One rationale for continuing stop and frisk practices is that it is a viable, proactive and productive way for law enforcement to combat crime. Personally, I beg to differ; in my opinion it’s like using a sledgehammer on a nail. You may get the desired result but what else are you smashing?
That’s how I feel about “Stop and Frisk.” We are well aware of the controversy surrounding the stop and frisk practices in New York City.… [Read more]
Police officers shoot and kill an unarmed black man. We’ve all read and heard this script ad nauseam, to the extent that when it resurfaces we are no longer surprised; we’re immune to a certain degree, but still distraught. It has played out verbatim so often we know the outcome. The accused officers will be suspended pending an investigation.… [Read more]
“I swear to the Lord, I still can’t see,
Why Democracy means, Everybody but me. ”
~ Langston Hughes
When I read these words spoken more than half a century ago by Langston Hughes, I think that it is unconscionable to observe that in 2012 very little has changed. During the era of slavery, slave codes were enacted to dictate what was permissible by slaves as well as the slave owners.… [Read more]
The last two episodes of “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” that I saw really got to me. Both started with rapes – one particularly violent and disturbing because it took place in a mental hospital.
Maybe I’ve lost my spine because, lately, I’m having trouble looking at such things — and that means I can’t tolerate a lot of television these days.… [Read more]
