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Freedom Dreams Deferred

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Freedom Dreams Deferred: The State of the Black Liberation Movement

Published by BlackCommentator.com on December 16, 2021

I have found this year to be one of extreme distress for the Black Liberation Movement. There were many warning bells going off that apparently were only heard by the freedom dreamers. What we see is an unrecognizable movement around us. How did we get here? Who have we become? How do we get on track?

Robin Kelley talks about the Black radical imagination in his seminal contribution to our struggle, Freedom Dreams. Kelley examines the “emancipatory vision” of generations who push our movements in new and radical directions. The vision has been not just been put at bay as Kelley suggests. I believe the accumulation of ancestral knowledge and contemporary lessons that begs for our rigorous study and appreciation has been trampled on by those seeking gratuitous fame on the backs of the Black working class.

Our movements have seen an awakening on many levels that must be summed up, discussed and put into new transformative strategies for the next period. I believe the answers to the above questions can be found in the renewed commitment to building a strong and viable Black Left. Read more

It’s Time for a Change

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Published in the St. Louis American on April 1, 2021

It’s time for a change

The City of St. Louis will have a big decision on April 6. Voters will not just be electing a new mayor, we’ll also be hitting the reset button for a new direction for a city that’s been stumbling around in the dark for far too long.

The next mayor will inherit a violent, incorrigibly racist place where, if the current population loss continues, it will be a big town instead of a city. Where our funky laundry continually flaps in national media markets, obscuring the aspirations of most of the decent folks who live here.

City Treasurer Tishaura Jones and Alderwoman Cara Spencer have both run campaigns with progressive platforms. Woke voters are looking beyond the promises and looking at other issues. In Spencer’s case, Black voters have inquiring minds about two people.  Read more

Stepping across the line

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Published in the St. Louis American March 28, 2021

Stepping Across the Line

The Oprah Winfrey interview with Prince Harry and Megan Markle was a bombshell for many. The way biracial Megan was being treated by The Royals was no surprise to most of us. And some of us knew that sistah-girl was not likely to put up with it for long. A few thought out loud that Megan should’ve known what she was getting herself into—a white hierarchy wrapped in a monarchical tradition.

“60 Minutes” exposed the hurdles being placed in front of St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner as she attempts to carry out the reform agenda mandated by the voters who have elected her twice. For her commitment to duty, Gardner faces a deluge of daily death threats. When she was sworn in as the first African American prosecutor, should Gardner have been aware of all the racist ugliness that awaited her? Read more