“For we know that we are the children of God. He’ll fight my battles and I’ll be free someday. Stand together children, fight together children, worship together children. Don’t you get weary.” —Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. April 4th is a renowned date in Black America. Most blacks recognize it as the day civil rights icon… Continue reading King and Prince of Abyssinian: Reflections on Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. and Jr.
Category: Black History
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America — An Excerpt
Excerpted from Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi (Nation Books, 2016). Reprinted with permission from Nation Books. The passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 hardly hurt Lyndon B. Johnson’s commanding position for reelection during that election year. Johnson did face an improbable challenge… Continue reading Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America — An Excerpt
Historical Reflections on Black Americans in NYC Real Estate and the Agents of Change
Although I am not black, I would like to reflect on the agents who denied black people their predetermined fates of oppression, and ultimately changed the landscape for black New Yorkers and all tenants of color. The roots of residential segregation that remain in our society may stem from the time of redlined New York.… Continue reading Historical Reflections on Black Americans in NYC Real Estate and the Agents of Change
You Can’t Celebrate Black History While Destroying Black Futures
Black History Month is the lone time of year when blackness becomes safe to celebrate by those who love black people and those who loathe us. Love is the easy part. I love my people. February is the month where that love kicks into overdrive. It’s the 28 or 29 days out of the year… Continue reading You Can’t Celebrate Black History While Destroying Black Futures
The Bronze Titan: Antonio Maceo, Cuba’s Greatest Warrior
Over two dozen bullet and machete wounds scarred his body. He survived three assassination attempts in three different countries. He fought in hundreds of battles over the course of his life, and Winston Churchill turned twenty-one years of age while taking heavy fire from one of his units. Antonio Maceo’s larger than life exploits are… Continue reading The Bronze Titan: Antonio Maceo, Cuba’s Greatest Warrior
An Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of 2016: About David Walker…
At the 2012 A2MEND: African-American Male Education Network and Development conference in Los Angeles, I gave a speech to an audience of about one hundred young black men from California’s community colleges on David Walker as a figure of inspiration and enlightenment. I started by asking those who already knew of Walker to please raise… Continue reading An Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of 2016: About David Walker…
A League of Their Own
When I left Haiti in 1964, I was certainly aware of social and economic inequalities, as well as of those between men and women. I do remember, for instance, the enthusiasm of young people of my generation for projects of assistance and support to the needy, visits to the sick, and help in evangelization and… Continue reading A League of Their Own
Stokely and the Birth of Black Power
Cocky. Self-assured. Reckless. Radical. Activist. Organizer. Leader. By the summer of 1966, any of these words would be used to describe the man who coined the term Black Power, signaling the official shift from the Civil Rights Movement to the Black Power Movement. No man made a greater contribution to the Civil Rights Movement while… Continue reading Stokely and the Birth of Black Power
On Being Native and Black
Complex relationships are oftentimes the best relationships. Donny Hathaway and Roberta Flack had a complex relationship. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel had a complex relationship. Lennon and McCartney had a complex relationship. But despite those complex relationships, all of them made beautiful music together. COMPLEX With Natives and black people, there were certainly many, many… Continue reading On Being Native and Black
Uncle Shadow and the Crescent City
There is something mesmerizing, yet indescribable about New Orleans. For as many times as I have been, I still don’t understand it. Yet, it’s one of the American cities I enjoy most. Whether it’s folks calling me “baby” or the ever-present Bounce remix thumping from sound systems worth more than the vehicles they’re in, ain’t nothing like… Continue reading Uncle Shadow and the Crescent City