Browsing: Opinions

     Thanksgiving is a family tradition and rituals designed to spread warmth and love to family members and friends who have not been seen for months and years. A time to catch up with family members’ health, their new jobs, who is in college, new babies, and just to share.  Everyone has a special dish to prepare, and everyone comes back for seconds and thirds.

      Psychologists agree being rejected can incite negative feelings and emotions. This could explain the on-air unhinged criticisms of Sheriff Richard Roundtree by Augusta, Georgia radio host Austin Rhodes.

African Americans carry to this day the scars of one of the darkest periods in our nation’s history during which racist whites hung innocent Black people for sport. Making an analogy between a hate crime and our constitutional duty to investigate his flagrant abuse of power is a clear example of how unsuited this man is to lead our nation. Those who have tried to whitewash this despicable remark or do not condemn it should hang their heads in shame for they are just as reprehensible. It has been heartening to witness Republican lawmakers hold Trump accountable for his recent actions in the Middle East and effort to shake down Ukraine’s president.

     I’m not a lawyer, but it seemed clear to me that the Justices (Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was absent because, in the words of Chief [Justice] John Roberts, she was “indisposed due to illness”) thought the issue was what the pleading standard for a §1981 claim should be, not at this point whether Comcast had racially discriminated against Byron Allen.

I want to give thanks for a human right that shaped our country throughout the 20th century and that made Thanksgiving possible for so many Americans who, like me, didn’t get here by way of the Mayflower. A human right that gives millions the time, the security, the good health and the ability to share this holiday with the people they love. Make that a globally recognized fundamental human right, and one written into our constitution that is known as Collective Bargaining.

     More ironic than celebrating “Thanksgiving” during American Indian and Alaskan Native Heritage Month, has to be Black people who would rather identify with Native Americans while totally disregarding, dismissing and oftentimes making disparaging remarks about Africa!  

     There is no easy way to avoid becoming numb to mass shootings and random violence. When you read about it or hear about it or witness it nearly every day and you conclude that it will not change, your mind searches for safety. That “safety” plays itself out in our becoming less shocked and—to be blunt—more accepting of the reality that our children may get killed at school or that our family or friends may get shot at a parking lot or by an outraged former employee at any number of facilities. The mind says to us that we cannot exist on a permanent level of tension and anxiety.

Brace YourSelf

A Black Black Friday

A meaningful Thanksgiving