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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

Winter in America

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Published by BlackCommentator, September 24, 2020

Winter in America: Is it time to stop pretending this country can move past its inherent racism?

Winter in America. It’s the title song from the album of the same name written and performed by urban poet Gil Scott-Heron. Released in 1974, Scott-Heron’s music projected the conditions of African Americans during that period and which still ring true today. The imagery of winter – bleak, harsh, unforgiving – is not lost on the lyrics. The prophetic voice of Scott-Heron has been my personal soundtrack during the Black Lives Matter protests and I have concluded: it’s winter in America all the time for Black folks. Read more