Category Archives: ezwwaters

Exploring Book Bans: The Impact on Black Literature

Posted on February 3, 2025 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

On a recent summer trip to Virgina, where one could argue that it all began in 1619, that is, the enslavement of Africans in what would become the United States of America, I stopped at a Barnes & Noble.  During … Continue reading →

Posted in Black History Month, Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, ezwwaters, Lest We Forget, Martin Luther King, Politics, race, Religion, Slavery | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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 Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, ezwwaters, Growing Up, Lest We Forget, Martin Luther King, Politics, race, raising black boys, Relationships, Religion, Revolution, Streets of Rage | 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 →

Posted in crime, ezwwaters, Family, Lest We Forget, Poetry, race | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

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