“Scared Negro Syndrome”

The late, great Maynard Holbrook Jackson, for whom the Atlanta airport, the busiest in the world, was partially named for often talked about something he called the “scared Negro syndrome.” Many of us would laugh nervously when he would use this term, referring to an African American who was too afraid of pissing off, raising […]

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Aretha: The Poem

I don’t know why Aretha’s transition hit me so hard and affected me so deeply. I have never met her. She’s just a pop culture superstar. Right? Marvin, Michael, and Whitney all preceded her in death. When they left I listened to their music and admired their greatness. But now I am in the second […]

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