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Category Archives: Urban Impact
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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“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 Black Blood of Poetry
I am working on my fourth collection of poetry, entitled “The Black Blood of Poetry.” I first came across that phrase in the works of an Eastern European poet, whom I can’t remember, but I remember the phrase because it … Continue reading
Posted in Lest We Forget, police involved shooting, police-involved killing, race, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats, Streets of Rage, Urban Impact
Tagged "If We Must Die", American history, BlackLivesMatter, Claude McKay, George Floyd, Hero worship, heroes, PEN American Center, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats, The Black Blood of Poetry, Vision Zero
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“NYPD detective indicted on perjury charges: DA”
Joseph Franco, a suspended NYPD detective, was indicted for perjury, official misconduct and filing false documents in connection with narcotic cases he was involved in between 2017 and 2018. As a result of Franco’s perjury and related charges, three people … Continue reading
Ham Sandwiches, Indictments, and Unjust Convictions
One of the fundamental problems of the U.S. criminal legal system is the nearly unfettered power of prosecutors to indict, so much so that Judge Learned Hand once quipped that a prosecutor could get a ham sandwich indicted. (Note that … Continue reading
Posted in crime, Justice Chronicles, Streets of Rage, Urban Impact
Tagged a prosecutor can get a ham sandwich indicted, Charles Hynes, Disney World, Elizabeth Holtzman, exculpatory evidence, exonerations, Grand Juries, Jonathan fleming, Judge Learned Hand, Kenneth P. Thompson, Solomon "Sol" Wachtler
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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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This day in history — April 7, 1712 — Enslaved People Revolt in New York City
In 1712, New York City had a large enslaved population and the city’s whites feared the threat of rebellion. Enslaved people in New York City suffered many of the same brutal punishments and methods of control faced by their counterparts … Continue reading
Posted in Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, race, raising black boys, Slavery, Urban Impact
Tagged A History of Racial Injustice, Akans, Caromantees, Colonial Governor Robert Hunter, Creoles, EJI, Native Americans, Paws-Paws, slave revellion, slave revolt, Slavery, The Equal Justice Initiative, West Africa
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In the Line of Duty
The heroes are dead and nothing else matters Under a gray sky the women are dressed in black At the grave site hearing homilies paying homage to heroics Their sobs background music to pontificating politicians Under a gray sky the … Continue reading
Posted in Commissioner Broken Windows, Commissioner William Bratton, crime, Justice Chronicles, Murder, NYPD, Poetry, police-involved killing, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats, urban decay, Urban Impact
Tagged Commissioner Broken Windows, Commissioner William Bratton, Dead of a Police Officer, P.O. Randolph Holder, politicians, politicos, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats
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Easy Waters 