I had reservations about whether to go on safari when I stepped foot in South Africa less than a month ago. Friends who know me well will echo this truism: I’m not an outdoorsman. I don’t hunt. I don’t swim. I don’t camp. Heck, I get lost going downtown, so […]
You get the government you deserve, and in America, we certainly got the one we deserved when the egomaniacal Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016. Yet no matter how conservatives looked at Trump and his kaleidoscopic policies, they had to spot the dastard in him, even as they refused to acknowledge it publicly. For […]
The characters stick in our minds today just as they did in January 1972 when “Sanford and Son” debuted on NBC. The sitcom, modeled on the British series “Steptoe and Son,” demonstrated that an all-Black cast could hold its own in a TV market crowded with comedies. None of the others, however, had a star […]
You get no reprieve from Death, who sneaks into people’s lives when they least expect him. Yet everybody knows Death awaits, and regardless of how fast you run from him, Death will catch you at some point.He caught Sydney Poitier on Friday.Poitier, 94 when he died, was one of the most gifted actors of his […]
OK, so what’s the 50th state in the Union?I know what y’all thinking. You got Hawaii on your mind, right?To most people, yeah, but my answer differs from theirs: I say New Mexico.What?Well, I bestowed that designation on New Mexico because it was the only one of the 50 states I hadn’t visited. When I […]
I never considered Will Smith a great actor. His on-screen polish was a bit too slick to cover films with true grit. His hilarious work with comic Martin Lawrence did entertain; and his efforts in movies with Gene Hackman and Tommy Lee Jones held appeal for me too. Yet Smith’s range seemed narrow, I thought. […]
October 27 is “National Mentoring Day,” one of those unofficial acknowledgements that fall on the calendar. While the day isn’t like Easter, Christmas or Thanksgiving, Mentoring Day is, nonetheless, a significant occasion to reflect on. For who has not had someone play the mentor’s role in their lives? He (or she) might be a teacher, […]
I pay a high price for living in an all-Black neighborhood. Walk through it, and you will find no Starbuck or Jamba Juice. A sit-down restaurant like the Olive Garden sounds like a winner, but not on the East Side of Cleveland.I don’t have to reiterate the challenges of my getting high-speed internet or of […]
No one among us is a saint — well, few of us are, anyway. Yet we all must stand tall against people who are the devil in fancy trappings. Too many wear such clothing.One of them is Jon Gruden, the misogynistic, homophobic and racist former coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. Gruden’s public persona didn’t […]
I watched my Spectrum bill inch closer and closer to $200. The blotted bill bothered me, because it seemed as if I was paying more for less. I decided to drop Apple TV, though I continued to pay for the Apple device.In April 2020, I paid $146.05, which included $9.99 for a landline. I cut […]