It is What it is | Commentary
I grew up in the 1960s, and verbal memes were significant in my black experience. Conversational shorthand was prevalent, with words like solid, psych’, and even rap having a different meaning then...
View ArticleNo Shirts, No Shoes, No Hypotheticals
On the heels of the former President authoring a Twump on his fledgling social media site, that the Constitution may be obsolete, [“A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination...
View ArticleOpinion | What if her name were “Buffy” Griner
Brittney Griner and her wife Cherelle are an American love story. Let us try a thought experiment. Instead of being a 6’9” basketball player and black lesbian, Brittney Griner is a five-foot-two (eyes...
View ArticleI Live in Fear
I am a black man living in an urban city. Being in this skin, one must think about chance encounters with police going horribly wrong and street crime. To my chagrin, it is not unusual to hear gunshots...
View ArticleNothing from Nothing (Leaves $99)?
When former child protégé the late Billy Preston, affectionately known as the fifth Beatle, released Nothing from Nothing (leaves nothing) in 1974, it instantly became my theme song. As I have gotten...
View ArticleEvidence and Evident things
The former chief executive of the United States implored his security not to check people for weapons saying, “I don’t f***ing care if they have weapons. They’re not here to hurt me. Take the f***ing...
View ArticleFalse and Misleading, but Legal?
Yesterday, the House Ways and Means Committee’s ranking member tried to pull off a well-worn Republican tactic to hide malfeasance and misdeeds. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) wrapped himself in the skirts of...
View ArticleSelf-Inflicted Crisis at the Border
There is an old saw that goes; there is your side, my side, and the truth is in the middle. The liberal perspective advocates a humanitarian view, finding a way to feed, house, and clothe people...
View ArticleMy Southwest Nightmare
Fortunately, I was home for Christmas and not among those sleeping on the polished hard floor of an airport, with the echo of a disembodied voice repeatedly warning not to leave your bag unattended. I...
View ArticleKevin McCarthy, Changing for Unacceptable Things
Writer, activist, philosopher, and teacher Angela Davis said, “ I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept. Her twist on the 12-step recovery mantra...
View ArticleMeanwhile, Back at the Ranch || Commentary
When director and writer Alfred Hitchcock advised other filmmakers with his filmmaking philosophy of back at the ranch, he envisioned two parallel tracks. We have been forced into watching the repeated...
View ArticleOpinion || The Weaker of the House
The parents of Republican politicians must have taught their kids not to make the bed, sweep the dirt under the carpet, and that a little dried egg on the corner of the plate is okay. In the...
View ArticleWhat the Real Weaponization of the Federal Government Looks Like
The African American community, at-large, is in a conundrum. While flag-waving bigots and racists are up in arms, sometimes literally—à la January 6, government spying is real for Black Americans. The...
View ArticleRead Between the Lies
If nothing more than for the brilliant musical score, many of us have watched the biographical movie about the life of Ray Charles more than once. If you are like me, you are familiar with a line...
View Article‘Scratching where they didn’t itch….’
On the evening of April 3, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his last speech. The world remembers his speech in Memphis, Tennessee, as the Mountaintop Speech. Most famously, the closing few...
View ArticleThe Meaning of Asynchronous
Educators know the word asynchronous applies mainly to online learning. The original definition reminds me of politics today—not existing or happening simultaneously. The breathless coverage by the...
View ArticleThe Regulation of Shame
For many of us, an early encounter with cigarettes, alcohol, or drugs and being ashamed of one’s decisions have helped form us. From the moment one averted a gaze from a parent with chocolate dripping...
View ArticleOpinion || All my Kinfolk…
From black overseers during slavery to FBI informants working against black leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, betrayal has a long and complicated history. Throughout my long travails...
View ArticleThe Answer to all your Questions is Money
Despite all the disinformation and misinformation blaming the FBI, Hillary Clinton, and Christopher Steele (dossier), the actual origins of the Trump/Russia probe started with a tip from the Australian...
View ArticleFear of a Black History Planet
With imagined controversies like CRT and, most recently, the banning of AP African American studies at the behest of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, I fear Black History Month will soon be on the...
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