Separating families through border prisons or African drones — how US policies can make parts of the world unsafe for children

The 16-year old son of a suspected terrorist who made the US government’s assassination target list was killed by a US drone strike one evening — two weeks subsequent to an American missile tearing apart his father’s body. The boy — up to the the point where he was enjoying a outdoor, roadside meal by […]

Why a Trump-Kim Meeting Won’t Matter

Some of you act as if US President Donald Trump’s negotiations with North Korea President Kim Jong Un — in progress as I write — will matter. It won’t. And neither will a mythological new deal Trump wants to craft with Iran, nor the spectre of diplomatic brilliance commonly associated with the current nuclear arrangement […]

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 […]

As if tasing an 86-year old man is a tonic: a sad update about Albert Chatfield

Remember that horrifying story about 86-year old Albert Chatfield? The unarmed dementia sufferer was tased by a Kingstree, South Carolina police officer last October, after a brief car chase and subsequent verbal exchange. Chatfield’s injuries prompted the attending hospital to put him in a medically-induced coma in order to save his life. Here’s a sad […]

Stephon Clark — Killed for Daring to Be Human

“I feared for my safety and the well-being of my fellow officers.” “I feared for my life.” And in the shooting of Stephon “Zoe” Clark, the officers who shot the unarmed man were “fearing for their safety.” I’ve repeatedly written about how the killings of unarmed people of color by law enforcement personnel are almost […]