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James Baldwin’s Letter to His Nephew — In perhaps the only way I’ll claim similarity to James Baldwin, I started this story multiple times before deciding on a direction. I had the disadvantage of having months before it was due, allowing procrastination to disrupt my normal process. I read his letter to his nephew many times, hoping…

What Does This Say About Politics, Race, And Gender? — A Russian court found an American WNBA superstar Brittney Griner guilty of smuggling drugs with criminal intent. Despite American claims she was unjustly imprisoned, she was sentenced to nine years in prison. Brittney was accused of transporting cannabis oil in her luggage; Brittney claimed it was for medical use for…

Resistance Fighter, Civil Rights Activist, and Spy — You are more likely to have seen Josephine Baker naked than adorned with medals. Maybe you’ve seen her or someone portraying her doing the “The Charleston” or her famous “Banana Dance!” You probably don’t know how she aided the war effort, smuggling documents for the Allies and French Resistance to…

“Youse Just The One’s We’re Looking For” — I’m going to talk about Tennessee in a story that involves race but maybe isn’t racist. The thing about racism is that it isn’t always documentable because the standard now is to prove intent while ignoring the results. It’s going to be a minute before I get to the Tennessee…

Hershel Walker Would Be No More Competent As Senator Than A Brick — I don’t often target Black men or women in my pieces. To my recollection, I’ve written negative articles about Rev. Darrell Scott, Pastor Mark Burns, Stacey Dash, and one I thought gave the benefit of the doubt to Candace Owens. Yes, they’re all considered Black conservatives, but I haven’t denounced…

Now It’s The Thing To Do — The whole point of hiding beneath a sheet was to keep people from knowing who you were. Yes, there were communities where there was no shame in being racist. The 1980 “Blues Brothers” movie didn’t event Illinois Nazis as a gag. They were and are a real thing. …

The Things I Wished I’d said — I’ve been in the same room as Bill Russell on a half-dozen occasions; you could take off points for those rooms being arenas that seated between 12,000–20,000 people. I get extra points given the arenas weren’t full, and once I was within ten feet of him. …

Mary Emmons and her Black Descendants — There are a few similarities between Mary Emmons and Sally Hemings. No pictures exist of either woman born into enslavement. Mary was associated with Aaron Burr, Sally with Thomas Jefferson. At one moment, both men were tied in electoral votes to become President of the United States. Alexander Hamilton hated…