Tag Archives: Decisive Decade

Me and Malcolm X’s Murderer

Posted on February 21, 2022 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

On this day in American history, Malcolm X was murdered.  I was four years of age.  Fourteen years later, I would meet Malcolm X’s killer.  The first thought that crossed my mind: He, Thomas Hagan, is unremarkable.  And then: What … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, crime, Growing Up, Lest We Forget, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Murder, Nation of Islam, race, raising black boys, Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Fires This Time

Posted on June 5, 2020 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

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

Reading About Dreaming on the #2 Train

Posted on April 19, 2017 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

I am on a #2 train, heading uptown.  The train is delayed in the station.  An announcement: “A train in front of this one is having problems closing its doors.”  So we wait.  Recently, there was a fare hike.  It … Continue reading →

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If I Were President

Posted on November 19, 2016 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

My first political lesson came, about fifty years ago, via television.  As any other kid during that time, the Decisive Decade (the 1960s), while political assassinations, JFK, Malcolm X, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., RFK, and a host of … Continue reading →

Posted in ezwwaters, John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Patriotism, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Some thoughts on my novel, “Streets of Rage”

Posted on February 28, 2015 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Growing up in the early ’70s, the Black Power Movement, informed by Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam, and its offshoot the Five Percent Nation, informed the thinking of the best minds of my generation — including mine, if … Continue reading →

Posted in being a teenager, crime, ezwwaters, Growing Up, Streets of Rage | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The King is Dead!

Posted on January 20, 2014 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

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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