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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

Tyrese’s Ignorance of the ‘Asian Hate Crimes Bill’ — Symptom of a Disease Too Big for Him To See

Even stars chase clout for more shine, but that’s not the real problem. After shrugging my shoulders and giving a gas face while watching The Shade Room’s Instagram reel of singer and actor Tyrese Gibson blasting the Biden-Harris administration for signing the so-called Asian Hate Crime Bill while ignoring the safety needs of Black and […]

Why Gaza’s Latest Unchosen Trauma Reflects a Sad Day in America

Reflecting on the Flour Massacre Israel starved the Gazans, and then murdered scores of them two days ago for starving. The Israeli military’s version of the story is that the unarmed Palestinians’ desperate rush towards the humanitarian aid trucks posed a threat to the soldiers on the ground. And US President Joe Biden still ships […]

Questions in January

If poverty in America was treated like an invading Russian army, how much lethal aid would the poor receive to eliminate it? If former President Donald Trump is elected president of the US again, Should current President Joe Biden flee the country as if it were Haiti? Should Vice President Kamala Harris leave? If Trump […]