Author Archives: William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Unknown's avatar

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.

You’re Once, Twice, 34 Times a “Felon”

Posted on June 12, 2024 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Recently, in “The President’s Brief” from The Marshall Project, Carroll Bogert penned an op-ed piece in The Washington Post.  She wrote: Since Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felonies last week, gleeful headlines have sprouted across the media, with a … Continue reading →

Posted in crime, ezwwaters, Justice Chronicles, Politics, race, The New York Post | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Red Record Redux

Posted on May 30, 2024 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Ida B. Wells-Barnett, in A Red Record (1895), about the bloody murders of Black people at the hands of white people, lists three “excuses” white people gave for the wholesale murder of Black people by whites. The excuses are: …the … Continue reading →

Posted in crime, ezwwaters, Lest We Forget, Martin Luther King, Politics, race, raising black boys, Relationships, Revolution, Slavery, Streets of Rage | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Red Record

Posted on May 27, 2024 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

In my last blog I indicated that in the next one I would write something about crime and punishment.  For more than half my life, I have written extensively on the subject, in letters to editors, editorials, essays, and anthologies.  … Continue reading →

Posted in ezwwaters, NYPD, police involved shooting, police-involved killing, Politics, race, raising black boys, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Neither Snow nor Rain nor Heat nor Gloom of Night Stays Hate Mail from Being Delivered

Posted on May 20, 2024 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Long before my first, award-winning book, Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass: Remembrance of Things Past and Present, an epic poem on the captivity, exploitation and suffering of Black people in America, was published (2000), I knew I … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, ezwwaters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Writing Life: Writing An Award-Winning Epic Poem

Posted on May 13, 2024 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

My epic poem, Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass: Remembrance of Things Past and Present, was a co-winner of the 1998 Edwin Mellen Poetry Prize for an epic poem on the theme, “the captivity, exploitation, and suffering of … Continue reading →

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

Streets of Rage Redux

Posted on May 2, 2024 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

When my childhood friend, Isa Rock, read and reviewed my novel, Streets of Rage, he wanted more.  A few mornings ago, I started to think about more, and thus the process began in my head.  My process as a writer … Continue reading →

Posted in being a teenager, crime, ezwwaters, juveniles, Murder, Nation of Islam, raising black boys, Streets of Rage | Leave a comment

Advancing Alice Walker — and Her Nonfiction

Posted on April 11, 2024 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

I have a love-hate relationship with the body of work of Alice Walker.  I love Walker’s nonfiction, and even some of her autobiographical sketches, where her prose, even when it is expressing anger, is righteous anger.  Her nonfiction is clear, … Continue reading →

Posted in ezwwaters, Fatherhood, Fathers, race, raising black boys, Reentry, Relationships, Short Stories | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

On this day, April 9, 1939, in American History…

Posted on April 9, 2024 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

…Marian Anderson Performs for 75,000 Outside Lincoln Memorial, because she was banned from indoor venues because of her race. See https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/apr/09. My poetic tribute to Marian Anderson, in my collection, The Black Feminine Mystique:

Posted in Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, ezwwaters, Poetry, race | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The Assassination of Dr. King – My first “political memory”

Posted on April 4, 2024 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

My first political memory, at age 7, is the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  I was too young to remember the assassinations of JFK and Malcolm X, and although RFK would be assassinated later in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, crime, ezwwaters, Growing Up, John F. Kennedy, Lest We Forget, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Murder, Poetry, Politics, race, raising black boys, Revolution, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats, urban decay, Urban Impact | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Poetry Matters

Posted on April 1, 2024 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

April is National Poetry Month. It was launched by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996. It is a month to celebrate poets’ integral role in our culture. #poetrymatters. This National Poetry Month, read one of my books of … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, ezwwaters, NYPD, Poetry, police involved shooting, police-involved killing, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment