The Decision to Murder Jordan Edwards

As the car carrying then-alive teenager Jordan Edwards departed a house party where everyone in the vehicle collectively felt was no longer safe to remain, Balch Springs, Texas police officer Roy Oliver’s calculations went from zero to I-need-to-kill-somebody within sub-seconds. Or perhaps Oliver was able to arrive at his deadly conclusion so quickly because he […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Reduce Stress — Stop Making Celebrities Your Spokespersons

After meeting with President-elect Donald Trump and pleading through the media to give the new leader of the free world a chance to make life better for the Black community, media star Steve Harvey made many of you more pissed when news arrived that he’ll work with Trump-picked HUD Secretary Ben Carson to improve inner cities. […]

If Donald Trump Was an Adult, This is How He Would Have Handled the John Lewis Situation

Let’s deal with an important point straightaway — is Congressman John Lewis completely right about announcing his plans to sit out of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration? Well, sure. Like it or not, this is America. Folks can wear “All Lives Matter” T-shirts, drink corn liquor by an open fire and swear that the last US President was […]

POST-ELECTION MEDITATIONS: WE’LL SURVIVE TRUMP

We lived under the leadership of a Ku Klux Klan-loving President who broadly rejected Japan’s 1919 Treaty of Versailles amendment that would view all races and countries as equals — likely because this President had more colonial ambitions to chase that involved nations of color. We lived under a president whose treatment of Black Mississippi […]

A STATE-SANCTIONED LYNCHING: 10 TAKEAWAYS FROM READING HEATHER ANN THOMPSON’S BLOOD IN THE WATER

“A state-sanctioned lynching” and “Bipartisan political cover-up” are only two of the screaming thoughts I had while reading Blood in the Water: the Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and its Legacy, by historian Heather Ann Thompson. Blood in the Water is a National Book Award finalist for Nonfiction this year. Of equal wrecking power are the […]