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 […]
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 […]
Many of us will never forget Omar Little, as compelling an anti-hero who ever appeared on a cable TV series. Omar frightened us, but we adored his ruthless charm, just as we adored the pushers and pimps in blaxploitation films. Why we did might be an enigma we need to sort out.Yet why try? Just […]
I’m going to mention a few names that most of you haven’t heard of. I’ll start with Curtis Flowers, and now I roll more names your way: Marcus Wiggins, Ralph Wright Jr., Isaiah McCoy, Ricky Davis, Kwame Ajamu, Bo Cochran, Anthony Ray Hinton, Walter McMillan … All were innocent men — Black men whom […]
Marcia Fudge’s appointment to a Cabinet post opened opportunity for a fresh voice in a Democratic-controlled congressional district, and voices lined up straight like soldiers in Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” for a chance to replace her.Two Democrats stood out: Shontel Brown and Nina Turner.Voters from the 11th Congressional District decide this week who is the most […]
Not a single option would have placated every person who called himself a fan of the Cleveland baseball franchise. For over a century, their team trudged across the U.S. with an image on its jerseys that demeaned a people.Trying to massage reality could never erase that its nickname — Indians — had outlived its racist […]