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Category Archives: raising black boys
Chadwick Boseman: In Memoriam – Black Panther!
Two years ago, in preparing to deliver a high school graduation commencement address at the Fedcap School in Orange, New Jersey, I researched a number of commencement addresses by pop culture characters and personalities. During my research, I came across … Continue reading
Posted in being a teenager, Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, ezwwaters, Lest We Forget, raising black boys, Urban Impact
Tagged ##BlackSuperHeroesMatter, #WakandaForever, Black Lightning, Black Panther, BlackLivesMatter, Bruce Lee, Chadwick Boseman, Fedcap School, Howard University, Jackie Robinson, James Brown, Panthers, Superfly, Superheroes, Superman
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“Final” Touches on The Black Blood of Poetry
Early this morning I put the “final” touches on my title poem, “The Black Blood of Poetry.” I wasn’t going to post it, but it is timely, and I’d rather not wait until the collection is published to put this … Continue reading
Posted in Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, crime, James Baldwin, Lest We Forget, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Murder, Nation of Islam, Poetry, Politics, race, raising black boys, Revolution, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats, Sonny's Blues, Streets of Rage
Tagged "I can't breathe!", #AllLivesMatter, BlackLivesMatter, Blood in My Eye, Emmett Till, Fred Hampton, George Floyd, James Baldwin , James Chaney, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., Medgar Evers, Ossie Davis, Soledad Brother, The Black Blood of Poetry
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The Black Blood of Poetry
Over the weekend I got some good work done on my title poem, “The Black Blood of Poetry.” A little more than twenty years ago, a poet-friend, Rachel Wetzsteon, who committed suicide in December 2009, perhaps because she felt too … Continue reading
Posted in being a teenager, Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, crime, ezwwaters, Lest We Forget, Poetry, race, raising black boys, Relationships, Streets of Rage
Tagged "If We Must Die", Black Summer, BlackLivesMatter, Claude McKay, Emmett Till, Medgar Evers, Pantoum, Rachel Wetzsteon, Sonnet, suicide of Rachel Wetzsteon, The Black Blood of Poetry, The Black Feminine Mystique, Villanelle
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“The Man Who Cried I Am!”: Celebrating Fifty Years of Life
It seems like only yesterday when I wrote this piece as I approached a milestone birthday, but it’s been nearly ten years. As I approach another milestone birthday, I am looking to complete my fourth collection of poetry, entitled, The … Continue reading
Posted in being a teenager, Black patriotism, Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, crime, ezwwaters, Growing Up, juveniles, Patriotism, race, raising black boys, Relationships, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats, Streets of Rage, Urban Impact
Tagged Allen Ginsberg, Granada, Howl!, Panama, The Black Blood of Poetry, The Pedagogy of the Oppressed, The Wretched of the Earth
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A Bibliography of Police Misconduct for Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats
As I have indicated elsewhere, when working on my collection of poetry about police misconduct, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats, I drew on news reports and headlines. While doing a little Spring cleaning, I came across the original manuscript … Continue reading
Posted in Amadou Diallo, being a teenager, Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, crime, Justice Chronicles, juveniles, Lest We Forget, Murder, NYPD, Poetry, police involved shooting, police-involved killing, Politics, race, raising black boys, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats, Streets of Rage, Urban Impact
Tagged "A Bit of Justice", "Black undercover cop is shot; a case of possibble 'friendly fire'", "City Hall rally rebukes Workfare, "Don't let it happen again", "Los Angeles Officer Is Held in Drug Theft in Unusual Graft Case", "Neighbors call shooting unjust", "No Way Out", "Police brutaliy protesters rally against 'Stolen Lives'", "Police kill suspect in domestic dispute", "Real reform can stop police brutality", "Settlement of $3 Million in Fatal Choking by Officer", "The War at Home", BlackLivesMatter, Charles Brooks, Daniel Wise, Daryle Lamont Jenkins, Ed Morales, Gore Vidal, Herb Boyd, John Milgrim, Margaret Sena-Stahl, Michael Randall, New York Amsterdam News, Peter Richmond, police brutality, Suspect shot by cop still in ICU"
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The Slaughter of the Innocents
In the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd, I have been rereading some of my poems in my collection about police misconduct, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats. I am even more disturbed now than when in 1995 I … Continue reading
Posted in being a teenager, crime, Growing Up, Justice Chronicles, juveniles, Lest We Forget, Murder, NYPD, police involved shooting, police-involved killing, race, raising black boys, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats, Streets of Rage
Tagged BlackLivesMatter, cops and robbers, police killing, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats, The Slaughter of the Innocents, toy guns
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ABRACADABRA! Or Notes on the War on Crime, Redux
In 1989 I wrote an award-winning essay, “ABRACADABRA! Or Notes on the War on Crime.” In it I mentioned those magic words crimefighting politicians would utter as the solution to the “crime problem”: “more police, more prisons, longer prison terms.” … Continue reading
Posted in crime, Justice Chronicles, Martin Luther King, police-involved killing, Politics, race, raising black boys, Streets of Rage
Tagged Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, Bill Clinton, crime, DerekChauvin, Donald Trump, Dr. King, George Bush, George Floyd, hyper incarceration, Loic Wacquant, Mass Incarceration, Rev. Martin Luther King, Ronald Reagan
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On this day in history, May 4, 1992 — Worst of Los Angeles Riots Ends
The 1992 Los Angeles Riots erupted on April 29, 1992, after police officers who were videotaped beating Rodney King, a black man, during a traffic stop were acquitted of criminal charges. Initially peaceful protests grew larger and turned violent, as … Continue reading
On this day in history, May 3, 1946 — Black Teen Survives Louisiana Electric Chair
In 1945, a black sixteen-year-old named Willie Francis was sentenced to death in St. Martinville, Louisiana. Willie was convicted of killing Andrew Thomas, a fifty-three-year-old Cajun pharmacist, and the case revealed many flaws in the state’s justice system: Willie’s jury … Continue reading
Posted in crime, Justice Chronicles, race, raising black boys, Streets of Rage, Urban Impact
Tagged Andrew Thomas, Betrand DeBlanc, Black Teen Survives Louisiana Electric chair, cruel and unusual punishment, death penalty, double jeopardy, executiion, Francis v. Resweber, Gruesome Gertie, Martinville Louisiana, state sponsored killing, United States Supreme Court, Willie Francis
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