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(ThyBlackMan.com) The LAPD slaying of family pet dog, Jameson, following the New York Knicks NBA championship win touched off a flurry of anger and indignation. The issue was of course the slaying of a pet that an LAPD body cam video decisively showed posed no threat to the officers who responded to the call. That sparked even more public anger and calls for tough disciplinary action against the officers involved […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) I have buried friends. Sat across thick glass from men I love too, watched them grow gray under hard fluorescent light while the world kept on turning without them in it. So when I speak to you now, understand the words are coming from a heart that has already grieved more times than it should, and from eyes that have watched too many bright boys go dim before their […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) When the One Big Beautiful Bill Act came up for a vote on the Senate floor on July 1 of last year, 50 senators voted for it, and 50 senators voted against it. Vice President JD Vance had to cast the tie-breaking vote in that chamber — so the bill could go back to the House for a final vote. In the House, it narrowly passed 218-214. Not one […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) Every few years the culture circles back to the same question, and the name sitting in the middle of it never changes. Is Drake real hip hop? Brothers argue it in barbershops, in group chats, in comment sections that turn into warzones by noon. That question refuses to die because the answer depends entirely on what you believe hip hop is supposed to be in the first place. Let […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) During President Trump’s recent state visit to China, Chinese leader Xi Jinping made reference to the “Thucydides Trap” when describing the United States and China. In political science terms, the “Thucydides Trap” essentially means that countries on the decline should learn to accept countries on the rise or risk being set on a dangerous collision course. Xi’s analogy appeared to say that China is on the rise while the […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) Walk into almost any bar in Boston right now and you will hear bagpipes. Not on the speakers, actual bagpipes, carried by actual Scottish fans in kilts who have taken over the city like they were always supposed to be there. Locals have not minded one bit. They have bought rounds, learned chants and laughed at the orange traffic cones that keep turning up on the heads of the […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) MS NOW commentator Ali Velshi was not alone in complaining that women are “underrepresented” in Congress. It is true that women account for 51% of the U.S. population but only 29% of the House members. To which I say, “So what.” Basing the notion of fair representation on racial, gender or ethnic identity needs to be put in a folder — a paper folder stored in a dusty steel […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) With the passing of Clive Davis at 94, respect has to come first. Before we talk about records sold, artists signed, labels built, or how many voices became household names under his watch, prayers and condolences go out to his family, loved ones, friends, and all who knew him away from the public stage. The world knew the music man. His family knew the man. Death has a way […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) On June 18, Barack Obama stood in Jackson Park on Chicago’s South Side and tried, not very successfully, to hold back tears. Not performed emotion. Not the composed, camera-ready version of feeling that politicians learn somewhere along the way. Michelle was up at the podium talking about him, about his parents, about the girls, about what she described as his unshakeable values, and he kept looking down at his […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) Last week I had dinner with a good friend of mine who is a top executive in media.  He is a very prominent publicly recognized figure who shall remain nameless. Politically, I consider him a liberal, though he would argue the point, but I digress. He wanted to know my thoughts about ESPN sports commentator, Stephen A. Smith. Smith and I travel in the same circles, but he has […]