Author: Reggie Jackson

“There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, ‘When will you be satisfied?’ We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.” – MLK’s “I Have a Dream” Speech (August 28, 1963) The latest police “snuff film” was released on January 27 by the Memphis Police Department. Five officers viciously beat to death 29-year-old Tyre Nichols on January 10. Memphis police delivered at least two kicks, two baton strikes and five punches to Tyre Nichols’s face, the videos show. It is just the latest in...

I had a stroke one day during the second week of November. Fortunately, my wife noticed the symptoms and forced me to go to the ER. I spent two days in ICU and one additional day in a regular unit. The stroke was “mild” and taught me a valuable lesson. The situation showed me that I need to be more cognizant of my day-to-day health and fitness. I am sure there are many other people who can learn from my experience. A good friend, John Comer, gave me some great advice not long after the stroke. He said “we...

In the past several years in this country we have witnessed an alarming rise in hateful words turn into violent actions. This is not a novel occurrence as some speculate. America has been here before. Americans seem to have less of a reaction to hate speech towards Black people, as we are seeing in this current election cycle. Just because the hateful words are in the form of a dog whistle does not mean we cannot see them for what they are. Black people long ago deciphered the code and are cognizant of how we are marginalized and attacked...

“The FBI has received credible information of a broad threat to synagogues in NJ. We ask at this time that you take all security precautions to protect your community and facility.” – FBI Bulletin On a day when the FBI issues a warning of a credible threat to synagogues across New Jersey, the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets suspend Kyrie Irving for promoting antisemitism and refusing on multiple occasions to apologize. This in the aftermath of rapper Kanye West being willing to tear down much of his fortune because he too, chose to intentionally make antisemitic remarks and then admitted to...

Sometimes in life you hear a story that seems hard to believe. A number of years ago a woman named Rikki walked up to me after a presentation I had done and asked if she could share her husband Derek’s story. I said of course you can. She told me that her husband had been in prison since the 1990s. He was charged and convicted in relation to a grocery store robbery. Witnesses described the three assailants as dark skinned Black men. They made the workers in the store open the safe, they took the money and left. No...

The Next Act Theatre production of playwright James Ijames’ play “Kill Move Paradise” as an emotional rollercoaster. The four characters Isa (Marques Causey), Grif (braheem Farmer), Daz (Dimonte Henning), and Tiny (Joseph Brown Jr.), find themselves one by one, descending into a mysterious place after being torn away from their seemingly normal lives. Slowly but surely, they discover that they are simply the latest four names added to a never-ending list of Blacks killed by police and vigilantes. Inspired by the killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice by Cleveland police in 2012, the play shows the anguish of the afterlife...