Category: Color of Law

I don’t live on the Earth just to live to walk it, I live on here to make a difference, and I’ve done a lot of things in the community of Houston and Florida, within the states, but I wanted to something more on a global level, and this is huge. I mean, it was…

As you probably heard, the Values Voters Summit was recently held in Washington, DC. What exactly is a values voter, and who exactly decides on the definition of a values voter? In the Orwellian world of conservative-Republican-Christian-fringe doublespeak, the goal is to confuse, obfuscate, distort and deceive. Concepts are intentionally misnamed to suggest a completely…

When the Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) disrupted the President’s healthcare address before a joint session of Congress, it was not the first time that a president from Illinois had trouble from a South Carolina lawmaker. The first time, of course, was when the Palmetto State became the first to secede from the Union. South Carolina…

James Baldwin warned: “It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” These poignant words come to mind when I think about that freak show, that hot mess that has passed for a dialogue on healthcare reform this past summer. On the one hand, the…

Much has been said about Michael Vick’s return to the NFL after serving 18 months in a federal prison for dog fighting. And I don’t have too much more to add to the discussion. As a pet owner, I cringe at the thought of someone torturing puppies. At the same time, there are many people…

I don’t have to tell you that it’s tough out there. I’m talking about the recession, of course. In the end, the bursting of America’s economic bubble is the worst financial news since the Great Depression. And ultimately, it is clear that the deleterious effects of U.S. capitalism know no race, ethnicity or class. Titans…

I learned very little about nothing much in particular from the Sonia Sotomayor hearings. I already knew that Sotomayor has impeccable credentials, and is far more intelligent than many of the senators, and all of the GOP senators, who were in judgment of her. I heard a great deal about the Republican agenda – as…

Did the music die? The recent passing of Michael Jackson made me ask that question. Recently I started thinking about the songs of my childhood, actually the soundtrack of my youth growing up in Southeast Queens, New York. I have fond memories of listening to LPs with my father on his old but reliable stereo…

On July 7, 2009, Roxroy Salmon – a Jamaican immigrant, activist and Brooklyn, New York resident – appeared before an immigration judge to determine his future in this country. In a worst case scenario, Salmon, a longtime resident of the U.S. with deep roots here, was ordered deported. What is his crime, you might ask?…

Welcome to my father’s homegoing! He was a simple man with an extraordinary life, A Georgia boy, born and raised in a wooden shack in Augusta, In the heart of Jim Crow, With segregation all around, And with lynchings always waiting just around the corner, Born to a Black Mama, And his old man was…