For almost a decade I had been living in Tokyo, Japan. With my wife Haruki and our seven-year-old daughter, Kantra we were on a 13-hour flight from Tokyo to JFK airport in New York City. It was the day before 9/11 and it was our first touchdown in the States. NYC was one of the global epicenters of COVID. At JFK we had to go through immigration and transfer to a connecting flight to Charlotte. Throughout the weeks leading up …
Tag: america
This morning was a quarantine dream. I talked to podcaster, writer, rapper, and Shanghai social commentator, Randy Flagg. I’ve previously written about him, here. I did not know we’d be talking live. It’s been years since I’ve talked to this brother face-to-face. I signed on through his streamyard link (which I’ve never used) then all of a sudden, live, I’m on the internet. “Oh shit.” Surprise, it was comfortable and good to reconnect with an old friend. He’s been grinding …
I talked to vlogger and fashion designer, Reggie Casual for Tokyo Weekender, read it here. Reggie’s videos are a gulf of information and insight into Japanese fashion. While I enjoyed watching them and I think The Casual is one of the most unique vlogs in Japan, I couldn’t get away from the obvious influence of the black aesthetic on this country’s pop culture. Granted, The Casual is about Japanese fashion, but for him to not address the obvious is what …
Last year my daughter, Kantra forced me to pick up my crown. For many nights, on my knees, helping my four-year-old get dressed for bed, at eye level she’d tell me, “I’m a Princess. Mommie is Mommie Queeen and you’re Daddy King.” We could be in a grocery store aisle and out of her pocket she pulls rocks, rose pedals, acorns, and handfuls of sand. She got a bike for Christmas and a remote control car. In the last few …
Confederate Statue, Lake Eola, Orlando, Florida 
Confederate Statue, Lake Eola, Orlando, Florida 
Confederate Statue, Lake Eola, Orlando, Florida 
Confederate Statue, Lake Eola, Orlando, Florida 
Confederate Statue, Lake Eola, Orlando, Florida 
Confederate Statue, Lake Eola, Orlando, Florida 
Confederate Statue, Lake Eola, Orlando, Florida
Blacks built America’s infrastructure and economy. Nothing will change that fact. Leave them statues alone. They are evidence of how the “victors” intended history to be written. I don’t want to forget that, and I don’t want my child to either. Reproach their significance. The real battleground is our children’s schools. They need to know that the face of horror, which is generally associated with blackness, actually exists in our forefathers. The Amy’s and John’s of America need their perceptions …
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