnson Disqualified for Steroid Use!”  Even at a young age, I found that strange.

36 years have passed by since he ran 9.79 seconds in the 100-meter final at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. The young fellow who was at the epicenter of Canada’s worst sports disaster, had to go through years of people doubting him, ignoring his pleas for someone to look into what had been going on.

“They took away my name, my rights to earn a living, it was very tough; people wouldn’t be able to last two weeks, I did it for 36 years.”

The sprint he won in Seoul has since been called “the dirtiest race in history,” with six of the eight competitors linked to doping infractions. The steroid for which Johnson tested positive was not the steroid he believed he was using. His drug screening was riddled with irregularities and crucial testing evidence was withheld by Olympic officials in Seoul, circumstances that credible experts now say denied Johnson his right to due process and should have prevented his disqualification.

Among the troubling issues at his hearing before International Olympic Committee medical commission members: Ben Johnson’s drug test analysis was riddled with unsigned handwritten alterations, including a changed athlete-identification code; a second unofficial urine test (which reportedly tracked long-time steroid use) was dropped on shocked Canadian officials who, in turn, did not challenge this lack of disclosure, or the reason for the test. Of course, now it is coming out that the IOC medical commission gave the benefit of the doubt to some athletes facing doping sanctions in Seoul, but not others.

American forensic toxicologist Dr. David Black, an expert witness in doping matters who was once hired by Ben Johnson, reviewed the former sprinter’s post-race urine screening documentation from Seoul. Dr. Black called the data “Unacceptable under current laboratory requirements and should have been unacceptable in 1988.”

For years, I have been curious about the Ben Johnson story, and when I had a chance to meet him a few years ago, I had so many questions. He was very reserved, and told me that when the time was right, he would tell me everything. Well the time has come, and with the April 16^th, 2024 release of his book, “World’s Fastest Man: The Incredible Life of Ben Johnson” by Mary Ormsby Ben finally has the chance to tell his story, the way that it was supposed to be told.

I sat down with Ben, and to be honest, I just let him share.

“My older brother was an athlete, and I came home with a few ribbons from my track and field matches. He asked what I ran at these events. He was impressed with my results, and he invited me to the track and field, and that is when I met Charlie Francis.”

“The early years of my career were tough; the child that I wanted to be I couldn’t be. My childhood was taken away from me completely because I went from Jamaica to Canada and right into track and field, so I didn’t have time to play with other kids or have fun. I found my destiny at 14 years old. People saw my talents. I was only 98 pounds when I came to Canada and started running track. A lot of the other athletes were a lot bigger than me, so they were faster than me. I started to put on weight and mass, and in 1981 a shift happened. I became one of the fastest young men in Canada. I made the national team in 1981. I will never forget my race with Daniel Creary who was my hero. To race against him was incredible.”

“It was the 1984 Olympics that I won bronze, and the Americans didn’t like me at all. I had beat out their third-place guy. I got more recognition and now more needed to be done. I had to get faster and stronger, and when everyone was on vacation, I was training for the next year. I wanted to keep building on that. That was my secret, I was always building and improving. All the hard work and sacrifice led me to winning the gold medal, and this was all for my mom.”

“Leading up to that race, I was worried. I was not afraid of my opponents; I was afraid of failing. It was my time to show the world. I wanted to get the race over with so much; the pressure was on me to get it over with and cross the line. When I crossed the finish line, it was a great feeling, a great moment. Nothing could beat that feeling.”

“The lab results from 1988 were the wrong lab results. They were not even my lab results. There were scribbles, crossed out information; the federation got their hands on these lab reports, and they knew the truth and locked it away. They knew that what they were doing was wrong, and I would not be able to go after them.”

“The double inquiry was a scam; they wanted to separate themselves from Ben Johnson and to present me as the poster boy for steroids. I saw the results 36 years later; I didn’t get due process. I read it and I was like ‘Wow!’ They went all the way to do this to me, to create a lynch against me.”

“I remember something clearly, something that has never left my mind. In 1985 my mom said to me, ‘Son, the only way they can beat you in the testing room. They can’t beat you any other way.” I had to prepare for the worst after that. I knew that it was coming, I had to prepare myself for it, and nothing can truly prepare you for what I went through. I will say this; they never took anything away from me, they just slowed me down.”

“Thankfully, my name still carried a lot of weight around the world. I was still able to conduct my business and make my money. I went through life and did my thing. 18 years ago, I thought about what my mom said. They made that 9.79 Documentary on my life, and the narrative started to shift.”

I have learned that there was a lot going on in sports at the time, some things that we did not know about. During that time, there was a growing list of world-class sprinters with doping histories and Olympic medals. Of the Seoul 100-meter finalists, Carl Lewis, winner of four golds in 1984, was absolved of stimulant infractions weeks before he was awarded the 1988 gold; Linford Christie tested positive for the steroid nandrolone in 1999, seven years after racing to Olympic 100-meter gold in Barcelona and 11 years after narrowly avoiding a stimulant violation in Seoul, where he earned a silver.

Then there was Dennis Mitchell who retained his Barcelona bronze after high testosterone levels were detected in his 1998 urine sample. It’s not only late-20th-century sprinters on this list. American Justin Gatlin, for instance, failed two drug tests (in 2001 and 2006), and won Olympic medals (gold in 2004, bronze in 2012, silver in 2016) before and after serving his four-year doping ban (from 2006 to 2010).

Ben Johnson’s book shows all that was done to him; what was seen, and what was unseen. There is so much that people will learn about what happened during that time, and the insidious actions that were taken to break him.

BY SELINA MCCALLUM

In the fall of 2022, extremely talented photographer, Bradley Fenton, also known as Coopz, told his brother Brandon that before the end of the year he was going to go on tour with an artist to take photos. The opportunity wasn’t being offered yet, but he was speaking it into existence.

Coopz is a Toronto-based photographer who grew up in Mississauga. He’s shot at music festivals in the states and in Toronto for a few years. Some of the trailblazing international artists he has photos of are: Coi Leray, Burna Boy, A Boogie with a Hoodie, and Shenseea. He has also taken photos of local trailblazers including DJ Rosegold, WondaGurl, Pressa, and Savannah Re. One of the first photos on his Instagram is of the infamous producer, DJ Khaled, which he took in Miami in 2017.

Coopz recalls when he was asked to go on tour in America with Toronto superstars, Leila Dey and Jessie Reyez for the month of November.

“I got invited to shoot the celebrity basketball game that happened in Toronto in October last year. I was doing all the headshots for all the local celebrities that were invited. I saw Leila Dey’s manager. He came up to me, and said he wanted to talk to me after. I was wondering what was going on. And he’s like, yeah, Leila is about to go on tour, and we want you to come with us and be our photographer and videographer.”

The Mississauga photographer couldn’t believe it.

“Same day I called my brother. I’m like, yo! You’ll never believe what just happened. I just got asked to go on tour. So, I was really excited. I was wandering around. It was unbelievable.”

The Mississauga native has been taking photos since he was in grade nine. He also has a sharp business and creative mind.

“I went to a Catholic school; we had civvies day, days where you get to dress up in your actual clothes. I brought a point and shoot camera to school, and I started taking photos with everyone. They loved them and wanted to post on their Facebook — back then there was no Instagram.

For Christmas that year, my parents bought me my first DSLR camera, and ever since then I’ve been shooting with that Canon T3.  I started taking photos every single day for people and started charging them $10. So, I was doing that in grade nine: shooting, making money, and already making a name for myself back in high school.”

Once Coopz was older, he started to do a lot of club photography, which is what helped him master how to use a flash. However, he didn’t want to be seen as just the club photographer.

“I wanted to get out of being a club photographer, because I felt like that hindered me a lot. When people see you as a photographer, in my opinion, I feel like they only want to book you for club stuff. I obviously wanted to branch out and do more things: personal photography and flying, traveling to different cities to shoot people.”

To overcome this, he decided to rebrand himself.

“I started going and shooting more celebrities in LA and Miami, and being like their personal photographer and eventually I started making a name for myself. I started doing hosting’s, so people will come out and party with me. It wouldn’t be me taking photos in the club, it would be me networking and bringing people with me to the club and doing different events. I just built up my own brand and my own name, where it just holds a different type of weight.”

Coopz name definitely holds a different type of weight as he has travelled across America with the incredibly talented and beautiful R&B singer Leila Dey from Toronto, who was opening up for headliner and superstar from Toronto, Jessie Reyez. It is never a dull moment while on tour as the photographer is always working.

“You don’t have to worry about anything else. You have to worry about making sure Leila looks good. With the photos, get her constant photos, constant videos. You just know what your job is. It’s just constant non-stop. It’s just capturing the moments at the right time.”

Coopz also mentioned that being on tour with Jessie’s team felt like being on the road with one big family.

This year, the talented photographer has jumped into real estate and is being mentored by his brother.

“I just got my first property. That is what I’m going to be doing with my brother. He is going to be helping me buy and sell properties. I’m the youngest of four brothers, and all my brothers are heavily business minded people. I always have someone to look up to and ask questions to keep me learning.”

When he’s not learning something new, he’s manifesting the next huge tour he’ll go on. Some of the artists he’d love to go on tour with are Jack Harlow, Kehlani, Lil Baby, Chris Brown, GloRilla, 50 Cent or Ice Spice.

“I love the touring experience, so I’m itching to go back again,” said Coopz.

Coopz also wanted to thank a good friend of his who has helped him for a long time.

“Shout out to DJ Rosegold because she has been helping me for a while, and always bringing me out and connecting me with people too.”

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

“I know you were always going to be gangsta, but it doesn’t mean you can’t be a smart gangsta.”

This is what he was told at a young age. He had already experienced life in a way that many young African American men from East Palo Alto California had experienced. Known as the murder capital of the world, East Palo Alto California is home to one of the fastest, most irresistible sounds in Hip Hop. Even though he has faced challenges that some of us could not imagine, he has remained diligent, and has even taken it there by making his music known here in Canada.

Entrepreneur and Major Recording Artist Michael “Mobbin101” McCrary has become a shining star in the world of Hip-Hop. His work illuminates a vintage Hip-Hop sound that most new artists never master. He has an innate ability to intrinsically connect to a person’s: desires, passion, and fear and then magically translate these feelings into words that everyone can relate to.

Heavily inspired by: Nipsey Hussle, GCarter1300, Shill Macc, Bunk Ladden, and Shady Nate, you know when he comes up in the spot, he is not to be played with. What some people don’t know is that what makes Mobbin an unconventional Hip-Hop artist is the fact that he is also a professional football player. His hard work and diversified portfolio have made his name one of the hottest in his region.

2021 was “The Year of The Mob!” He released: “Mobbin’ 2.0,” “Diamonds On My Neck,” “Wrist” ft. BounceBack Meek and Nelly Starr, “2PM In Tulum” all turned out to be summer bangers.

He illustrates a grit and finesse that you will only find in the streets, and there was something about his voice and distinctive tone that spoke to me when I listened to his music. His multi-diverse catalogue narrates the intricacies and complexities of hustling, drug dealing, survival, street politics, and of course entrepreneurship. What makes our Classic Man this week epic, is his ability to tell a story, and what a story it is.

Of course, I had to reach out to Mobbin and have him share his storytelling with me.

“Mobbin101; what is that an acronym for,” I inquired?

“Man of Business because it is Necessary,” Mobbin tells me with a smile. “And 101 is the highway we reside off. I want men out there to Mob! Be Men of Business.”

“There is a lot about you online, but I haven’t had a chance to hear your story.”

“Well, I was born in Pensacola Florida. I am Haitian/Italian and Irish! I was raised in the California Bay Area! I was only born in Florida because my mom happened to be there on vacation.

My early life was not easy: when the crack era hit, it was real. Now that was a pandemic. Unfortunately, my mother was a drug addict, and my dad sold drugs. Like any addiction it was a disease, so my grandmother (on my dad’s side) raised me. Till this day I refer to my grandmother as my mom. My mom is still alive, and I love her, but she was not able to care for me. My dad and I come off as siblings, because the same woman raised us, plus I was always with my dad.”

Mobbin told me that his grades were always up to par; doing nothing was not an option in his grandmother’s house. In school he was recognized as an athlete; basketball was his first love, and then football became his love.

“I played football my whole life. I have relatives in the NFL, and the sport has always been very instrumental in my life. If it weren’t for football, I wouldn’t have graduated high school. I didn’t go on to college football right away.

I went to a few high schools and a few junior colleges. I graduated from Ceaser Chavez High School and graduated from West Valley College. I transferred to Withworth University in Spokane. It was a division three college, and also a Christian University. I will tell you this, going there was a complete culture shock for me. It was rural, and I am a city man, but I stuck it out.

I played pro-ball in Budapest, Mexico, and in South Carolina. I had to take a brief respite due to the pandemic, and during that time I started to pay more attention to music. Just like football, music is in the family.

I am a driven individual, and once I say something I am going to do it. People will hold your words and non-action against you. The original plan was to drop five songs and be done with it. Now I am on 25 songs.”

Mobbin 2.0 was a remix to a song written about his friends. Most people know him by his first single, “2 Pm in Tulum.”

“Tulum is the premier destination in the world. I had just landed there, and I was messing around with the beat, and then I finalized the song.”

Mobbin is a young man with a very bright future. I wanted to know what he had planned for 2023.

“I am going back to football, and I am a realest; if I can get one more professional deal, I will be content. The good thing is that going back to football will help with the music. It opens me up to an untapped market, and that way, both of my talents will be recognized.”

I have to say, I am proud of this young man. He has shown that he is more than capable of rising above his struggles and maintaining a positive outlook. He could have given up a long time ago, but he was able to cultivate resilience and perseverance, and this has made him the dynamic force that he has become.

Go ahead young man; you have our support!