Calling a Spade a Spade: The Assassination of Darren Seals

When I first heard the news of the death of 29-year-old activist Darren Seals, I was mortified for two main reasons.  First, the manner in which he was killed--suffering a gunshot wound before his vehicle was set on fire--sent chills through my spirit.  Second, those chills recalled the cold-blooded murders of Mississippi civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner and how I'm sure Black people and sympathizers in 2016 feel the same way about another Black man meeting a horrible fate amidst racial injustice and social unrest as folks in the 1960s did about those particular deaths.  However, in lieu of using safe, politically-correct terms like "killing" or "murder", very few people will admit this was a treacherously heinous act committed against someone who was adamant about not only improving and fighting for his community, but also challenging a historically-racist police force.  Hence, I am calling the demise of Darren Seals exactly what I believe it is in my heart of hearts: a premeditated assassination...

Lessons for Life: Placing the Loss of a Teacher to 9/11 in Perspective

Even watching NFL kickoff weekend and seeing tributes around the league, I had no plans to write anything extensive to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the September 11th attacks of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.  However, when I watched the "September 11th" episode of NFL Network's The Timeline, the recollections of that dark and fateful day in American history stirred up emotions I repressed for years.  Although seeing the video of the two planes strike the Twin Towers brought back memories of being awakened out of my sound sleep to witness the horror only 166 miles down Interstate 87 from where I was, it was the sight of the Pentagon that sent the biggest chill through my spirit because it was more personal for me.  On her way to a National Geographic field trip in California, Hilda Taylor, a sixth grade teacher at Madeleine V. Leckie Elementary School in Southwest D.C., lost her life along with her 11-year-old student Bernard Brown II on American Airlines Flight 77 ten years after my last days as a student there.  When Momma Scribbler--a teacher's aide at Leckie for 13 years--shared the news with me, I was absolutely stunned and heartbroken that the teacher who helped to guide the trajectory of my academic career the most was no longer here.  So in an effort to finally address my sentiments about 9/11, I dedicate this to one of my favorite teachers...