Monthly Archives: June 2020

On this Day in American History — June 24, 2015, Confederate Flag Flies at Alabama Capitol until this day in 2015; Monuments Remain (From the Equal Justice Initiative 2020 Calendar)

Posted on June 24, 2020 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

On June 24, 2015, Alabama officials removed a Confederate flag flying on the grounds of the state capitol in Montgomery. The move came in response to national scrutiny of Confederate symbols on public property, triggered by a tragic shooting at … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, Justice Chronicles, Politics, race, Slavery | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Talladega Knights: The Ballad of Bubba Wallace, “Sweet Home Alabama,” and the Day of the Noose

Posted on June 22, 2020 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Headline: Bubba Wallace, NASCAR’s only Black driver who races full-time in NASCAR’s top three series – a noose was found in his garage stall at Talladega Superspeedway, “the biggest and baddest track.” NASCAR has banned the Confederate flag from its … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, crime, Justice Chronicles, Lest We Forget, Politics, race, Revolution, Slavery | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Juneteenth!

Posted on June 19, 2020 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

From my award-winning epic poem, “Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass: Remembrance of Things Past and Present”: XXI The Emancipator, the Great Friend of the Negro, wanted to save the Union, at any cost. The South could have … Continue reading →

Posted in Black patriotism, Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, Justice Chronicles, Lest We Forget, Poetry, Politics, race, Revolution | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

On this Day in American history – June 19, 1865 — Juneteenth (From the Equal Justice Initiative)

Posted on June 19, 2020 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Although President Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation declared enslaved Black people in Confederate territories free, these locations were under Confederate control, which rejected the freedom of enslaved people on plantations throughout the South. The Proclamation did little to emancipate enslaved … Continue reading →

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A Bibliography of Police Misconduct for Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats

Posted on June 18, 2020 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

As I have indicated elsewhere, when working on my collection of poetry about police misconduct, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats, I drew on news reports and headlines. While doing a little Spring cleaning, I came across the original manuscript … Continue reading →

Posted in Amadou Diallo, being a teenager, Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, crime, Justice Chronicles, juveniles, Lest We Forget, Murder, NYPD, Poetry, police involved shooting, police-involved killing, Politics, race, raising black boys, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats, Streets of Rage, Urban Impact | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Slaughter of the Innocents

Posted on June 18, 2020 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

In the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd, I have been rereading some of my poems in my collection about police misconduct, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats. I am even more disturbed now than when in 1995 I … Continue reading →

Posted in being a teenager, crime, Growing Up, Justice Chronicles, juveniles, Lest We Forget, Murder, NYPD, police involved shooting, police-involved killing, race, raising black boys, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats, Streets of Rage | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Blue Knight Riders

Posted on June 15, 2020 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Despite national and even global protests on police misconduct and killings of unarmed Black men, another Black male, Rayshard Brooks, is shot twice in the back by a white police officer in Atlanta, Georgia for what amounts to sleeping while … Continue reading →

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The South Won the War of Northern Aggression?

Posted on June 13, 2020 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Imagine a visitor from another planet, say Mars, is touring the Southern states and is in modern day Virginia. The Martian makes its way to Jamestown, which he finds both interesting, and puzzling. It has familiarized itself with 200 years … Continue reading →

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The Black Blood of Poetry

Posted on June 12, 2020 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

I am working on my fourth collection of poetry, entitled “The Black Blood of Poetry.” I first came across that phrase in the works of an Eastern European poet, whom I can’t remember, but I remember the phrase because it … Continue reading →

Posted in Lest We Forget, police involved shooting, police-involved killing, race, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats, Streets of Rage, Urban Impact | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

ABRACADABRA! Or Notes on the War on Crime, Redux

Posted on June 11, 2020 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

In 1989 I wrote an award-winning essay, “ABRACADABRA! Or Notes on the War on Crime.” In it I mentioned those magic words crimefighting politicians would utter as the solution to the “crime problem”: “more police, more prisons, longer prison terms.” … Continue reading →

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