Category Archives: Murder

“Blue Knight Riders,” from my book, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats

In light of the Governor of Missouri activating the National Guard, in anticipation of the Grand Jury not indicting the police officer who killed Michael Brown, I decided to post this poem from my book, “Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black … Continue reading

Posted in being a teenager, Ferguson, Justice Chronicles, juveniles, Michael Brown, MIssouri, Murder, police involved shooting, raising black boys, Revolution, Urban Impact | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Parole, higher education, felony-murder and more

CPR has been in the forefront, advocating for fair parole practices in New York since it was founded in 1999.  Since then, other advocates and people who care about justice have looked at the issue of parole.  Right now, the … Continue reading

Posted in Justice Chronicles, Life Sentences, Murder, Parole, Politics, Reentry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Waiting for Parole — Between Hope and Despair

One of the most powerful forces is hope, oftentimes counterbalanced by despair.  In the criminal justice system, nothing inspires more hope than the possibility of being granted and being released to parole supervision.  On the other hand, nothing drops one … Continue reading

Posted in Justice Chronicles, Life Sentences, Murder, Parole, Politics, Reentry, Shawshank Redemption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

We Are All on Trial with Jesus: And We Must Take a Stand (An Excerpt from a Sermon I gave years at Sing Sing Prison, and at Rye Presbyterian Church)

In this age where one sensational trial replaces another, where we greedily consume the latest lurid details in the Lorena Bobbitt trial, the abused woman who took a pound of flesh from her husband, John Wayne Bobbitt, or the trial … Continue reading

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The King is Dead!

The King is dead! I was 7 years young when Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. Growing up in the ‘60s, what one historian called the Decisive Decade, there was death all around. At 7, I didn’t understand the impact … Continue reading

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Even a Black Poet is Considered Armed and Extremely Dangerous

(For Henry Dumas) It was a time when a president, a presidential candidate, a Prince of Peace, a Black knight in shining armor, and Black Panthers, were gunned down. Assassinations with political ramifications. But who’d think that a poet would … Continue reading

Posted in Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Murder, Poetry, Politics, Revolution, Uncategorized, Urban Impact | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment