If you were old enough to remember September 11, 2001, you probably have a story. Mine actually began around August 11th, a month earlier. Though I lived in Florida, I was working in New York at the US Open Tennis. It was a six-week gig. A company I was affiliated with handled the merchandise sales on the grounds. I ran the largest retail store, the Octagon, right in the middle of the grounds of the National Tennis Center in Queens.

School was still out, and I had my two youngest children with me for a week. One of the highlights…

HBO’s “The Wire” was one of the greatest television series ever. Arguably the greatest character on that show was Omar Little. A Black, gay, violent gangster who made his living ripping off drug dealers and calling them out for being the punks. Omar had a code; he never used his gun on a “citizen.” Omar took his grandmother to church every Sunday. If you weren’t in the game, you had nothing to fear.

Michael K. Williams brought Omar to life just like he did Chalky White in Boardwalk Empire. A straight club owner, married with a daughter. He got caught…

Since Medium made its adjustment to eliminate fake followers in January 2021, I’ve averaged 11.87 new followers a day. My top month was May, when I added 541 followers. My worst month since January was April, when I only added 166 followers. I have been reading about new writers concerned about meeting the new minimum requirement of 100 followers to qualify for the Medium Partner Program. I don’t see why that has to be so hard.

I joined Medium in March 2016, with my only concern being writing for pleasure. I made no effort to get followers, and doing nothing…

“Unsubstantiated rumors of black men attacking innocent white women sparked almost 50 percent of all race riots in the United States between Reconstruction and World War II.” Danielle McGuire — Historian

Karens have become a meme, metaphors for white privilege and entitlement. We joke about them, demanding rights they don’t extend to others, calling the police for alleged slights. We forget that “Karens” have caused the deaths of thousands of Black people. I’ve yet to hear one apologize.

It would be easy to conclude that “thousands” is an exaggeration, especially if you count like white media and government officials. Some round down by hundreds, while others don’t acknowledge Black deaths at all.

Black Wall Street gets mentioned from time to time. Contemporary reports suggest perhaps dozens of Black citizens were killed…

The NAACP might be better known for its fight against segregation, notably the Brown v Board of Education victory in the Supreme Court in 1954. Long before that, its focus was on stopping lynchings across America. They conducted an anti-lynching campaign from 1909 thru 1939. Before Thurgood Marshall, there was Ida B. Wells, who helped found the NAACP Women’s Group (and the NAACP though given no credit). Ida was also active in the Women's Suffrage movement and berated her white counterparts for turning a blind eye to lynchings.

I mostly don’t write for the money. I have a sense of anticipation when I hit “Publish.” I can’t wait to see how each story is received, especially the responses. I mostly don’t write for the money, yet it’s a factor in what I do.

A lifetime ago, I was in outside sales with Southern Bell and later AT&T. The Bell System at the time was just developing a professional sales force. When they were a monopoly, they had order takers who would go out and tell customers what their options were. We handled telephone systems, long-distance and local telephone…

I may have never stumbled across this book on my own. I give thanks to the author, James M. Ridgway, Jr., who sent me a copy. Perhaps sensing my views of some of the historical figures might not align with his own. I apologize to James for having taken over a year to read the book in its entirety. It wasn’t that I didn’t find it interesting. On the contrary, I knew early on it was well-researched and that I would learn a lot about the Civil War. …

When talk of reparations comes up, there are lots of reasons many white people are opposed to the idea.

1. There Is No Single Group Clearly Responsible For The Crime Of Slavery

2. There Is No One Group That Benefitted Exclusively From Its Fruits

3. Only A Tiny Minority Of White Americans Ever Owned Slaves, And Others Gave Their Lives To Free Them

4. America Today Is A Multi-Ethnic Nation, and Most Americans Have No Connection (Direct Or Indirect) To Slavery

5. The Historical Precedents Used To Justify The Reparations Claim Do Not Apply, And The Claim Itself Is Based…