From early childhood through young adulthood, my wife and I lived lives dedicated to sports—she a real and successful athlete (state champion, MVP, honorable mention All-American), and me a sincere, hard-working wanna-be. Our daughter was born in 1989, and I am sure we almost [...]
You can see the fear on our children's faces. Parents and grandparents too wear the pain. For the families of color times have not changed. The "talks" are many. For the most part, it is all the same. Except there is a difference. Decades ago, we [...]
In recent weeks, the White House has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening "community policing" around the country. The U.S. Conference of Mayors has coalesced around the same theme, releasing a report days ago with recommendations for community policing measures to be adopted nationally. The suggestions for [...]
"Every time you see me you want to harass me." The "Broken Windows" theory is not merely a theory but a policy that not only permits, but encourages "discretionary" arrests for "misdemeanors like subway misdemeanors like subway graffiti turnstile jumping or jaywalking. …" ""Broken [...]
Why John Roberts’ naiveté matters to anyone who cares about policing. By Cristian Farias | Originally Published at Slate. February 1, 2015 9:36 AM | Photographic Credit; illustration by Lisa Larson-Walker. Photos by Shutterstock and via Reuters. In a little-noticed hearing last month, the Supreme Court considered [...]
These past few months, in particular, have seen the rise of vi(sce)ral hashtags: from #JeSuisCharlie and #JeSuisAhmed to #BlackLivesMatter and the infamous, whitewashed #AllLivesMatter. However, as time moves away from their inception, these hashtags begin to lose their original power, which is not a shocker. [...]
Can Chicago’s black and brown communities come together to elect a new mayor? By Salim Muwakkil | Originally Published at In These Times. January 29, 2015 | Photograph; Chuy Garcia with black religious leaders, marching for peace and justice in Chicago on Dec. 7, 2014. (Photo courtesy [...]
By Laurie Levy, M.Ed. | Originally Published at Chicago Now. January 26, 2015 at 6:40 am My 8-year-old granddaughter loves to act the role of teacher. As someone who was also an older sister to two little brothers, I totally empathize. But when she wrote, [...]
People love to tell me that they often forget that I’m black. They say this with a sort of “a-ha!” look on their faces, as if their dawning ability to see my blackness was a gift to us both. When I point out that their [...]
