Author Archives: William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

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About William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

William Eric Waters is an award-winning poet, fiction writer, essayist, educator, criminal-justice scholar, and nonprofit executive. Writing as William E. Waters, he is the author of the epic poem Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass and three poetry collections: Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats, The Black Feminine Mystique, and The Black Blood of Poetry. Under the pen name Easy Waters, he is the author of the novel Streets of Rage and the short-story collection Conundrums: Stories of Law & Justice. His work explores Black history, race, law, punishment, institutional power, accountability, redemption, and resilience.

Happy Black History Week!

Posted on February 2, 2025 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Uplifting my Black History Month Series Blog! Continue reading →

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Significance of Black History Month: A Deep Exploration

Posted on February 2, 2025 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Uplifting my Black History Series Blog. Next year will be the 100th Anniversary of what we know call Black History Month! Continue reading →

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Understanding MLK’s Legacy and America’s Complicated Past

Posted on January 19, 2025 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

The author’s political awakening began with the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, marking a profound shift in societal consciousness and the end of the Civil Rights Era. Reflections on history reveal a complex narrative dominated by white perspectives, with 1968 identified as a pivotal and traumatic year for America’s identity. Continue reading →

Posted in Politics & Public Affairs, Religion, Streets of Rage | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sausage, Cabbage, and Black Bread

Posted on September 21, 2024 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

During my seven-hour flight to Frankfort, Germany, I watched “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.”  Based on the book, Churchill’s Secret Warriors: The Explosive True Story of the Special Forces Desperadoes of WWII by Damien Lewis, the movie is a fictionalized … Continue reading →

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Rereading Richard Wright’s Black Boy

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

When I first read Richard Wright’s Black Boy more than 40 years ago when I was a teenager, little that I knew about literature,  I thought the writing was superb.  I was doing a little writing then and thought Wright … Continue reading →

Posted in Literature & Cultural Criticism | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A Fourth of July Day Lynching

Posted on July 5, 2024 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

For Norris Dendy 07.04.1933 (Clinton, South Carolina) To the Negro, what is the Fourth of July? A picnic celebration with family and friends Not a day to be beaten, not a day to die! On this celebration of Independence,  still … Continue reading →

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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 Criminal Justice & Punishment, Justice Chronicles, Politics & Public Affairs | 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 →

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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 →

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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 Books & Writing Projects, Criminal Justice & Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments