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Three close-up views of eyes looking in different directions

HOW THINGS LOOK FROM DOWN HERE: One View From Among the Peons, Peasants, Plebeians, and Hoi Polloi

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…and, on the third day…

It is a fact of human history that when we encounter a thing for which we have no word, we appropriate the word from those who do. It can be the word for an object […]

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Wednesday,October 1, 2014

Once more unto the breach

Unless you’ve been completely zoned out recently, you know the American-made mess in Mesopotamia has gotten messier, so much so that our cooler-than-cool President has become heated enough to dispatch bombers not only back to […]

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Monday,September 1, 2014

Summer’s End

(This summer seems to have passed without ever making its presence felt. Here is a story about a past one.) It was so hot, Venus thought she’d better notventure outside her door.She piled ice into […]

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Friday,August 1, 2014

Snob

I recently watched a television program in which a black character had her pronunciation of a word corrected by a white character. The word was “ask”, mispronounced as “ax”. The setting was the 1950s, and […]

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Tuesday,July 1, 2014

Body Slamming

A few days ago, the DC Poetry Project sponsored an open-mike reading at an eatery where I happened to be helping the owner. I liked some of the poetry, but it is what I heard […]

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Sunday,June 1, 2014

A Lesson from Ms. Angelou

Early in the career of The Boondocks cartoonist Aaron McGruder, I happened to catch part of a television interview in which he was holding forth on the subject of racism against blacks in America. When […]

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Thursday,May 1, 2014

Going, going, …

I admit to holding prejudiced thoughts , and to the fact that they are difficult to discard. I attribute it to all those years of Sunday school (which – I’ll have you know – I […]

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Tuesday,April 1, 2014

Prison Time?

(Note: a new poem follows this post) Today was primary day in the District of Columbia. As some of you know already, the winner of the Democratic primary for mayor always has gone on to […]

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Saturday,March 1, 2014

Note from Niggerton

(Three years ago this month, I was inspired to write a piece I shared with a few at the time. An edited version is posted here):        I told my wife I was in […]

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Saturday,February 1, 2014

WTF?!

  (This month, a break from the usual fare. In its stead, four short poems on Abrahamic themes) Ape A certain type of ape calls itself “Man”. I’m sure you’re familiar with the one. It […]

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