Farewell, But Not Goodbye, To My Good Friend, John (JD) Dolan
My dear old friend, John Dolan passed away unexpectedly this week. He was 58, and had a quick onset of complications from Parkinson’s disease that overwhelmed his body, and now he is gone. I had not...
View ArticleIn Disappointing News, Providence City Council Postpones Voting On The...
Last week there was excitement from Providence, Rhode Island community members over the fact that the City Council, in a preliminary vote, voted yes to pass The Community Safety Act (CSA), an act...
View ArticleSo Much Whitesplaining, So Little Time
I admit it. I sometimes click and share an article on Facebook I’ve only skimmed, or haven’t even read, simply because the title implies it’s something I’m interested in, or something I’d stand behind....
View ArticleLet’s Not Let Intersectionality Spell Erasure
I first heard of the term intersectionality from my friend, Diana Fox, an Anthropology Professor who studies and teaches across a variety of subjects including Caribbean culture, feminism, gender and...
View ArticlePhilando Castile: As My Friend Marco Said, Killed Twice. Once By A Police...
I look at you, and don’t know what to say. Well, it’s not exactly you, but your likeness. The color photo I found of you when I Googled your image after you and Alton got shot and killed by police...
View ArticleBecoming “Woke” Is A Life-long Journey and Why I’m Taking The Racial Crossfit...
I read, I educate myself, I talk with people of color, not only because I believe it makes life richer to connect with and learn about people whose life experiences and culture is different from mine,...
View ArticleHappy Monday. How Was Your Week?: An Ode To The Ascension Of Rats And Why I’m...
From the hate in Charlottesville illuminated by tiki torches, to Heather Heyers becoming today’s Viola Liuzzo, to a peaceful protest of upwards of 40,000 people countering the “free-speech” rally of...
View ArticleTired of Derailment: #TakeAKnee Or Take A Seat
If I had a dollar for every time a white person derailed a conversation about why unarmed Black men, women, and children should not be shot and killed by police officers and fellow citizens, and what...
View ArticleFollowing Damon Young of Very Smart Brothas With My 10 Things I Do Every Day...
Damon Young from Very Smart Brothas (VSB) posted a piece on The Root a few days ago, titled, 10 Simple and Subtle and Easy Things I Do Every Day To Fight White Supremacy, and in his usual comedic...
View ArticleMy Daughter Darla’s Essay On Culture
Two years ago I featured my daughter Leni’s school essay on the topic of how she considered her own culture. Her younger sister, Darla, who is now a sophomore, got assigned the same essay in her...
View Article2017 Showed A Lot Of Ugly. And How White People Can Do Better In 2018
We made it through a year of this current administration’s agenda which stood for the hatred of those they consider “other” and a threat to their “making America Great again” dream. We became angry,...
View ArticleThe Crack Cocaine Center Of Excellence
The Crack Cocaine Center Of Excellence. You can picture it right? Oh, wait, you’re saying you can’t? But, here in Rhode Island, established in 2016, are our first, Opioid Centers of Excellence, or...
View ArticleLet Us Listen To All Of Our Young People’s Cries For Help To End Gun Violence
While this nation mourns the losses of the lives of the seventeen students and teachers who were killed by a former student with an AR-15 assault rifle on Valentines Day at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas...
View ArticleWhen The Photo You Want To Use For Your Blog Post Belongs To A Racist...
I wanted to find a lead photo to go with my most recent blog post, Let Us Listen To All Of Our Young People’s Cries For Help To End Gun Violence, and I wanted the photo to represent black and brown...
View ArticleRemembering Martin Luther King Jr. Always and Forever
In honor of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. who was taken from us 50 years ago. All I can say is this: MARTIN 50 years like yesterday motel. balcony. sky. remembrance of reading book was...
View ArticleIt’s Been 2 Years, Since You Left Us, And Still…Nothing Compares 2 U, Prince
Wearing my Prince t-shirt today, and listening to The Current app (get it!) that a friend shared with me. It’s a Minneapolis NPR music station,and inside the app, there is a station called The Purple...
View ArticleWake Up And Change The Racism, (insert: White) People!
I almost used the cliché title of: Wake Up And Smell The Coffee, People, but that’s weak. Like, instant coffee weak. But enough with the clichés and play on words, as I reflect on what happened in the...
View ArticleThe 10th Annual Black Lavender Experience At Brown University’s Rites and...
In April I went to two performances at Brown University’s Rites and Reason Theatre. The shows were part of the theater’s 10th annual Black Lavender Experience, a series of plays, folkthoughts...
View ArticleIf I Die And Come Back As A White Man, I Want To Come Back As Anthony Bourdain
If I die and come back as a white man, I want to come back as Anthony Bourdain. Since the June 8th death, a suicide, at age 61 of the famed chef, author and host of the popular television show, Parts...
View ArticleEvery Day, Chip Away At De-Centering Whiteness
I really want to say, take big chunks; take a sledge hammer and demo away at that center. But, I know de-centering whiteness will take time. As I vision in my head another dimension of existence that...
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