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Category Archives: Literature & Cultural Criticism
I Know Why the Caged Poet Sings
Some of my favorite poets happen to be named William – William Shakespeare, William Blake, William Wordsworth, and William Carlos Williams. When I meet most people, I often ask them what their names mean or the backstory of their names. … Continue reading
Posted in Justice Chronicles, Literature & Cultural Criticism, Streets of Rage
Tagged Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, Countee Cullen, fiction, George Washington, Growing Up, juveniles, life, NYPD, raising black boys, short-story, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats, Thomas Jefferson, travel, William Blake, William Carlos Williams, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, writing, Yet Do I Marvel
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“Teaching” Alice Walker
In preparation for a lecture in the course I teach, African American Literature in the 20th Century, I am re-reading excerpts from Alice Walker’s In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens: Womanist Prose. In her prose, Walker makes nearly perfect sense. … Continue reading
Posted in Justice Chronicles, Literature & Cultural Criticism, Politics & Public Affairs, Streets of Rage
Tagged Alice Walker, Brownfield, Grange Copeland, In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose, Mister, personal, Poetry, Relationships, Rodney King, Saving the Life That Is Your Own: The Importance of Models in the Artist's Life, sex, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats, Streets of Rage, The Color Purple, The Third Life of Grange Copeland, women
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Rereading Richard Wright’s Black Boy
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 being a teenager, Black Boy, Black Patriotism, Confederacy, Confederate flag, Family, fathers, Growing Up, Nashville TN, New South, North Carolina, raising black boys, Relationships, Richard Wright, Segregation, Slavery, Strange Fruit, Virginia, World War II
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Netflix’s “The Fall of the House of Usher”
I just finished binge-watching Netflix’s “The Fall of the House of Usher,” ostensibly about Edgar Allan Poe’s short story of the same name, with a modern twist. People familiar with Poe’s works will see that much of his work beyond … Continue reading
James Baldwin’s Journey Through Politics
Thirty years ago I wrote an essay, “The Election Time Blues.” It spoke about how political discourse in America was depressing; at least, it depressed me, and it continues to do so. When crime is on the platform, it becomes … Continue reading
Posted in Literature & Cultural Criticism, Politics & Public Affairs
Tagged "Journey to Atlanta", Abraham Lincoln, Bill Clinton, Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, Donald Trump, Franklin D. Roosevelt, George H.W. Bush, Harriet Tubman, Isabel Wilkerson, James Baldwin, Joe Biden, John F. Kennedy, Nelson Rockefeller, patriotism, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Slavery, The Best and the Brightest, Willie Horton
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Maya Angelou Redux
On this, Maya Angelou’s birthday, I thought I would repost a blog, “Maya Angelous: A Muse for All.” On this Day of Love, also known as Valentine’s Day, I want to uplift an author and one of her books, I … Continue reading
William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters 