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Monthly Archives: August 2020
Chadwick Boseman: In Memoriam – Black Panther!
Two years ago, in preparing to deliver a high school graduation commencement address at the Fedcap School in Orange, New Jersey, I researched a number of commencement addresses by pop culture characters and personalities. During my research, I came across … Continue reading
Posted in Race, History & American Society
Tagged #BlackSuperHeroesMatter, #WakandaForever, being a teenager, Black Lightning, Black Panther, Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, BlackLivesMatter, Bruce Lee, Chadwick Boseman, Fedcap School, Howard University, Jackie Robinson, James Brown, Panthers, raising black boys, Superfly, Superheroes, Superman
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“Final” Touches on The Black Blood of Poetry
Early this morning I put the “final” touches on my title poem, “The Black Blood of Poetry.” I wasn’t going to post it, but it is timely, and I’d rather not wait until the collection is published to put this … Continue reading
Posted in Politics & Public Affairs, Streets of Rage
Tagged "I can't breathe!", #AllLivesMatter, Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, BlackLivesMatter, Blood in My Eye, Emmett Till, Fred Hampton, George Floyd, James Baldwin, James Chaney, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., Medgar Evers, murder, Nation of Islam, Ossie Davis, Poetry, raising black boys, Soledad Brother, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats, Sonny's Blues, The Black Blood of Poetry
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The Black Blood of Poetry
Over the weekend I got some good work done on my title poem, “The Black Blood of Poetry.” A little more than twenty years ago, a poet-friend, Rachel Wetzsteon, who committed suicide in December 2009, perhaps because she felt too … Continue reading
Posted in Books & Writing Projects, Streets of Rage
Tagged "If We Must Die", being a teenager, Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, Black Summer, BlackLivesMatter, Claude McKay, Emmett Till, Medgar Evers, Pantoum, Poetry, Rachel Wetzsteon, raising black boys, Relationships, Sonnet, suicide of Rachel Wetzsteon, The Black Blood of Poetry, The Black Feminine Mystique, Villanelle
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“The Man Who Cried I Am!”: Celebrating Fifty Years of Life
It seems like only yesterday when I wrote this piece as I approached a milestone birthday, but it’s been nearly ten years. As I approach another milestone birthday, I am looking to complete my fourth collection of poetry, entitled, The … Continue reading
Posted in Family, Memory & Personal Essays, Streets of Rage
Tagged Allen Ginsberg, being a teenager, Black Patriotism, Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, Granada, Growing Up, Howl!, juveniles, Panama, patriotism, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Poetry, raising black boys, Relationships, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats, The Black Blood of Poetry, The Wretched of the Earth
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A Brief History of the Hayes-Tilden Compromise
In order to understand the pathology of memorializing treasonous Confederates, look to the Hayes-Tilden Compromise (1876-77), which in effect ended the Reconstruction years (1865-1877), when Black people made tremendous strides, politically, economically, and socially, a mere 12 years after 246 … Continue reading
Posted in Politics & Public Affairs, Race, History & American Society
Tagged 1619, Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, Civil War, Confederate memorials, Confederate Monuments, Confederate States of America, Confederate statues, General William Tecumseh Sherman, Hayes-Tilden Compromise, Jamestown, Malcolm X, patriotism, Plymouth Rock, Reconstruction, Slavery
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