“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 […]
Read More Juneteenth: Beyond the Watermelon and CookoutAmerican history tends to focus on the moment and perhaps four years prior — a dishonest practice. I’m going to help you ride-or-die political partisans focus your thoughts by prefacing this piece with my popular refrain for any mention I make about President Donald Trump: I believe he lacks the intellectual curiosity, skillset, and emotional […]
Read More This week’s Trump Insurrection has been a centuries-long projectI’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 […]
Read More Coons, Trump and Saving ChicagoEDIT (Jan. 19, 2026 / MLK Day): I’m resurfacing this post from over ten years ago because MLK is still flattened into a children’s-book version of himself every January. I have one quick item to clarify: the 1999 wrongful-death civil case was brought by the King family against Loyd Jowers, and the jury’s verdict found […]
Read More REMINDER: WHO KILLED MLK