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I was driving along Memorial Blvd in Atlanta, and I couldn’t help noticing the number of fast food places I passed; Churches Chicken, Wendy’s, Burger King and of course the granddaddy of ‘crack burgers’ McDonalds.  This same pattern was repeated from coast to coast.  In Oregon, Washington, California, New York, New Jersey, etc.  It is an American phenomenon, and while the level of restaurant will differ as the neighborhood becomes wealthier by replacing the usual burger and chicken joints with food places that at least sound like they might be better for you like the occasional Olive Garden and Red Lobster, none of it is really good food. I am particularly concerned with how much of this stuff African-Americans are consuming and more specifically, black...

Isn’t it interesting how people tend to come together during a tragedy? Even enemies will relax their grievances and render assistance in times of trouble. I remember when the events of 9/11 occurred my neighbors suddenly introduced themselves to me because on that day we were all “Americans.” They were no longer pulling their curious children away from the unwelcomed Black family that bought the house on the corner.  One tragedy had somehow forged a bond albeit ‘temporary’ that somehow changed our status from stranger to “frienemy.” It would seem that the most intelligent creatures on earth would realize the essential need to at some point come together for the over-all greater good. The truth is we seem to be getting farther away from such a...

I asked the students in my course on PTSS to fill out the study guide page which asks them to list significant individuals.  I was particularly interested in how large a role that extended family and fictive kinship played in their lives.  As I had anticipated, the students of color had more extended family connections and kinship patterns than their white counterparts. When each student shared their list with the class there was a sense of respect even reverence given to the process.  I did not share my list but I felt fortunate to know that I have a broad and extensive list of people who have been major supports and influences in my life. I also felt good knowing that my children are not only connected to my network but have all established significant...

How much of our healing is in knowing that we can re-fashion ourselves? Like the impetuosity of youth, once fully grown, we recklessly squander our potential with fruitless attempts to avoid looking at ourselves as beings fully capable of self transformation.  Our mistakes haunt us so; we flee from them and thus ourselves through mindless activities or, occasionally more meaningful distractions.  Yet, all we have is now and what we choose to make of it.  Every day I think about what I want to do with my life because everyday I am faced with a new opportunity, a choice about who I will be. The words “I can’t” are not an admission of failure or even a statement of fear; it is perhaps the most brazen example of ego.  I can’t, is more akin to, I choose not...

On November 5th 2008, I awoke with lingering pictures in my mind of the election of Barack Hussein Obama, the first African American, to the highest office in the land. On November 4th, I, like countless other African Americans, was filled with uncontainable feelings of elation and awe at the historic significance of that moment. I watched as my son seemed to grow in stature right before my eyes with the announcement “Barack has won!” I listened as he expressed a renewed sense of purpose and belief about life’s possibilities. I was surprised to see the outpouring of emotion in him, this enormous surge of energy brought on by a mysterious power born purely and simply of hope. He was not alone in his enthusiasm, the phone began to ring, and soon text and email...

My friend called me up to tell me she had to leave her office for a while because she had become overwhelmed by the first two clients she had seen.  She called me because of the long standing friendship we have and because she knew I had worked for many years with youth that were homeless, gang involved, abused and neglected.  She thought that I could offer some insight and support. She works with pregnant and parenting teens in Tennessee.  She explained that her first client was a fifteen year old that was pregnant with her fourth child; she didn’t have to say any more about that one. It was her second client that had caused her so much consternation that she had to leave her office for the rest of the day. The young lady was seventeen years old and seven...

It is no secret that the United States disproportionately arrests, convicts, and imprisons African Americans and other people of color.  It is also apparent that there is significant antipathy and fear of African American males in particular, by the police and other law enforcement officers, as stated so clearly by ex police Chief Norm Stamper in his book Breaking Rank: Simply put, white cops are afraid of black men.  We don’t talk about it, we pretend it doesn’t exist, we claim “color blindness,” we say white officers treat black men the same way they treat white men.  But that’s a lie.  In fact, the bigger, the darker the black man the greater the fear.  The African American community knows this.  Hell, most whites know it.  Yet, even though...

I have begun to see a much clearer picture of the state of black youth in America, a glimpse of the impact of removing their feeling of dignity and respect; of the media that addicts them to a narcissistic materialism and a depreciated view of themselves.  I am, we are, all asked to be bigger, to give more, and I am convinced that the strength needed for the task which lies ahead is within our collective capacities to fulfill: The ‘work’ is to heal the wounds still visible beneath the draped gold and elaborate inked pictures on the skin of those who live in dark bodies, canvases already masterfully painted in beautiful warm rich hues, from henna to ebony; beauty totally obscured by thirty second sound bites and bits and pieces of distorted images most often...