Unstable mixtures and missing chapters — Chekesia Clemons’ beef about plastic forks at Waffle House ends with being stripped and arrested by Alabama police

Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson’s arrests at the Philadelphia Starbucks and the story I just read about the Black woman who was choked, stripped and arrested by Alabama police officers — more on that in a moment — reminds me of a late-night encounter I saw in a downtown New York City diner from the […]

Starbucks, racist Holly Hylton and magic training

Do you think we’re anywhere near through discussing this racist, Central City Philadelphia Starbucks incident that resulted in the coffee shop’s manager, Holly Hylton, siccing police officers on two African descendants — Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson — for sitting in the café for just two minutes without buying anything? Hell. Naw. Starbucks could repeat […]

Happy Wrecka Stow Day — this post is probably not what you think

About the title of this piece — we’ll deal with that in a moment. I own records — and still buy them — but I don’t celebrate Record Store Day. Record stores — particularly when taking into account what they’ve been through — are only Barney Fife’ng themselves by selling high-priced releases on the day […]

Something to think about when the sight of two Black guys sitting in Starbucks makes you call the police

Unless you really dislike Black people, the video shared by author Melissa DePino of two African descendants being arrested by Philadelphia police officers for simply sitting in a Starbucks in advance of a business meeting should be uncomfortable to watch. @Starbucks The police were called because these men hadn’t ordered anything. They were waiting for […]

“Where are our leaders today?” you ask.

It’s been 50 years and three days after Dr. Martin Luther king Jr.’s assassination, and people still ask “Where are our leaders today?” Which makes me think of Americans’ funny attitudes about leaders. By 1964, a Gallup poll reported that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the fourth most admired person in America, even beating […]

Trump, Russia and MLK’s Assassination — I don’t see it

I perfectly understand that we’ll see more online Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. references as we move closer to the 50th anniversary of his assassination, but folks should stop recklessly making parallels where none should exist. Consortium News and writer Bob Katz stand guilty at the moment, after they paired the investigation of MLK’s death […]