Category Archives: race

For the Love of Poetry

Posted on January 13, 2026 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

I love poetry. It is only fitting that my fourth book of poetry, The Black Blood of Poetry, will be released this Valentine’s Day. Although this forthcoming selection, on its face, may not seem like “love poetry,” it is, because … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, ezwwaters, Growing Up, John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Poetry, Politics, race, Revolution, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats, Streets of Rage | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Journey Through Crime, Justice & Literature, Part III

Posted on January 3, 2026 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Continued… (If you missed the second installment, then click here: Journey Through Crime, Justice & Literature, Part II) The modern War on Crime, as we know it, was inaugurated with Richard Nixon’s campaign for the presidency in 1968. Nixon declared … Continue reading →

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Journey Through Crime, Justice & Literature, Part II

Posted on December 23, 2025 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

…Continued (If you missed the first installment, then click here: Journey Through Crime and Punishment, Part I.) Crime and Punishment was first published in The Russian Messenger, a literary journal, in twelve monthly installments in 1866. I reread passages of … Continue reading →

Posted in crime, ezwwaters, Justice Chronicles, juveniles, Murder, Parole, parole board, Politics, race, raising black boys, remorse | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

I Know Why the Caged Poet Sings

Posted on October 23, 2025 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

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 Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, crime, ezwwaters, Growing Up, Justice Chronicles, juveniles, NYPD, race, raising black boys, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats, Streets of Rage, Urban Impact | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Blacklight

Posted on October 1, 2025 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

I turn on the Blacklight, And look under America’s skin, Peeling away layers, Exposed is her skin disease, Her obsession with race, Her legacy of Slavery and Segregation – Those peculiar institutions!             The auction block, like a butcher’s block…. … Continue reading →

Posted in being a teenager, Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, ezwwaters, race, raising black boys, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats, Streets of Rage | Leave a comment

Celebrating 65 Years of Life

Posted on October 1, 2025 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

I saw the best minds of my generation drop out of school and get their education on the streets, in the schools of hard knocks: in group homes, reform schools, jails, reformatories, insane asylums, and prisons. They dropped out of … Continue reading →

Posted in being a teenager, Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, ezwwaters, Politics, race, raising black boys, Streets of Rage | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Cancel Culture Redux

Posted on September 20, 2025 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Revisiting “The Cancel-Culture Conundrum.” Continue reading →

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“Teaching” Alice Walker

Posted on September 17, 2025 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

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 →

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The Anatomy of Advocacy, Part 3: Strategy in Action – How They Won the Fight

Posted on August 27, 2025 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Inside the research, coalitions, and bipartisan sponsorship that led to Chapter 310 of the Laws of 2008 and discharges from lifetime parole. Continue reading →

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The Anatomy of Advocacy, Part 2: Birth of the Ad Hoc Committee on Lifetime Parole

Posted on August 20, 2025 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

How directly impacted New Yorkers formed the Ad Hoc Committee on Lifetime Parole and chose a winning strategy to change the law. Continue reading →

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