Deed Theft Steals Homes. Why Does Organized Retail Crime Get More Outrage?

As Congress targets organized retail theft, America still struggles to show the same urgency when Black, Brown, older, and LMI homeowners lose generational wealth through deed theft. I recently remarked to friends over tea that government officials seem to be more outraged over groups of young adults stealing Gucci handbags than over people stealing houses. […]

Almost $5 Billion Was There for War in the Caribbean — But Not There for Brownsville, Brooklyn

Over the past year, America has found money for military adventures in Venezuela, the Caribbean, and the Eastern Pacific. We’re talking about boat strikes, naval deployments, oil blockades, and regime-change — for national security. Brown University’s Costs of War Project and the Institute for Policy Studies estimate that America’s operations in the region cost at […]

No Arts, No Society: What Syracuse University’s Cuts Really Mean

Economic pressures make more students choose between Rent or Shakespeare — while ignoring what the arts can do for them and others. Syracuse University announcing it will respond to student demand and financial pressures by closing or halting a fifth of its academic programs — with a focus on the humanities — is a red […]

‘Free Diddy’ Won’t Free Us

Or how our emotional investments in questionable symbols of Black excellence continue to fail us. I have three thoughts about the large engagement of African American energy in Diddy’s innocence from creating a criminal enterprise over an azz of one. “Tight p**sy”. “Loose shoes”. A “warm place to s**t”. You should Google that. Or read […]

Menacing Hype Women and Pokémon Collections Aren’t the Threat — Or What’s Really Killing Us?

Love is an underused superpower. Check this visual: a woman introduces her man’s vinyl collection like it’s a third-grade science fair project — and then dares the internet to clap back. But some folks in our online village think they found the latest existential threat to Black masculinity. The comments are cruel. Commenters called the […]

Juneteenth: Beyond the Watermelon and Cookout

“Hmm. Didn’t know where to go. Turned us out just like, you know, you turn out cattle. [ laugh ] I say. Didn’t know where ta go.”—Laura Smalley, former slave in antebellum Texas; interviewed the Library of Congress’ Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project Laura Smalley’s recollection of living in Texas […]

Sly Stone — A Beautiful Prince of Blacknuss

Departed and Beloved Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s “Blacknuss” was more than a song and catchy title. it represented a glowing aesthetic. A unique language — never rooted in hate. A conveyance of history, struggle, creativity, and joy. Hell, Kirk even played the black notes on the piano when he performed the song live. “Blacknuss” represents a […]

Strange Brew: Smartphones are Shaping Our Lives

Are you living outside your screen? Hannah Arendt warned us that technology can cut both ways — open new doors while narrowing important ones. A walk through Chelsea a few years ago made me see her point. While on my way to watch legendary bassist Melvin Gibbs give a free performance at an art gallery, […]

Spotify Antics — It’s Not Payola, But Still Funny …

The curious case of Feg Hero I could easily pile on the legit concerns of musicians and writers about Spotify looking like a Trojan Road to a long-devalued destination called “exposure” … I mean, if Spotify’s paying creators chewing gum money, what other reason would bands have to stay on this platform? It’s the reanimation […]

Obama, Harris, Black Men, Black Women, and the Bigger Problem No One Talks About

As if white supremacy has nothing to do with this … Black men’s apparent problem with Vice President Kamala Harris running for Commander in Chief and former President Barack Obama admonishing those men about their feelings show how white supremacy — no, not white people — has such a voodoo headlock on Black intimate partnerships […]