Monthly Archives: February 2022

A Farewell to Black History Month, 2022

Posted on February 28, 2022 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Black History Month is in the shortest month of the year. Caesar Augustus, thinking that the month in honor of his name was too short, took days from February, short changing what would become Black History Month. In fact, when … Continue reading →

Posted in Streets of Rage | Tagged Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, Carter G. Woodson, Harvard University, Rayford W. Logan, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats, The Miseducation of the Negro, The Souls of Black Folk, W. E. B. Du Bois | Leave a comment

Roots — Strange and Forbidden Fruit

Posted on February 27, 2022 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

“Roots!” I hate “slave movies,” perhaps more than white Americans hate addressing the issue of slavery and the black shadows it casts on America and American history to this very day. Not a day goes by in America where race … Continue reading →

Posted in Genealogy | Tagged Alex Haley, Roots | 2 Comments

I Wanna Go to Bailey’s Cafe

Posted on February 26, 2022 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Gloria Naylor is another Scheherazade. She was a consummate storyteller, wrote beautifully, created engaging stories and characters we could judge if so inclined by the content of their character, not their race. Unlike Alice Walker, Naylor’s male characters have more … Continue reading →

Posted in Literature & Cultural Criticism | Tagged Alice Walker, Bailey's Cafe, Bigger Thomas, Gloria Naylor, James Baldwin, Oprah Winfrey, Relationships, Richard Wright, The Men of Brewster Place, The Souls of Black Folk, The Women of Brewster Place, Their Eyes Were Watching God, W. E. B. Du Bois, Zora Neale Hurston | 3 Comments

All Jazz is not Improvised!

Posted on February 25, 2022 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Toni Morrison is a conductor, a composer of language so melodious her prose jumps off the sheet, dances in the streets and sings to a music you feel is meant just for you. Only one other author, James Baldwin, has … Continue reading →

Posted in Literature & Cultural Criticism | Tagged Jazz, Poetry, Toni Morrison | Leave a comment

More Than One Thousand and One American Nights

Posted on February 24, 2022 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Imagine if your very life depended on telling a story. Imagine telling a story for one thousand and one nights. Imagine this storyteller as a woman. In One Thousand and One Nights, also known as Tales from the Arabian Nights, … Continue reading →

Posted in Literature & Cultural Criticism | Tagged Caste, Isabel Wilkerson, King Shahryar, Octavia E. Butler, One Thousand and One Nights, Scheherazade | Leave a comment

Son of a Native Southern Son

Posted on February 23, 2022 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

On this day in American history, in 1982, my father passed away, at the age of 56, a week and a day after he reached that age. I always think of my father as a Native Southern Son. When I … Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Memory & Personal Essays, Literature & Cultural Criticism | Tagged Bed-Stuy, Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, fathers, James Baldwin, Native Son, Notes of a Native Son, raising black boys, Richard Wright, Sonny's Blues, William E. Waters | 3 Comments

A Bigger By Any Other Name

Posted on February 22, 2022 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Bigger Thomas, although a fictional character, haunts the imagination of white folk. Richard Wright’s Native Son, where we meet Bigger Thomas, was published in 1940. Benjamin Mays, in eulogizing the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 28 years later after … Continue reading →

Posted in Justice Chronicles, Literature & Cultural Criticism, Streets of Rage | Tagged Aaron the Moor, Bigger Thomas, Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, Frantz Fanon, James Baldwin, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., murder, Native Son, Othello the Moor, raising black boys, Richard Wright, Shakespeare, The Black Wall Street, Titus Andronicus | 1 Comment

Me and Malcolm X’s Murderer

Posted on February 21, 2022 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

On this day in American history, Malcolm X was murdered. I was four years of age. Fourteen years later, I would meet Malcolm X’s killer. The first thought that crossed my mind: He, Thomas Hagan, is unremarkable. And then: What … Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Memory & Personal Essays, Religion | Tagged Alex Haley, Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, Decisive Decade, Five Percent Nation, Growing Up, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., murder, Nation of Islam, raising black boys, Samuel Yette, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Thomas Hagan | Leave a comment

Masquerading as White

Posted on February 20, 2022 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Given my book recommendation yesterday, that is, Black Robes, White Justice, by Judge Bruce Wright, it seems natural to recommend this book by Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks. In many respects, this book explains Black jurists’ administering “white justice,” … Continue reading →

Posted in Education & Teaching | Tagged Black Skins White Masks, Carter G. Woodson, Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth | 2 Comments

White Sheets Under Black Robes

Posted on February 19, 2022 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Black Robes, White Justice, by Judge Bruce Wright, is one of my favorite titles touching on the criminal legal system! The title itself speaks volumes. Bruce Wright was a distinguished New York City Judge and, in light of the current … Continue reading →

Posted in Criminal Justice & Punishment, Justice Chronicles | Tagged Judge Bruce Wright | Leave a comment

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