Blog horizontal

(ThyBlackMan.com) “Rustin” is a Netflix biopic produced by Barack and Michelle Obama. Bayard Rustin, the underappreciated black 1960s civil rights activist, certainly deserves an ambitious film about his life. After all, the 1963 “March on Washington” that culminated with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech was Rustin’s brainchild. Rustin, in a matter of about seven weeks, assembled a team that promoted the march […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) “Mental illness should not be your ticket to death.”   This was what one grieving parent told a phalanx of reporters a year ago in Virginia. Her son had serious mental health challenges. Yet he died at the hands of law enforcement. We’ve seen endless variations of this tragic pattern of death in Los Angeles almost always as in Virginia at the hands of the LAPD or the L.A. County Sheriff’s Deputies. […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) Between 1941 and 1945 some six million Jews were systematically murdered across German-occupied Europe during World War II. As part of a state-sponsored genocide, two-thirds of Europe’s Jewish population was executed. As a result, those of Jewish faith made it a point to never allow future generations to forget or become desensitized to what happened to the European Jews at the hands of the Nazi regime. “Never again” became […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) If Joe Biden and Kamala Harris think the issues of Black American unemployment and economic immigration are going to go away, as the November presidential election approaches, they are sadly mistaken. It is no secret, Black American workers are the first workers laid off, when the economy declines, as it is doing now. Black Americans, who are experiencing a Great Recession with a Real unemployment Job rate of 10.1%, saw […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) The record shows that every country in the world has acknowledged the necessity for a Sabbath, whatever name they may give to it, to enable a cessation of routine activities and allow recuperation. People of faith regard the Sabbath not just as a day of rest, but also of worship; for so it was designed by Almighty God. But people, being perverse and wayward, has ever sought, and indeed […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) The celebration of Juneteenth nationally took a new turn in its bid to become a nationally recognized Black holiday last year in the context of the intensified struggle against police violence and systemic racism. Indeed, ever since the decisive moment of struggle in Ferguson, which was the spark that reignited a forest fire of resurgent resistance, the country has been compelled to confront its racist character and to make […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) (***)  We try to control our emotions, and don’t always do a great job. What if they were outsourced to five dingy spirits who were afraid to give up their power? Disney/Pixar puts that notion in play. It’s an amusing premise. One that turns into a delightful screening for 96 entertaining minutes of manic animation, adventure and comedy. An experience that’s even more engaging if movie fans view the […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) When Terence Crutcher, a father of four who sang in his church choir, was shot and killed by the police in 2016 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, his twin sister Dr. Tiffany Crutcher saw history repeating itself. Terence, who had his hands up, needed help but instead received a bullet. It was fired by the same police department that 95 years earlier had deputized members of the lynch mob that started the […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) Willie Mays, often referred to as “The Say Hey Kid,” is a name that resonates with baseball enthusiasts around the world. Born on May 6, 1931, in Westfield, Alabama, Mays’s extraordinary career in Major League Baseball (MLB) is a story of remarkable talent, unwavering dedication, and a legacy that has inspired generations. Over a span of more than two decades, Mays showcased an unparalleled combination of athleticism, skill, and […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) Our Gang (also known as The Little Rascals), Laurel and Hardy, and Abbott and Costello were staples of my childhood television watching. No weekend morning was complete without them. Abbott and Costello did a skit called “Who’s on First?” It was a comedy routine that played on the confusion between words that are names and words that are question words. The humor arises from a series of misunderstandings and wordplay […]