On Harvey Weinstein and Why We Allow Women and the Law to Become Objects in His Orbit

An indication that you’re reading a mentalunrest piece is when the writer does something out of the ordinary like discuss sexual predator Harvey Weinstein’s relationship with the Democratic Party, find something like an unusual story connection to the Black Lives Matter movement, throw in a quick Republican Party comparison and then reach a broader conclusion […]

Attention Black Folks: You Are Now Moors. Prepare to be Silenced (Again)

At this point, we’re all aware of President Donald Trump’s deeper-than-subcutaneous dislike towards people of color’s demonstrations against injustice in all forms, so the FBI’s recent intelligence assessment of the threat posed by black identity extremists (BIEs), reported by Foreign Policy, can be viewed as a multi-purpose branding campaign, respectively repurposed from the 1970s and […]

The Las Vegas Route 91 Shootings Show Many Things Wrong With America Right Now

The dead and wounded bodies in Las Vegas as a result of Stephen Paddock’s shooting rampage at the Route 91 Harvest Festival show there are so many things wrong in America today. Like Paddock had the right to buy nearly two dozen guns, no questions asked, to kill 59 people and wound about 540 more […]

So, What Happened with Pissed-Off Nepal Mountain Woman and That Terrified British Mom?

“No Katmandu.” “No Pokhara.” “No Manang.” First World problems, meet your cousin: Third World problems. I have sooooooo many mixed thoughts about Gemma Wilson and her 15-year old son Charlie — who are now famous for being chased by a two-stick swinging, rock-throwing Nepali woman who supposedly lost her Third World cool after Mama Wilson […]

Colin Kaepernick Kneels Because You Kneeled First

One Saturday morning about 47 years ago, soldiers entered a tropical hamlet in search of enemy fighters and killed more than 500 unarmed civilians, many at point-blank range. One of the execution methods also included throwing a villager down a well, and then chasing the lethal cocktail with a detonated hand grenade. several of the […]

WATCH LIVE: Cellist Aniela Marie Perry Plays 24 Hours Straight

Sheila Ellis from the band Annabel (lee) made me aware of a pretty badazz event taking place right now: Aniela Marie Perry is playing for a straight 24 hours and blending musical styles to support the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund — a nonprofit that provides financial assistance to musicians in need. Among her many projects, […]

Sunday Smack: What About This Race Conversation?

This Sunday Smack deals with a question I’ve indirectly brought up in previous posts: the conversation about race. Is a conversation necessary? Whose minds would you like to change as a result of a conversation? After what we’ve seen in America during the past two weeks, do you think a conversation would change anyone’s mind? […]

Trump Makes a Valid Point About ‘Changing Culture’

My main point about yesterday’s memorable press conference with President Donald Trump has less to do with his full turn of opinion when he reestablished air cover for his Alt-Right peeps by reincarnating his “Many sides” theory as an explanation for the death and racial violence this past weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia. But I should […]

Whose Streets? Film and the New Black Leadership

Although I plan to see the Ferguson, Missouri uprising documentary Whose Streets? in a theater this week, I’ve declined to write about the film up to this point because mentalunrest’s editorial policy typically forbids me from writing about media I’ve neither seen nor experienced, but I have to share some thoughts about the recent and […]

Let’s Revisit Robots and Minimum Wage Fast Food Workers

I’m not a fan of convenience stores. But I get the case for why so many of us visit them — familiar structures located within the familiarity of our neighborhood’s borders, and merchandised with a limited set of familiar choices to enable easy purchase decisions. The world is already difficult to navigate. We love “easy” […]