Mel Brennan
@segunirora.bsky.social
Director. Author. Speaker. Founder.
My Substack: https://segunirora.substack.com/
My Linktree: https://linktr.ee/iammelbrennan
My Substack: https://segunirora.substack.com/
My Linktree: https://linktr.ee/iammelbrennan
Pinned
Mel Brennan
@segunirora.bsky.social
· Nov 14
Ṣẹ́gun Irora | Mel Brennan | Substack
Ṣẹ́gun Irora. Means "Conquer/Overcome the pain."
Combining ideas, submissions and rebellious sentiments in a time of tyranny and ascending hate in sport and in society into a thought-refuge and platf...
segunirora.substack.com
Hello, I'm a real person who writes seeking to combine ideas, submissions and sentiments in a time of tyranny into a thought-refuge and platform from which to build and deliver a better world. Do you want the same thing? Then please subscribe to my Substack: segunirora.substack.com
I begin my own hunger strike against the eternal wrongs of the Trump administration today.
Hunger striking is a form of resistance in which protesters refuse to eat, turning their own bodies into a battleground to demand change, one eith deep historical roots...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
Hunger striking is a form of resistance in which protesters refuse to eat, turning their own bodies into a battleground to demand change, one eith deep historical roots...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
What It Means to Hunger Strike
The History of This Form of Resistance.
open.substack.com
February 16, 2026 at 8:23 PM
I begin my own hunger strike against the eternal wrongs of the Trump administration today.
Hunger striking is a form of resistance in which protesters refuse to eat, turning their own bodies into a battleground to demand change, one eith deep historical roots...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
Hunger striking is a form of resistance in which protesters refuse to eat, turning their own bodies into a battleground to demand change, one eith deep historical roots...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
In a conscience-driven protest, Mel Brennan III, a nonprofit executive, speaker and social entrepreneur, began a hunger strike today to call attention to what he views as a moral crisis in American democracy...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
Press Release
16 February 2026
open.substack.com
February 16, 2026 at 5:39 PM
In a conscience-driven protest, Mel Brennan III, a nonprofit executive, speaker and social entrepreneur, began a hunger strike today to call attention to what he views as a moral crisis in American democracy...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
It is not civically honest to deploy empathy in the ways in which Congressman Roy does, when the people and communities he ostensibly represents, like all of us, are in so much need of it, one to another...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
Nation Without Empathy
That’s the suicide Chip Roy fears
open.substack.com
February 12, 2026 at 6:59 PM
It is not civically honest to deploy empathy in the ways in which Congressman Roy does, when the people and communities he ostensibly represents, like all of us, are in so much need of it, one to another...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
This is why the critique that some people call “suburban sprawl” is not really about suburbs. It is about the loss of a culture of place...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
Suburban Salt
Demand a hopeful present. Even in - maybe especially in - American suburbia.
open.substack.com
February 11, 2026 at 10:34 PM
This is why the critique that some people call “suburban sprawl” is not really about suburbs. It is about the loss of a culture of place...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
...Each of these strategies (education, mutual aid, protest, culture, law, solidarity) formed a blueprint that Black people have refined generation after generation. In every case, the essence has been: community self-determination...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
The Blackprint
Wanna know how to defeat hate? Study the Black History of American Resistance.
open.substack.com
February 8, 2026 at 9:05 PM
...Each of these strategies (education, mutual aid, protest, culture, law, solidarity) formed a blueprint that Black people have refined generation after generation. In every case, the essence has been: community self-determination...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
When it comes to papers of record, Bezos’ late actions are tantamount to the murder of useful, national consensus.
How, in the case of the Washington Post, did this “murder” happen?
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
How, in the case of the Washington Post, did this “murder” happen?
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
Slow Murder
Democracy Dies in Billionaire Hands
open.substack.com
February 6, 2026 at 8:58 PM
When it comes to papers of record, Bezos’ late actions are tantamount to the murder of useful, national consensus.
How, in the case of the Washington Post, did this “murder” happen?
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
How, in the case of the Washington Post, did this “murder” happen?
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
David Brooks’ farewell column in last Sunday’s New York Times is written in the soft light of gratitude and self-reflection...It is well-crafted. It is earnest.
It is also, in its most consequential dimensions, not good enough…
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
It is also, in its most consequential dimensions, not good enough…
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
Elegy Sans Accountability
How David Brooks Explains American Crisis While Excusing Its Most Explicit Architects
open.substack.com
February 3, 2026 at 6:09 AM
David Brooks’ farewell column in last Sunday’s New York Times is written in the soft light of gratitude and self-reflection...It is well-crafted. It is earnest.
It is also, in its most consequential dimensions, not good enough…
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
It is also, in its most consequential dimensions, not good enough…
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
In the 98th minute, every single person watching saw something they’d never seen before.
Ever.
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
Ever.
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
Why We Watch
If it were up to FIFA, we'd have left years ago. Luckily, it isn't.
open.substack.com
January 30, 2026 at 6:24 PM
In the 98th minute, every single person watching saw something they’d never seen before.
Ever.
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
Ever.
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
The Next Best Thing
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
The Next Best Thing
No Justice...well, you know the rest. Get out your mirror and your map.
open.substack.com
January 25, 2026 at 5:57 PM
The Next Best Thing
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
This is us. This is the divided reality of America: where one community weeps and demands change, another applauds the killer and labels the victims and their defenders as traitors:
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
This Is Us
The Final Season
open.substack.com
January 25, 2026 at 5:05 AM
This is us. This is the divided reality of America: where one community weeps and demands change, another applauds the killer and labels the victims and their defenders as traitors:
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
It Is Finished
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
It Is Finished
The Americanized Jesus is Gone. Where He Was, Only Heresy Remains.
open.substack.com
January 21, 2026 at 11:38 PM
It Is Finished
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
Over time, it became shorthand for justice stripped to essentials, and, too often, a revealing; one of due process stripped entirely away.
Have you heard the drums?
Have you heard the drums?
Drumhead Revisited
America in early 2026 is unrecognizable from even a year ago
open.substack.com
January 18, 2026 at 5:48 PM
Over time, it became shorthand for justice stripped to essentials, and, too often, a revealing; one of due process stripped entirely away.
Have you heard the drums?
Have you heard the drums?
Trump’s flag-waving and bluster cannot reverse the erosion of American leadership – they only underscore its fragility. History’s verdict is clear: late-stage empires lash out abroad to mask weakness at home, hastening their own end...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
The Empire Strikes Out
In the Late-Stages, Far From a Shining City On a Hill, This America Ends Up Typical
open.substack.com
January 5, 2026 at 3:21 AM
Trump’s flag-waving and bluster cannot reverse the erosion of American leadership – they only underscore its fragility. History’s verdict is clear: late-stage empires lash out abroad to mask weakness at home, hastening their own end...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
Did you know that history is just a memory / And we are the present memories of future centuries? / ...So since history is a record of past events / Let’s give the future something it can respect… open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
If This Is To Continue
A 250-Year Reckoning with Power, Profit, and Human Worth
open.substack.com
January 2, 2026 at 2:33 AM
Did you know that history is just a memory / And we are the present memories of future centuries? / ...So since history is a record of past events / Let’s give the future something it can respect… open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
Under Trump, the American state began to [move toward the Chinese model and] redefine who safety was for and who it was from…
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
Gǎnzhī, Xiànshí yù Zhēnxiàng
"Perception, Reality and Truth"
open.substack.com
December 29, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Under Trump, the American state began to [move toward the Chinese model and] redefine who safety was for and who it was from…
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
All the signs and signals...point to an Age ending. The “American Century” that began in 1776 is now closing.
Yet the century’s final act could, Du Bois suggested, birth something new... open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
Yet the century’s final act could, Du Bois suggested, birth something new... open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
Finis Pax Americanae
The Nation Is Dead; Long Live the Nation.
open.substack.com
December 28, 2025 at 8:38 PM
All the signs and signals...point to an Age ending. The “American Century” that began in 1776 is now closing.
Yet the century’s final act could, Du Bois suggested, birth something new... open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
Yet the century’s final act could, Du Bois suggested, birth something new... open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
Cruelty is not solving a problem. It is performing an identity.
Which brings us to the most uncomfortable question of all: cui bono?
Who benefits, really?
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
Which brings us to the most uncomfortable question of all: cui bono?
Who benefits, really?
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
The Desert of the Unreal
Power, Desperation, and the American Alibi
open.substack.com
December 23, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Cruelty is not solving a problem. It is performing an identity.
Which brings us to the most uncomfortable question of all: cui bono?
Who benefits, really?
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
Which brings us to the most uncomfortable question of all: cui bono?
Who benefits, really?
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
I worked as a confidential investigator at a time when the city’s political establishment had already decided how far justice would be allowed to go.
How far, I soon learned, was not far; yet that distance illuminated much of my career...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
How far, I soon learned, was not far; yet that distance illuminated much of my career...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
The Investigator in Me
Justice and Truth over Power and Privilege
open.substack.com
December 15, 2025 at 11:28 PM
I worked as a confidential investigator at a time when the city’s political establishment had already decided how far justice would be allowed to go.
How far, I soon learned, was not far; yet that distance illuminated much of my career...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
How far, I soon learned, was not far; yet that distance illuminated much of my career...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
THE END OF SPORT
Through FIFA’s Looking Glass Into a Crippled Land of Narcissism
open.substack.com
December 9, 2025 at 6:54 PM
My wife often reminds me of the research showing that gratitude itself is powerful—So even if it weren’t easy to be thankful for you, it would still be healthy. But the truth is: it is easy. Very easy. I’m grateful for this community every day.
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
The Giving of Thanks
The Truth is, it is Easy to be Thankful for You
open.substack.com
November 27, 2025 at 5:40 PM
My wife often reminds me of the research showing that gratitude itself is powerful—So even if it weren’t easy to be thankful for you, it would still be healthy. But the truth is: it is easy. Very easy. I’m grateful for this community every day.
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
If we want to elevate anyone at Year 250 of America, it ought to be this man...
An American Complete
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
An American Complete
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
An American Complete
If we want to elevate anyone at Year 250 of America, it ought to be this man
open.substack.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:37 PM
If we want to elevate anyone at Year 250 of America, it ought to be this man...
An American Complete
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
An American Complete
open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
On January 6, 2021, amid a chaotic siege on the U.S. Capitol, insurrectionists hoisted crosses and banners...At first glance, this blending of religious symbols with raw political aggression seemed shocking. In truth, it was the latest chapter in a centuries-old narrative...
tinyurl.com/59b7t7es
tinyurl.com/59b7t7es
A Doctrine of Discovery
How a 15th-century theology of conquest still shapes America’s soul
open.substack.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:22 PM
On January 6, 2021, amid a chaotic siege on the U.S. Capitol, insurrectionists hoisted crosses and banners...At first glance, this blending of religious symbols with raw political aggression seemed shocking. In truth, it was the latest chapter in a centuries-old narrative...
tinyurl.com/59b7t7es
tinyurl.com/59b7t7es
Walk into the U.S. Capitol Rotunda and look up. Eight large historical paintings ring the space. The problem isn’t what’s there. The problem is what isn’t…
Reimaging Our Rotunda open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
Reimaging Our Rotunda open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
Reimaging Our Rotunda
Images Matter.
open.substack.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Walk into the U.S. Capitol Rotunda and look up. Eight large historical paintings ring the space. The problem isn’t what’s there. The problem is what isn’t…
Reimaging Our Rotunda open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...
Reimaging Our Rotunda open.substack.com/pub/seguniro...