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Reckless Eyeballing

I had no idea that reckless eyeballing, once a crime black men who looked a white person directly in the eyes could die for, remained a punishable offense. I’m just happy that John Felton was only given a warning for this Neo-Jim Crow offense. Thankfully, Felton used his camera phone to record the episode. Here’s someContinue reading “Reckless Eyeballing”

Purpose?

“Everything must have a purpose?” asked God. “Certainly,” said man. “Then I leave it to you to think of one for all this,” said God. –Cat’s Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut

Exist.

“A flower doesn’t love you or hate you, it just exists.” -Mike White

Eternal Recurrence by Jim Campbell

Visiting Elgin Park

Danny Yourd’s short film highlights the eloquence of simple ideas through Michael Paul Smith’s imagined, miniature world, Elgin Park. The relentless bullying Smith endured as a child continues to haunt him and influenced his effort to build a model community where “everyone is welcome.”

Models Monday: Family Talk about Race is a Good Idea

If you are raising a black child in America, it’s best to hip them to the warrant that gets attached to their birth certificates.

An American Anniversary: Killing Michael Brown

Models Monday: Mental Illness and Us

Since last Monday, I have encountered at least three tragic stories of youth suicide. Heidi Swapp, the talented scrapbooker, shared that she had accompanied her son Cory to visit his therapist not knowing that it would be her last activity with him before he died. Swapp blogged the experience so as to thank supporters forContinue reading “Models Monday: Mental Illness and Us”

Models Monday: Yellow, Blue, Green…

During these trying times, I have decided to follow the example of Baby Suggs, a character in Toni Morrison’s Beloved who offers a brilliant response to the absurdity of racism and white supremacy. Like Baby, my plan going forward is to concentrate on whatever has been disarmed. As Baby explains to Stamp Paid, “[w]hat I haveContinue reading “Models Monday: Yellow, Blue, Green…”

Offensive Language?!

“Warning: This video contains offensive language.” Dashcam video relating to the egregiously foul arrest of Sandra Bland Me: Why isn’t the entire scene offensive? What right does this world have to a pretence of coyness?