The unfortunate truth is that America’s public schools will never teach its students, especially Black students, about the activities, motivations, and sacrifices of the real Dr. Martin Luther King. I place the current version of Dr. King taught in public
I can make an educated guess about what most White American parents want in public school history books. They want their children to learn of an America with a heroic origin story reminiscent of a DC or Marvel film. America’s
Walter Cronkite was as much a part of my childhood as Big Bird and Mr. Rogers. The evening news was a staple in our home. My parents listened to the broadcast while reading, setting the table for dinner, or making
There is no statue honoring Yvonne Bernadette Lee Odom in my hometown of Delray Beach, Florida. I would like to feign surprise, but I am not that good a thespian. The same reason she does not have a statue celebrating
Berry Gordy’s The Last Dragon is my happy movie. I have had a once a month viewing appointment with this film for over twenty-five years. It is an exquisite blend of action, comedy, and romance, despite what the critics’ reviews
For nearly 30 years, three words have been my answer to a number of queries received from the White People’s Delegation of America. “Why don’t you watch ‘Friends’ or HBO’s ‘Girls’?” “Because I’m Black.” “Why do you like Popeyes and
There is a reason Nina Simone’s “To Be Young, Gifted and Black,” James Brown’s “Say It Loud! (I’m Black and I’m Proud)” and Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway’s “Be Real Black For Me” are treasures in the Black community. They
There was a time when the narratives of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement’s heroes belonged to us, Black people. After Dr. King’s stock went public in 1986, the first year of the national holiday, that
When customers enter the Heritage Café at 1849 East 79th St. in Chicago, they are immediately embraced by the beauty, intelligence, warmth and passion of Black culture: the art on the walls, the books on the shelves, the music in
I quote Wole Soyinka, August Wilson or Lorraine Hansberry because I will never accept the false premise and myopic perspective that classic literature only flowed from the pens of Shakespeare and those who looked like him. Authors from every culture, gender, and faith have created classic literature about love, pain, and the frailties of the human condition, but these classics have been ignored because Shakespeare’s acolytes aka junior high and high school literature teachers, continue to choose their Elizabethan God of literature over what is best for their students.
It’s not easy being pro-Black in America. On a daily basis, we are reminded of this nation’s disdain or disregard for our existence. Black folks have had to develop coping skills to maintain our sanity. Here are five rules I
While I’m putting the finishing touches on this job description, I’m listening to Isaac Hayes’s Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic. Why? Because it’s one of those joints that oozes Blackness — the kind of Blackness often incomprehensible to White audiences. And trying to explain why
In Nina Simone’s classic Four Women, she serenades her listeners with the external and internal struggles of being a Black woman in a White world. Simone narrates the lonely journey Black women must travel to maintain their spiritual, mental and
Jim Crow never lied. Jim Crow promised colored folks death, injustice and the complete denial of opportunity and it delivered on its promises. The lies began when African-Americans were told Jim Crow had ended. With the “No Coloreds Allowed” and
At a young age, African Americans are encouraged to speak, dress and think like White Americans, preferably White Christian Americans. This road of assimilation is paved with smiles, rewards and pats on the back. The purpose of these accolades and kind words is to convince African Americans that assimilation leads to safety and success.
The progressive movements that ended slavery; secured a woman’s right to vote; vanquished Jim Crow; and legalized marriage equality were neither led nor organized by nationally elected politicians. Those victories were made possible by activists, everyday Americans frustrated by immorality and injustice
Racism is a Caucasian illness that people of color have been saddled with the burden of curing. For centuries, the spread of this disease has been meticulously planned and nurtured in churches, neighborhoods, schools and executive board rooms occupied exclusively
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is America’s most important holiday. It is the only holiday in which America is forced to honestly assess its racial history. Dr. King’s life is a microcosm of how America deals with race. Because when
At the time, June 19, 1984, seemed like any other day in Major League Baseball. The Tigers, Angels, Phillies & Padres led their respective divisions. Thirteen games were played that Tuesday in the summer of 1984. What no one in
My grandfather, Levi Benjamin Daniels, lived by a strict set of rules that I became aware of on a ninety-degree summer day in Delray Beach, Florida. We were standing outside the local Winn Dixie grocery store when I noticed a man
