Category Archives: Relationships

The Dead Can’t Bury the Dead!

In Shakespeare love often happens in the context of a tragedy: Hamlet and Ophelia in Hamlet; Romeo and Juliet in the play of the same name; Othello the Moor and Desdemona in Othello; Aaron the Moor and Tamora, Queen of … Continue reading

Posted in ezwwaters, Relationships | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

My Pandora

Hope remains! (Disclaimer: Ladies, women, womenfolk, and girls, I know that a man wrote the myth about Pandora, blaming women, as the writer of the Hebrew Bible also blamed a woman, Eve, for all the evils let loose in the … Continue reading

Posted in ezwwaters, Poetry, Relationships | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

My Two White Sisters

One day, when we were kids, Mommy made a Pronouncement: “Today, you are going to meet your white relatives.”  I don’t recall meeting our white relatives (maybe I was traumatized), but I remember this pronouncement.  I was still innocent, and, … Continue reading

Posted in being a teenager, Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, Family, Genealogy, Lest We Forget, Politics, race, raising black boys, Relationships | Tagged | Leave a comment

An American Odyssey

I like a good story, one reason why I like Greek comedies and tragedies, and I fancy myself a storyteller.  So, I’ll tell you a story. . . Once upon a time (1973), Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York State … Continue reading

Posted in crime, ezwwaters, Family, Justice Chronicles, Lest We Forget, Life Sentences, Mother's Messages, Osborne Association, Politics, race, Reentry, Relationships, urban decay, Urban Impact | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Triumphing Through Levels of Grief

Today is International Women’s Day.  During Black History Month and these first couple of days in Women’s History Month, I have uplifted women, mostly women authors.  Today, though, I want to uplift a woman near and dear to my heart, … Continue reading

Posted in being a teenager, Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, ezwwaters, Family, Fatherhood, Fathers, Growing Up, juveniles, Lest We Forget, Mother's Messages, raising black boys, Relationships, Religion, Urban Impact | Tagged | Leave a comment

I Wanna Go to Bailey’s Cafe

Gloria Naylor is another Scheherazade.  She was a consummate storyteller, wrote beautifully, created engaging stories and characters we could judge if so inclined by the content of their character, not their race.  Unlike Alice Walker, Naylor’s male characters have more … Continue reading

Posted in Lest We Forget, race, Relationships | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“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 , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Fires This Time

Last year, 2019, we marked 400 years since Africans were brought to Virginia and America’s “peculiar institution” took root. Since then, in the annals of American history, there has been systematic oppression and brutality against the descendants of Africans in … Continue reading

Posted in being a teenager, Black patriotism, James Baldwin, Justice Chronicles, juveniles, Lest We Forget, Martin Luther King, police involved shooting, police-involved killing, Politics, race, raising black boys, Relationships, Revolution, Slavery, Streets of Rage | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Prison Walls v. Love — Review of “Memoirs of a Prison Lawyer/Prison Wife,” by Claudette Spencer-Nurse

Memoirs of a Prison Lawyer/Prison Wife, by Claudette Spencer-Nurse, is a love story.  It is an improbable love story.  It is a love story that has defied the odds.  It is a love story for the ages.  It is a … Continue reading

Posted in Amadou Diallo, Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, crime, Family, Justice Chronicles, Life Sentences, Parole, parole board, police involved shooting, police-involved killing, race, Reentry, Relationships, remorse | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment