Happy Born Day, Prince!

Prince w̶a̶s̶ is a Rocker. And Prince w̶a̶s̶ is Black music. No contradiction at all. Prince: Question — You like Rock & Roll? [Audience cheers] Prince: Me too. One difference though, I like Rock and Roll — Fun-kay. —Prince, live in Montreux, Switzerland; July 15, 2013 Can’t forget Prince’s birthday today! We all miss him. […]

A reminder that police violence is a danger to communities’ mental health. And research supports that claim.

Premature mortality, mental trauma, depression, anxiety … Warning: embedded videos contain graphic violence. What if your innocent and non-threatening family member or neighbor was attacked by a police dog — like then-52-year old Desiree Collins was when she was taking out her household trash nearly three years ago? How do you think Collins should feel […]

Buffalo Police Department’s 57-member tactical team resigned after the city suspended two officers for shoving 75-year old Martin Gugino to the ground, making him bleed. Good.

Eff them. They didn’t completely leave the force, but they should. I’ll riff off an old Funkadelic song: America eats its old. Peak oppression displays one of its most dangerous inhumane tendencies to the world when institutions begin to publicly abuse children and elders who appear to question authority. The violently-repressive nationwide response by police […]

Obama’s policing town hall remarks [yawn] and why #defundthepolice is not a bad word and an arguably good idea

We have to think about — what does it look like to have a future without police? Phillipe Cunningham; Minneapolis, Minnesota Council Member I get that former President Barack Obama had the marquee name in yesterday’s virtual “Reimagining policing in the Wake of Continued Police Violence” town hall — it’s been almost eight years since […]

Soul, Jazz and Dance Music: Roger Williams comes through again with a podcast for the earhole

I’m going to add more music posts to this blog. All kinds of music. Old and new. We need to break up the heavily-political posts with a different set of vibes. But don’t worry — I don’t plan to dilute a single race or political post. I’m currently relistening to the third installment of music […]

Police beating resulted in 9 staples to activist Jason Rosenberg’s head Tuesday night

Warning: please skip this post if you are easily triggered by video or other media that describes police violence. Cops hate the phrase “Fuck the police”. In my experience, no one is raised to say “Fuck the police.” People are conditioned over time to say it. The people who say “Fuck the police” speak from […]

Carry this thought with the George Floyd justice protests: income inequality is the highest in a half-century

The numbers suggest people demand change — regardless of what the stock market says. People need to connect relevant reasons to protest with their personal lives so they can hit the streets with conviction. In many cases, these reasons combine to drive even more energy into crowds. In the case of the George Floyd protests, […]

Trump said tonight that Americans live in a White junta-led theocracy — he must be really desperate

Whether or not this is news to you, welcome to the new (old) country. BTW — his concern for George Floyd’s death, police brutality, and racial equity seems so … distant … Just before 7 pm tonight — and after we’ve experienced President Donald Trump’s three-and-a-half year siren song of “Make America Great Again” — […]

Time for the obligatory Colin Kaepernick post: y’all should’ve listened to him in 2016

Most Americans, myself included, do not endorse looting in response to injustice. But your preference to discuss looting over racial equity right now misses the point Kap was making nearly four years ago. I’m breaking an editorial rule for this blog by stating what seems to be the most obvious viewpoint that’s been proven by […]

Columbus, Ohio police attacked US Congresswoman Joyce Beatty during George Floyd march

Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH) was attending a Justice for George Floyd protest in Downtown Columbus, one of the many protests taking place across America, where police officers pepper-sprayed the Congresswoman and her colleagues. No one from Representative Beatty’s group was arrest. By the way, brilliant camerawork by Columbus Dispatch photographer Kyle Robertson. Tweet of the […]