Take Me to the Alley

The Worst Moment for Blacks in Oscar History

(L) Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, Chris Rock Just as my family and I were about to turn off the 94th Academy Awards ceremony televised live on ABC, something happened that should lead to the permanent cancellation of all future shows. Will Smith walked up on stage during the live show and slapped the taste […]

C.T.: Prayer for the Living

Delivered by Jabari Simama at the Occasion of the Celebration of Life for C.T. Martin C.T. Martin Natatorium and Recreation Center May 15, 2021 Get up off your knees and open your eyes Do you see women sleeping beneath I-20 viaduct? Do you see the young men with whiskey lips on the bench in Doctors’ […]

CT Martin Joins Ancestors

The 84-year old long-serving member of the Atlanta City Council transcended this morning to join the ancestors. He was one of my best friends and always extended to me unconditional love. I will write more later about this gift to humanity and giant of a man who always spoke softly. May he RIP.

The Other Big Lie

In their fight against voter suppression Democrats and progressives should not believe that boycotts hurt low wage workers and small businesses. Do they think we’re stupid? Now we are supposed to stop putting pressure on corporations and businesses that stand idly by and let Republicans roll back hard fought gains on the voter rights front […]

My Friendship with Hammerin’ Hank Aaron

I am republishing this article from 27-years ago on my friendship with Hank Aaron around our mutual love for the game of tennis. Things got much better for him post 1994 but I still consider him largely under appreciated for what he meant to baseball, civil rights and black entrepreneurship. Fortunately, I last spoke with […]

Sweet Like Sugar, Black Firewalls, and Blues Killing Blacks

As 2020 draws to an end, the 7,000 healthcare workers who died trying to save others from the coronavirus give me hope. Their Eyes Were Watching God It took the coronavirus to show us the face of God in a cruel and often evil world. This certainly is true in the United States where more than […]

Dancing with Angels Revisited

I am reposting “Dancing with Angels” because I received a “like” today from this posting of nearly a year ago, around the time of death of Rep. Elijah Cummings. If you have already read it I hope you will reread it in light of all that has happened since its publication on December 21, 2019. […]

The Author’s Unedited Segments on White Supremacy & the Police

The sections cut from the article on the infiltration of white supremacists in U.S. police departments: In my column posted yesterday I recommended several reforms. Those reforms were not intended to ignore the larger problem of the infiltration of white-supremacist groups within the U.S. police departments. This article from Truthout explores this problem in more […]

What We Must Do to Stop Men in Blue From Killing Black People

Black Mayors and Protesters hold the key to transforming policing so the senseless deaths of many will not be in vain What has the U.S. become? Yes, our ancestors lived through the most inhumane form of slavery the world has known and many of us baby boomers endured Jim Crow. Others have lived through or heard […]