The footage from Ukraine just breaks your heart. The videos of everyday people picking up guns, or that one lady with the sunflower seeds? I mean, c’mon. Standing up for what you believe in? Battling a monolithic enemy against all odds? Defending your home, culture, and identity? I’m Black in America, this is my fight! The problem is, every time …
I’ve never understood why anyone would want to be a police officer. Even without the context and history of policing, why would someone want a career enforcing laws? Like, all of the laws? Laws change pretty frequently. What about the laws you find harmful or completely unjust? No matter your beliefs, there’s got to be a few of those, right? …
In the years prior to my dad’s untimely death in 2020, our relationship was tense at times. To be frank, Dad—while he was proud of my professional accomplishments—struggled with the context of my anti-racism work. As a Black man born and raised in the Deep South under Jim Crow, Dad often felt that while individual white people might try to …
To be in anti-racist work is to understand that none of us are above reproach and that, regardless of our identity, we have to be willing to continue learning and expanding. Part of that learning is the ability to sit with uncertainty and navigate the uncomfortable moments with truth and reflection. Despite the explosion in recent years of progressive white …
Joe Rogan has been in my newsfeed for weeks. I have a lot of feelings about Joe Rogan, many of which have already been voiced by Michael Harriot, but they all seem to lead back to the same exact question: What the hell happened to white boys? Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I think Joe Rogan types are …
Content warning; this post talks about suicide and suicidal ideation A few weeks ago, I found myself in a foreign place psychologically, momentarily feeling truly depressed and hopeless. Depression is not something that I have ever experienced to any major degree—no, my jam has always been anxiety. Anxiety and I met several months after my son was born, at the …
The truth bothers me. It always has. Not because I don’t like it, but because of the implied obligations. The truth will out and the truth will set you free and a million other clichés all express the idea that truth is a sort of unstoppable elemental force that, once revealed, will drive away the darkness and force us all …
When I wrote about racism back in the days of my Bangor Daily News column, the comments always included someone telling me I shouldn’t “hate myself” because I’m white. I always thought the readers were missing the point—I had worked through “white guilt” back in the ‘80s and ‘90s. I knew all the facts about how I wasn’t a “bad …
“First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Council-er or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to …
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Happy Friday! It’s a gorgeous day up in my corner of the world and way too beautiful to be writing a blog post today. So I present you with the Friday Round-Up a list of blog posts this week from other bloggers that blew my mind. Perhaps if you need to kill some time or have a quiet moment you can check them out. http://ravingblacklunatic.blogspot.com/ Check out this cat, I have been a fan of his work forever. http://www.whataboutourdaughters.com/ Good stuff here as well http://sweetersalt.com/ A Maine blogger who talks fashion and food…the best of both worlds http://paganchild-starmommy.blogspot.com/2011/03/keeping-focused.html A new blog that offers words of wisdom for all of us. http://mscleaver.com/ Another Mainer who for Lent is giving up pants, she is also a crafty gal If you have any links to good blogs, feel free to leave em. It’s my hope to make the Friday Round Up a regular feature at my new home specifically I would live to shine some light and love on smaller bloggers. It’s hard out here in this blogosphere with so many good blogs to choose from and so little time so let’s help everyone get a slice of the pie. I will be back on Monday, at that time I will unveil some ideas I have around monetizing things but You May Also Like: No related posts.
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My Black Thoughts
Just a few random and rambling thoughts from my middle-age Black mind. I have reached a bit of a crossroads, where I am truly struggling to grasp whether or not anti-racism work is simply feel-good busywork for white people. Or if transformational change is possible that doesn’t come at the emotional and mental expense of Black people and other people …
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