I keep hearing about watershed Moments Are we misreading the times If a watershed is a turning point Then We have turned ourselves Over And Over And Over Until We Are sick Of death And burning To Live I do not feel any water I smell the smoke I sense the multitudes Nauseous from riding the social waves Movement waves Protest waves And just when we think the tide has come in The sea waves its finger Telling us Not... Read more
Do the police ever lie? I ask because I find it rather questionable to encounter perceivably rational adults who seem to engage from a framework of childhood beliefs in the Easter Bunny in their refusal to consider that in certain instances, police misconduct might not be a case of a “few bad apples.” They symbolically stick their fingers in their ears and mutter loud noises to prevent themselves from hearing that various police officers lie in situations when it is... Read more
I used to say things like, “It could be worse,” to remind myself to be grateful. Over time, I became uneasy with incorporating this approach, without much questioning, as one of my attitudes of gratitude. Sure, things could “always” be worse. On the other hand, if I needed to compare myself or my condition to someone else or another perceivably worse circumstance to feel grateful, then was I truly grateful? This questioning has not left me. During this COVID-19 pandemic, I... Read more
I am calling in our call out and cancel culture (say it quickly three times). A hearty diet of years of messaging to call out biases and prejudices with the recent addition of social justice energy drinks for breakfast have created tidal waves of cancelling people. Of course, Hitler has been long cancelled. Grown white folks caught in overt acts of bigotry, who instead of taking responsibility, transform into crying victims get called out and cancelled. COVID-19, also known as... Read more
Cute and fuzzy labels to describe the evils of racism need to stop. Labels like “white privilege” is one of them. No matter what you call it, white privilege is racism in black-face and dressed up in culturally appropriated attire. Giving racism fancy makeovers to soothe white people’s consciences offer a damaged goods discount shelf racial mea culpa to people of color. These two words have turned into something that white people can flippantly say that they acknowledge or recognize... Read more
Did you know that you can be gay and have homophobic beliefs? Did you know you can be a Person of Color with racist beliefs? Did you know that you can be a woman who is a flagrant misogynist? Whether you are younger or older, you can be a card-carrying ageist. Do not get me started with the intersections of these identities and deeply internalized beliefs around gender, religion, race, sexual orientation, class, ability, age, and nationality. Everyone has ics... Read more
1986 was a good year for music. Patti LaBelle’s “On My Own,” Madonna’s “Papa Don’t Preach,” Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name,” The Bangles’ “Walk Like an Egyptian,” Cameo’s “Word Up,” Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors,” and Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away” were sensations. Dionne Warwick and Friends sang the timeless “That’s What Friends are For.” And on October 21, 1986, Janet Jackson released the empowering hit, “Control.” Days later, on October 27th, President Ronald Reagan took another kind... Read more
I do not know which is more crowded: Atlanta or the Democratic primary for the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Recently, Deval Patrick decided in the midnight hour to “throw his hat in the ring” for the Democratic nomination. After spending $33 million in political television ads within one week, there is a high probability of former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg adding his hat in the umpteenth hour, too. They are showing up on a Saturday at 9 pm when... Read more
President Trump was elected with a bold promise to drain the swamp. As a self-proclaimed political reformer, has he fulfilled his campaign promise, or has he become the Swamp Thing-in-Chief? Typical politicians charismatically tell the public what we want to hear and do not fare well on delivering. For the most part, masses of people seem to accept this dynamic. To drain the swamp requires forsaking one’s political career self-interest to doing what was best for the people. You know,... Read more
Once upon a morning, I did something different in my routine: I watched the early morning news. I thought, “I have not watched the morning news in a while. Let me see what happened overnight.” Whelp, this bright and shiny dawn of new day idea crashed and burned. While I slept, homicides, murders, assaults, fires, and mass pandemonium occurred in my area—at least, according to the local news. To sum up the broadcast: “The world is mostly a bad place.... Read more
Race and Grace
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