Fifty years ago, at the 1963 March on Washington, A Phillip Randolph demanded a $2 an hour minimum wage after a study determined that such a wage was necessary to fill the needs of Americans. This demand would be equivalent to a $15.25 today. By the late 60s, the minimum wage had been brought up…

Council Meeting I regret having to miss the special council meeting today. Blogging is great, but work pays the bills – and my professional demands went late into the evening. I’m looking forward to Plaintalker II’s play by play. This American Life I religiously listen to the WBEZ Chicago’s This American Life podcast every Monday, and…

Occupy Wall Street Exactly two years and one week ago, on November 15, 2011, the movement known as Occupy Wall Street was banished from Zuccotti park amid mass arrests. This sad day was in the middle of probably the most exciting four months of my life – my first glimpse at a movement. Occupy Wall…

12 Years a Slave 12 Years a Slave is a film, in theaters now, based on Solomon Northup’s book of the same name. Northup, a free black man of Saratoga Springs, New York, as well as a husband and father of three children, was kidnapped in Washington, DC and sold into slavery. Ultimately ending up…

Originally posted on Bishop's Travels:
I never planned on releasing this project or even telling this story.  It was an intimate gift forged in the hopes of rekindling the flames of a past love.  I am opening up, becoming vulnerable and sharing my experience.  Thank you for your time, – Lyle written by mc…

Mr. Damon, a blogger, attacked me about my brief observation of a kick-off ceremony for Plainfield’s African Caribbean Commission. You can be the judge. I won’t say much, as there’s no reason to thoroughly blast a man who embarrasses himself regularly all on his own, nor I am obliged to defend myself from the apparent ruler and arbiter…

“How does integrity face repression? What does honesty do in the face of deception? How does virtue meet brute force?” These questions were posed by activist and professor Dr Cornel West in his opening of the 2013 Code Pink Drone Summit – Drones around the Globe: Proliferation and Resistance – this weekend at the Georgetown…

Being sick makes for a good time to read during brief spurts of clear thinking – the worse feeling moments being reserved for daytime reruns of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and Sanford and Son. While sick, I was able to start a new book, Norman Street: Poverty and Politics in an Urban Neighborhood by Ida…

Though I have been sick at home both today and yesterday, I tried my best to get to the council meeting last night during a brief period of feeling better. After under a half hour, though, my symptoms came right back and I left. It seems, according to Bernice’s posts, that I missed a real…

I wish I’d written about 1493: Uncovering the World Columbus Created closer to when I read it about a year ago, when it was fresh on my mind. A year later, though, I still consider it the single greatest book that I’ve ever read, and a must read for those who love history as much…