Join me today to support the growing movement to demand livable wages for fast food workers. The rally is today, July 30, from 4:3o-5:30 pm at Keiner Plaza, downtown St. Louis. You’ve heard their personal stories. I’ve written about their struggles. Now, we need to building the pressure on the fast food industry which is making billions off the sub-standard wages of these workers. St. Louis is part of the national media conversation so let’s represent!

Did you really think that was the real Rachel Jeantel in the Seminole County courtroom. Subsequent interviews show her to be a bright and witty teen. Now Tom Joyner wants to give her a college scholarship. (Kudos to Joyner–this is what you do with the influence and wealth The People give you.) I hope Rachel becomes an attorney and kick some butt in the legal cesspool. But whatever she does with her life, she’ll do with gusto and purpose and tell all the naysayers…

In my recent St. Louis column (which has to be written a week in advance),  it was clear that I was cushioning my readers for a crash landing on the air field of American justice. The news of the verdict was not surprising but like a loved one who you know is dying, when that moment comes it still brings a gut-wrenching emotional response.

For black folks, we read the verdict clearly: black life has no value.

Now comes the part of how we translate that reality into the daily life of a people under seige from many different directions.  We gotta mobilize/organize beyond the angry protests.