My whiteness speaks volumes, but I cannot hear them. It tells the world around me that my life matters—that the shedding of my blood and cracking of my bones will bring with it consequences denied to darker-skinned men. In my… Read More ›
civil disobedience
Mother’s Milk & Mace: A Poem For Ferguson
Just about once a year, I am struck by an unshakable urge to write poetry and, as it turns out, that once a year is now. I don’t claim to be a poet, but hopefully the words I’ve written down… Read More ›
When Hope Is Engulfed In Flames: Ferguson On The Night of The Darren Wilson Grand Jury Decision
Hope is like an appendage that hangs from your soul. It is flexible and it is lithe. It reaches out to grab hold of the things it needs to sustain it. And, like any other limb, it doesn’t grow back… Read More ›
The Center Cannot Hold: St. Louis County on the Eve of the Darren Wilson Verdict
The meeting starts and everyone around me instinctively stands up and faces towards the front of the room. It takes me a couple seconds to realize they’ve all angled themselves towards the American Flag and that they’re about to say… Read More ›
A Symptom of a Greater Sickness: How Ferguson’s Roots Run From Our Schools To The Supreme Court
There is nothing that I can say about the shooting of Michael Brown that hasn’t been said before by people whose experience affords them a perspective and an authenticity that I lack for the simple reason that I am white…. Read More ›
