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Making Black dollars work for us

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Published in St. Louis American, December 19, 2019

All holidays in the U.S. are highly commercialized. Christmas is the most commercialized to the tune of $475 billion, according to National Retail Federation estimates. Lost in those billions is a big portion of the $1 trillion-plus spending power of black folks. Our consumerism rarely comes with demands for accountability and respect.

Some of us think about how fast our dollars literally fly out of our communities while other ethnic groups’ dollars circulate longer and benefit them more. It really smacked me in a different way when I heard Maggie Anderson speak at a program hosted by the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists. I bought her book, “The Black Year.” I felt the same energy and passion in those pages that I saw and felt at the podium during Anderson’s presentation. Read more

Life coaches saves lives

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Published in the St. Louis American, December 12, 2019

The fate of Coach Trey Porter has finally been determined. Some would say the determination had little to do with his violation of the social media policy. Others would say the decision had nothing to do with enriching the lives of the students at Roosevelt High School. I side with the latter viewpoint.

Just because I’m not an investigative reporter doesn’t mean that I don’t get information from trusted sources. My sources were close to the situation and close to the firing squad. Among other things, they told me that other staff have contacted students through social media, both at Roosevelt and across the school district. They told me that this appeared to be a power play, not uncommon when institutions want to make an example of a person who stands up for righteousness. Read more

Obstruction of justice in the Lamar Johnson case

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Published in St. Louis American, December 5, 2019

For months now, Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner has suffered defensive wounds from those attempting to prevent her from carrying out a justice agenda. While voters didn’t elect Gardner to spend needless resources and time fighting against racist and sexist attacks, Gardner knew it would come with being the first African-American female prosecutor in St. Louis. The latest shameless act to discredit her office is to put an unwarranted barrier between an innocent man and his freedom. Read more