Racial Segregation and Death Through Secession — Jefferson County, Alabama Schools and the Rest of America

We’re witnessing an social crisis in Jefferson County, Alabama — a county with one of the worst measures of income inequality [PDF, page 15] in a state with one of the worst measures of income inequality, nestled in a country whose Gini Coefficient among industrialized nations is embarrassingly topped by only Mexico and Chile — that […]

Fire Spicer; Shut Down Pepsi; United Still Not Down

Politics aside, US Press Secretary Sean Spicer should be fired for being an idiot. President Trump is free to choose any Conservative he wants to serve as his mouthpiece. I’m just asking that he chooses among the smart ones. No need for me to break down Spicer’s waves of failing “Assad worse than Hitler” remarks […]

The MLK Speech You’ve Heard Before (But Not Really)

I’m recognizing the 49th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s assassination by posting his final speech — better known to many as “I have Been to the Mountaintop” — since many of us only know two minutes of it. Along with the media-saturated “I Have a Dream” speech by MLK, just playing the climax of […]

Wordcraft: Strangers in Their Own Land by Arlie Russell Hochschild

Listening to the replay of Tanya Free’s recent radio show reminded me that I should share my thoughts about Arlie Russell Hochschild’s National Book Award-Nominated work, Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right. (Ahem) I did commit to posting about each NBA shortlisted finalist entry … During the latter part of […]

Charles M. Blow to Trump Cheerleader I’m Not Your Petting Zoo Animal

I love Charles M. Blow. I may not always agree with him, but he’s on point most of the time and his fiery writing reflects a constant synchronization of signals with the African diasporic struggle. If you have no idea of what I just said, watch how the NY Times columnist regulated President Trump supporter and […]

Coons, Trump and Saving Chicago

I’m going to break an editorial rule for this blog and cover more than one main idea — namely cooning and lowering the City of Chicago’s crime rate. You’ve shamed those so-called Black leaders for attending Donald Trump’s debut Black History Month event as President of the United States. I disagree. I don’t instantly think […]

Sunday Smack: What Will Trump’s “Deal” for Black Colleges Look Like?

Black college lovers who suffer from Trumpxiety may have plenty to say about this week’s Sunday Smack: BuzzFeed News reported that the White House — through its public liaison leader Omarosa Manigault — is drafting an executive order concerning historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). During the same meeting where much of the media talked about how […]

Trump’s Alternative Black History: Endorsement of White Terrorism

After watching President Donald Trump get his talking point wrong about Frederick Douglass’ current status on earth, I percolated the idea of creating daily posts of the humorous sort about Trump’s Alternative Black History — but ultimately decided against this route. First — mentalunrest’s (deliberate lowercase M here) editorial policy tells me to cover topics […]

Trump’s Immigration Ban is Code for Coming War

President Trump’s despicable immigration ban against seven Muslim countries in the Middle East and Africa presents have clear evidence — in case any of you had doubts — that Trump has found common ground with the nutty neocon wing of the Establishment. I think that Trump still has barriers to cross in solidifying his relationship […]

Sunday Smack: Will Black Lives Matter Movement Wither Under Trump?

This week’s Sunday Smack concerns the Black Lives Matter movement in a Trump world. In September 2015, historian Victor Davis Hanson placed the BLM on death watch, and predicted its end to occur one year later: But like all the other past racially chauvinistic movements, “Black Lives Matter” will fail to convince anyone outside a small subset […]