Tag Archives: Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats

National Poetry Month

Posted on April 3, 2022 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

April is National Poetry Month. Purchase and read one of my three books of poetry. My first, award-winning book, Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass: Co-winner of the Edwin Mellen Poetry Prize . . . this poem is … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Shadows and Through the White Looking Glass, crime, ezwwaters, Justice Chronicles, Mother's Messages, Murder, NYPD, Poetry, police involved shooting, police-involved killing, Politics, race, raising black boys, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Prosecuting Murder Most Foul!

Posted on April 15, 2021 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

In 1976, a childhood friend, at age 16, was charged, tried and convicted of felony-murder as an unarmed nonkilling accomplice, where robbery was the underlying felony, in which an individual was killed by one of my friend’s codefendants, with a … Continue reading →

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“Sound of da Police”

Posted on February 25, 2021 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

In his 2000 album, his first solo album, “Return of the Boom Bap,” KRS-One has a classic rap about da police, entitled, “Sound of da Police.” The chorus begins: Woop-woop! That’s the sound of da police Woop-woop! that’s the sound … Continue reading →

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Black Lives Have Always Mattered

Posted on February 8, 2021 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

More than 20 years ago, long before #BlackLivesMatter, I noticed a disturbing trend: almost everyday in the news there was a case of police brutality, mostly against Black people, with a few white people sprinkled in because, even though this … Continue reading →

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The Slaughter of the Innocents

Posted on June 18, 2020 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

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 , , , , , | Leave a comment

Blue Knight Riders

Posted on June 15, 2020 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Despite national and even global protests on police misconduct and killings of unarmed Black men, another Black male, Rayshard Brooks, is shot twice in the back by a white police officer in Atlanta, Georgia for what amounts to sleeping while … Continue reading →

Posted in police involved shooting, police-involved killing, race, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats, Streets of Rage | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Black Blood of Poetry

Posted on June 12, 2020 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

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 , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

In the Line of Duty

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

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 , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Latter-Day Heroes and the Drug War

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

There was a time when heroes Died on Holy Quests Nowadays they die For meaningless drug arrests Just fulfill the quota Undercover in the field “Buy and bust” the mission Awarded the Gold Shield Quasi-military honors If in battle die … Continue reading →

Posted in Commissioner Broken Windows, Commissioner William Bratton, crime, Justice Chronicles, Mayor Bill de Blasio, NYPD, Poetry, Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats, urban decay, Urban Impact | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

From my book, “Sometimes Blue Knights Wear Black Hats” — for Eric Garner, RIP

Posted on December 3, 2014 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Blue Knight Riders They don’t wear white sheets Or burn crosses in the night, But there’s an unmistakable connection Between these blue and white knights. They kill innocent Black males For horrific crimes real and imagined, And because grand juries … Continue reading →

Posted in crime, Justice Chronicles, Murder, NYPD, police-involved killing, Politics, Uncategorized, Urban Impact | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment