children
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Always There Are the Children
Something devastating is happening, a bone-chilling, frightening thing. The children are dying. In this year alone, I have learned of the deaths of four young people, three of them children under 25 years old. All of them were from people I know; they were firstborns, the first fruits of their mother’s wombs. It has made… Continue reading
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Our Children
You are fourteen,and despite the childish laughter—the one smoother than the fresh coat of loveon a baby’s skin—your mothers must warn youthat certain skin toneswon’t allow you to flash open innocence. You are not allowed to purchase candy,tell jokes,or ring the wrong doorbell. Certain histories won’t let you forget the presentor permit childhood to take… Continue reading
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Dancing Between Two Truths
I get emotional when I remember the faces of the children I used to teach, who are now young adults. Their formerly round and babyish faces have thinned out to resemble those of young adults. They provide concrete evidence of the passage of time. My nieces, nephews, and students are now in college, studying a… Continue reading
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Black History Fun Fact Friday – The Short Violent Life of Robert “Yummy” Sandifer: So Young to Kill, So Young to Die.
On Wednesday, August 31, 1994, Yummy “Robert” Sadifier was shot in the back of the head with a .25 caliber pistol at a viaduct at 108th & Dauphin Avenue in Roseland, Chicago, IL. At 12:30 am police found him lying on dirt and bits of broken glass according to newspaper reports. They pronounced him dead at… Continue reading
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Even Salt Looks Like Sugar
We are six days away from the eBook release of my new novella, Even Salt Looks Like Sugar so this is your once in a blue moon shameless self-promotion post. Go get it!! Okay. Now that I have your attention. What is this about any way? Wanda wants nothing more than to escape the oppressive… Continue reading
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Black History Fun Fact Friday – The Atlanta Child Murders
What became known as “The Atlanta Child Murders” happened in Atlanta between 1979 and 1981, when about 29 Black children, teens, and young adults were kidnapped and murdered. A majority of the killings shared common details. In 1979, for instance, Edward Hope Smith, also known as “Teddy,” and Alfred Evans, also known as “Q,” aged… Continue reading
The PBS Blog 