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(ThyBlackMan.com) Marco Rubio and JD Vance have a lot in common. They are both high-ranking members of the Trump administration who aspire to be president one day. In addition to both of them serving in the U.S. Senate, Rubio and Vance say they are guided by their Catholic faith. The common denominator running through them is political expediency. Political expediency, in this case, is the central force driving the behavior […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) When people talk about balance, they often picture schedules, routines, or time management. Work life balance. Budget balance. Sleep balance. What gets overlooked is the emotional side of balance, which quietly influences every decision, reaction, and relationship. Emotional balance is not about feeling calm all the time. It is about being able to experience emotions fully without being controlled by them or overwhelmed by their intensity.  Life constantly shifts […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) “We are either a united people, or we are not. If the former, let us, in all matters of general concern act as a Nation, which have national objects to promote, and a national character to support. If we are not, let us no longer act as a farce by pretending to it.” — George Washington, 30 November 1785, Letter to James Madison. Last week, I had the distinct […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) There is something about the modern pop machine that moves fast shines bright and convinces folks they are witnessing greatness before they have had time to sit with the music. That is where the conversation around Sabrina Carpenter begins for a lot of listeners. Not from hate not from bitterness but from that quiet side eye you give when something feels a little too polished a little too pushed […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) My good friend, the late Joe Madison, would often say “Now that you know, what are you going to do about it?” Today I decided to do the same as Joe so often asked. First, the facts. Donald Trump is doing everything possible to prevent people from voting by mail and in any way.  Donald Trump started an unnecessary war, and can’t seem to decide what he wants out of the […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) I arrived in California in 1990 when the state was still a destination worth the move. Thirty-five years later, I have watched a systematic failure of immigration enforcement hollow out the middle of what was once the most dynamic economy in the world. The state that once led the nation in manufacturing, homeownership rates, and public university enrollment now leads in homelessness, unfunded pension liabilities, and domestic outmigration. The erosion […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) That $7,500 tax credit to buy an electric vehicle, now gone, was a “grotesque misallocation of federal spending.” It was a form of “rent-seeking,” whereby companies seek “to dominate the bureaucracy instead of the marketplace.” Thus wrote Kyle Smith in a Wall Street Journal column titled “EVs Can’t Compete Without Subsidies.” Smith deserves the Pulitzer for Clueless Commentary, a competitive category. About six weeks earlier, Trump launched a war on […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) Pope Leo pushed back hard and fast against Trump when he publicly declaimed, he was not intimidated by him. Pope Leo could have saved the defiant talk. If anything, the pontiff should conduct a special mass of thanks to Trump. I say this as a devout Catholic. Yet one who is often critical of the church’s doctrine on abortion, gays, and the role of women. But Trump managed to […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) There is something about real R&B that refuses to die, no matter how much the industry tries to dress it up, water it down, or chase trends. When you hear a true love record, you feel it in your chest before your mind can even process the words. That is where Usher has always lived. In that space between vulnerability and confidence. Between a man who knows what he […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) As we celebrate Us-On-Earth Day again this year, I want to raise again the urgent and ongoing need for us to understand this day and our approach to it as not simply concerns about the earth, but also about us on the earth and what it means to us as well as to the earth and all in it. For this day and month of marking, reminding and reflection […]