Originally published August 2020: King of the Cats – Made for the Movies I originally posted this essay in 2013 shortly after Hollywood had released two major films with narratives rooted in the African American experience. Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln and Lee Daniels’ The Butler. These were significant because they attracted much broader audiences than films depicting the Black experience usually do. I re-post… Continue Reading
Dietrich Bonhoeffer: German Christian Martyr Transformed by Experience With Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church I published this article on an earlier blog in 2007 and then again on the commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday, Sunday January 15, 2012, when I heard a brilliant sermon preached by Reverend Dr. Calvin O. Butts III, Senior Pastor of… Continue Reading
Originally published July 2020: “It’s the Weekend” by Rich Miller D-Day Media’s blog post’s guest contributor here is Richard “Rich” Miller, a retired Indiana-based attorney, husband, father, grandfather, and avid outdoorsman as well as a writer and essayist. Rich posts a weekly essay online through his Facebook account entitled “It’s the Weekend.” His timely narratives deal… Continue Reading
Originally published July 2020: America’s New Awareness: From Not-Racist to Anti-Racist Social media’s use of online memes has become today’s shorthand for condensing complex messaging into digital sound bites aimed at persuading or convincing the reader of a particular point of view. Seldom are memes’ claims fact-checked and more often they are by design a creation… Continue Reading
Originally published July 2020: Haiti’s Unsung Role in the American Revolution Black and African-American History cannot be marginalized or cordoned off as separate and apart from America’s history of growth, development, freedom, and success. Did you know that 500 Haitians volunteered and fought against the British with the American Patriots under General George Washington during the… Continue Reading
Originally published June 2020: The March for Freedom: A Genesis Moment of Revelation or Just Coincidence? Part of our nation’s beauty and strength is rooted in religious freedom. Freedom to worship or believe as one chooses: Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, agnostic, or atheist. The Abrahamic faith traditions, like other faiths, offers prophetic revelations that when read… Continue Reading
Originally published June 2020: Tesich’s Film Four Friends: An Immigrant’s Rites of Passage Viewed through a Prism of Race, Class, and Privilege Steve Teisch was a brilliant screenwriter who kept his finger on the pulse of American culture in an intimate and earnest manner that allowed him to portray our American complexities, strengths, and contradictions externally… Continue Reading
Originally published June 2020: Enough is Enough Time for Police and Criminal Justice Reform! Protesters for the shooting death of Darrien Hunt age 22. Darrien Hunt before being pursued on foot and shot to death. Darrien Hunt , 22 killed 9.14.in Utah Family of Darrien Hunt Darrien Hunt, age 22, is yet another young Black man mysteriously… Continue Reading
Originally published June 2020: History as Truth-Telling: You Can’t Separate Black History from American History I’ve often wondered why there is such a disconnect between Blacks and Whites regarding awareness of assaults on Black people. Federal Anti-Lynching Legislation was finally passed in the Senate a week ago, after being filibustered and tabled for decades. It was… Continue Reading
Originally published June 2020: Media and Religion: Tools of Political Manipulation If you read historical accounts of Hitler’s rise as dictator of Germany, you notice numerous uncanny similarities in tactics used between #45 and “the Fuhrer.” Adolph Hitler’s hyperbole and use of symbols to galvanize nationalism as a rallying point are echoed by today’s populous sloganeering… Continue Reading