To set the mood for the subject of this piece, the things we think we hear versus the things that are actually said Continue reading William Jefferson Clinton was not our first Black president, Hillary won’t be the second
Monthly Archives: April 2015
The incredible offensiveness of “#thug” | #BaltimoreUprising #BlackLivesMatter
As the aggrieved part of Baltimore rises, so do the moralizing voices of local authority in their characterizations of “thug” about those they are supposed to serve. Continue reading The incredible offensiveness of “#thug” | #BaltimoreUprising #BlackLivesMatter
Open Letter to Senator @RandPaul | #BaltimoreUprising on Blog#42
Dear Senator Paul,
I heard your comments on the Baltimore protests this morning and decided that, since I’m still thinking about them, I should put some of my thoughts down in writing. Continue reading Open Letter to Senator @RandPaul | #BaltimoreUprising on Blog#42
The TPP: what everyone should know | Economics on Blog#42
The Trans-Pacific Partnernship Agreement, the fancy name for the current trade agreement in front of Congress, has been negotiated by the Obama administration and a group of countries for the past couple of years. Every president for some decades now has negotiated his version of such a pact and has been lobbied by this or that interest for some benefit on the behalf of some industry or group. Nothing unusual there. That there is some level of secrecy to negotiations is also not unusual. Continue reading The TPP: what everyone should know | Economics on Blog#42
Kalief Browder, a “desaparecido” in Jim Crow’s jails | #BlackLivesMatter on Blog#42
While I don’t think America’s cruel prison-industrial complex has gotten to the point where prisoners are mass-murdered and buried in mass graves, we have gotten to the point where we urgently need to be openly engaged in a conversation about how children and adults of both sexes, particularly African Americans, are whisked off the streets and “disappeared” into jails like Rikers for years at a time, without a trial, for no good reason, left to the whims of a system that is capricious in the way it metes out justice to those who don’t have the means to put up a legal defense. Continue reading Kalief Browder, a “desaparecido” in Jim Crow’s jails | #BlackLivesMatter on Blog#42
Some thoughts on @NewBlackMan and @DrJamesPeterson: The Role of Black Intellectuals | #BlackCultureMatters on Blog#42
Dear Professors Neal and Peterson,
I write to you today because as I gave your talk on the role of the Black public intellectual a second listen in preparation for an entirely different essay, my seventeen year old daughter left her computer to sit near me and listen. While she may at times listen from her desk while engaged in some activity, Girly never leaves her computer to listen to anything I might be playing. But she did, and I thought I would tell you why. Continue reading Some thoughts on @NewBlackMan and @DrJamesPeterson: The Role of Black Intellectuals | #BlackCultureMatters on Blog#42
The most telling law enforcement quote | #DontrellStephens | #BlackLivesMatter
Sheriff Ric Bradsaw of Palm Beach County, Florida, sums up the ethic employed by police departments across the country: Continue reading The most telling law enforcement quote | #DontrellStephens | #BlackLivesMatter
1.5 million missing Black men: How many innocents?
Can you imagine spending thirteen years in jail for a crime you didn’t commit simply because the exculpatory evidence you might have defended yourself with happened to have been given to someone as a gift? Continue reading 1.5 million missing Black men: How many innocents?
The psychological price of long-term #unemployment | Blog#42
Science Agrees: Being Laid Off Is Terrible — The Atlantic
New research from England suggests that cutbacks can lead to lasting trust issues.
Continue reading The psychological price of long-term #unemployment | Blog#42
Open letter to Ben Affleck | Blog#42
Dear Ben,
I write this open letter after reading about your request to have a part of your ancestry hidden from the show, Finding Your Roots. Continue reading Open letter to Ben Affleck | Blog#42