Author Archives: William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

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About William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Award-winning poet, playwright, and essayist. Author of three books of poetry, "Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass: Remembrance of Things Past and Present"; "Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats"; "The Black Feminine Mystique," and a novel, "Streets of Rage," written under his pen name Easy Waters. All four books are available on Amazon.com. Waters has over 25 years of experience in the criminal legal system. He is a change agent for a just society and a catalyst for change.

She Invited Me into the Red Tent

Posted on March 16, 2022 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Shawnee Benton Gibson has a special place in my Hall of Heroines, for two reasons.  First, we share the same Born Day, different years.  I can always expect a call or a text from her on our special day!  How … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Family, Lest We Forget, Mother's Messages, raising black boys | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

My Pandora

Posted on March 15, 2022 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Hope remains! (Disclaimer: Ladies, women, womenfolk, and girls, I know that a man wrote the myth about Pandora, blaming women, as the writer of the Hebrew Bible also blamed a woman, Eve, for all the evils let loose in the … Continue reading →

Posted in ezwwaters, Poetry, Relationships | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

My Two White Sisters

Posted on March 14, 2022 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

One day, when we were kids, Mommy made a Pronouncement: “Today, you are going to meet your white relatives.”  I don’t recall meeting our white relatives (maybe I was traumatized), but I remember this pronouncement.  I was still innocent, and, … Continue reading →

Posted in being a teenager, Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, Family, Genealogy, Lest We Forget, Politics, race, raising black boys, Relationships | Tagged | Leave a comment

Fiat justitia ruat caelum

Posted on March 13, 2022 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Today I get to uplift an advocate and an author, Claudette Nurse. I have not met a person more passionate about justice than Claudette. (She causes “good trouble.”) She is an attorney. She worked for the Legal Aid Society, in … Continue reading →

Posted in crime, ezwwaters, Justice Chronicles, Lest We Forget, Life Sentences, Murder, Parole, Politics, Reentry, remorse | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Pearl Comes to Brooklyn

Posted on March 12, 2022 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

The past month and nearly two weeks I’ve been writing a blog post every day.  When I am in writing mode my overly active imagination goes into overdrive.  I have eureka moments, and even an epiphany or two! This morning … Continue reading →

Posted in crime, ezwwaters, Family, Fathers, Justice Chronicles, Osborne Association, raising black boys, Reentry | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Let There Be Light!

Posted on March 11, 2022 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Prison is a place where there is an absence of light.  The little bit of light that exists is generated from and emanates from the people imprisoned there. There is a strange architecture around the design of prisons, beginning with … Continue reading →

Posted in crime, Education, ezwwaters, Growing Up, Justice Chronicles, Life Sentences, Osborne Association, Reentry | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

An American Odyssey

Posted on March 10, 2022 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

I like a good story, one reason why I like Greek comedies and tragedies, and I fancy myself a storyteller.  So, I’ll tell you a story. . . Once upon a time (1973), Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York State … Continue reading →

Posted in crime, ezwwaters, Family, Justice Chronicles, Lest We Forget, Life Sentences, Mother's Messages, Osborne Association, Politics, race, Reentry, Relationships, urban decay, Urban Impact | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Little Giant Comes to Harlem

Posted on March 9, 2022 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Yesterday I uplifted my sister, Jeanette, on International Women’s Day during this Women’s History Month.  Today I uplift three women I work with. More than 15 years ago I met Dawn Ravella.  She was doing amazing social justice work at … Continue reading →

Posted in crime, ezwwaters, Justice Chronicles, race, Reentry, Religion, remorse, Shawshank Redemption, Streets of Rage, urban decay, Urban Impact | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Triumphing Through Levels of Grief

Posted on March 8, 2022 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Today is International Women’s Day.  During Black History Month and these first couple of days in Women’s History Month, I have uplifted women, mostly women authors.  Today, though, I want to uplift a woman near and dear to my heart, … Continue reading →

Posted in being a teenager, Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, ezwwaters, Family, Fatherhood, Fathers, Growing Up, juveniles, Lest We Forget, Mother's Messages, raising black boys, Relationships, Religion, Urban Impact | Tagged | Leave a comment

The “new” Jim Crow is as old as the Union

Posted on March 7, 2022 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Ever have a “Eureka!” moment?  During my legal research in the early 1980’s, I came across something that, beyond a reasonable doubt, confirmed what people had been talking about without much evidence, beyond the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, crime, ezwwaters, Lest We Forget, Martin Luther King, Politics, Slavery | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment