Perspectives
After we mourn, let’s continue the work Big Ray would do
When I first heard about the passing of Big Ray in my hometown of Baltimore, I was stunned and pained. It was a loss in a time of loss and a trying moment in especially trying times. But hearing that he was shot to death in the neighborhood where he grew up and never left, it was more than...
Lies don’t honor Dr. King
“I’m afraid that the administration of our nation is more concerned about winning an unwinnable war in Vietnam than about winning the war against poverty right here at home.” –Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., speaking May 17, 1967, at U.C. Berkeley We shall overcome. Not skin color, but the content of our character with little Black boys and little White girls...
A Mind to Work, A Will to Build, An Example to Follow
With the beginning of a new year, there is great hope and expectation. It’s natural as we look back over the past year, a trying year, to try to see our way forward and what we can, what we should, change on the personal, business or organizational level. There is a scripture, Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people...
Old enemies posing as false friends: Have you had enough?
“The White race has never shown true friendship to us. When they are planning to do evil against us, they offer us a false show of friendship.” —“Friendship of Allah (God),” the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, Our Saviour Has Arrived. What’s worse than an old enemy posing as a false friend? One duped into believing, or willingly engaged in self-delusion to...
Kanye, Drake And Signs of Brotherhood
There has not been a lot of joy in the world of hip hop lately. Manipulated by powerful forces in the music and cultural industry, hip hop’s lyrics, language and spirit have been contentious, hypersexualized, violent and filled with disunity. The billion dollar, global art form is far from its origins today. Tragically, hip hop battles have not simply been...
It’s still genocide
We have come through the time called Thanksgiving and annual images of turkeys, pumpkins, fall leaves, families and scenes from dinner tables as Americans gather for a special day and a precious moment. Over the years, the traditional images and stories around Thanksgiving have changed and given way to celebrations like “Friendsgiving,” a gathering of those who constitute a broader...
A step toward justice, but much more is required
Exoneration sounds like a mighty fine word. It rings in the ear as if all wrongs have been righted. But we should not be fooled by the so-called “exoneration” of two men jailed, maligned, hated for a murder they did not commit. Cyrus Vance, Jr., and others inside of the same system that perpetuated this fraud and destruction of Black...
Strength, peace, joy and love in sacred spaces
EDITORIAL “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments.” Psalm 133, Verses 1 and 2, King James Version Something had been missing. And that something returned with the...
Rejection of the Covid-19 vaccine growing inside of America
“This has never been a country of the people, by the people or for the people. This is a country that never was made with a woman in mind. Therefore, they had to suffer years before they could even earn the right to vote. This country was not made for the slave because they only fashioned us as three-fifths...
Back to work? Millions are saying no. They want more for their lives.
“You want this to end but you don’t know how. You want it to end … so you can go back to what was. But I’m here to tell you … you’ll never see what was again; that is over.” –The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, The Criterion, July 4, 2020 The great American Myth and the great American Dream: Work hard,...