Author: Reggie Jackson

On a hot summer day, dedicated to the “boys of summer,” Major League Baseball (MLB) celebrated its brightest stars in its annual All-Star game. Our local team, the Milwaukee Brewers, was well represented at the game in a season that has been without controversy. On that glorious night, the spotlight would shine on a young southpaw, All-Star Josh Hader of the Milwaukee Brewers. Unfortunately, the light did not shine on his exploits as one of the more dominant, exciting young pitchers in the league. Instead, Major League Baseball would get caught in the trajectory of a social media firestorm...

“In just the past month, the following incidents have made the news: a black mother and her 5-year-old daughter were harassed by a white man in California who was worried about diseases in a hotel pool; a white woman assaulted a black teen at a community pool in South Carolina; a white man was fired from his job after a video of him questioning whether a black woman had the right to use a private North Carolina neighborhood pool even though she did; a Tennessee woman was fired after she called the police on a black man wearing socks...

The nation is celebrating its two-hundred and forty-sixth birthday on the Fourth of July. This annual event, known as Independence Day, acknowledges the acceptance of the Declaration of Independence as the foundational document creating a new nation. Thomas Jefferson penned this famous avowal of connectedness to the British Empire. It was the most important early salvo in the revolution which created the United States of America. Jefferson stated the beliefs of some but not all of the British colonists in America. The Declaration was unanimously adopted in Congress on July 4, 1776. It began with these famous words. “When...

I am confused and afraid I wonder what path I will take I hear that there’s only two ways out I see mothers bury their sons I want my mom to never feel that pain I am confused and afraid – Antwone Rose, 5/16/2016 The poem ‘I Am Not What You Think!’ was written by 17-year-old Antwone Rose just over two years ago. He was shоt in the back and kіІІed by an East Pittsburgh pоlіcе officer just seconds after running from a car that officers had pulled over because it fit the description of a vehicle used in...

Black people in Milwaukee and across the country will celebrate Juneteenth Day on June 19th. The day is a commemoration of the date in 1865 when the enslaved population of Galveston, Texas was notified of the Emancipation Proclamation, issued two and a half years earlier by President Abraham Lincoln. It has been called Freedom Day by some and is a legally recognized state holiday or day of commemoration in all but five states. On Juneteenth Day 1988, James Cameron opened America’s Black Holocaust Museum in Milwaukee. He chose that date specifically because of its importance to blacks. We will...

“Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.” – Edmund Burke There has been a great deal of consternation and debate in recent weeks about the Trump Administration deliberately separating thousands of immigrant children from their families. Child advocacy and immigrant rights groups, as well as members of Congress, have expressed their outrage at these inhumane policies being carried out under the direction of customs and immigration enforcement agents. These acts are being directed by President Trump and, per usual, no one is offering any historical context. This is nothing new for America. The only difference is...