Juneteenth is the day in 1865 (June 19) when news of emancipation reached the enslaved population in Texas. Many people are either hearing about it now for the first time or expressing an interest in learning more about it because of our current demands for racial justice and change. Some are surprised when they hear… Continue Reading
The Spanish Flu of 1918
Many of us have become glued to the news about the coronavirus crisis. We read about it online, listen to reports on the radio, and watch the news coverage on television. In New York, we tune into Governor Andrew Cuomo’s daily lunchtime briefings as well as the federal press conferences, which feature the President, Vice… Continue Reading
Bumpy Johnson, Aunt Rita, and Mom
Each of my novels marches forward in time extending the theme of either the direct or after-effects of slavery. I began with Failed Moments, a fictional account of my ancestors, which took place in the 1790s and mid 1800s. My second novel, A Wave From Mama, was set in Brooklyn in the 1880s and the… Continue Reading
Comparative Redemption, Germany’s Holocaust vs. American Slavery
I went out early this morning for coffee and sat in an outdoor café as I clicked around the web. I was drawn to a review by Deborah E. Lipstadt of the book, “Learning from the Germans, Race and the Memory of Evil, written by Susan Neiman. The author grew up in Germany and moved… Continue Reading
Thoughts on Reparations
The long-standing issue of reparations for slavery was the focus of a congressional hearing a few weeks ago. My last book, Living in the Middle, also touches on this topic—it includes a section that describes a commission established in Oklahoma in 1996, seventy-five years after the Tulsa Race Riots. This commission was given the charge… Continue Reading
Something to Remember
Earlier this year, I published a blog entitled, Black Wall Street, which introduced the story of the Tulsa Race Riots — a sad day in 1921 when the prosperous Black neighborhood of Greenwood was invaded by White mobs from across the railroad tracks. In April, I published my book, Living in the Middle, which told… Continue Reading
Black Wall Street
About thirty years after the end of the Civil War, a group fleeing a hostile south settled an all-Black town in the territory of Oklahoma, about 80 miles west of Tulsa. The founder of the town, Edwin McCabe, had a vision of Oklahoma as the Black Promised Land and sent recruiters into the Deep South… Continue Reading
Pearls from the Past
I lost my chance with my dad—there are so many little things I wished I asked him before he passed away, so I was determined not to make the same mistake with my mother. She is 94-years-old and I visit her every Sunday. We sit and talk as I help her with her bills. Mom… Continue Reading
Zero Tolerance for Staying on The Sidelines
The story began weeks ago but took a while to become front and center. The new Zero Tolerance Immigration Policy at the border resulted in children being separated from their parents. From what I recall, it was the misguided reference to a passage in the Bible by our Attorney General that brought this to the… Continue Reading
A Visit to Minetta Lane
New York is about as modern as any city in the world. Once it began marching northward in 1811 with its grand grid design, all of the new blocks were both spacious and predictable. Over the years, the never-ending building boom replaced older structures with new modern spaces at remarkable speeds. Even in old New… Continue Reading