I’ve walked into many classrooms in my 23 years of teaching. All types of children of various races I’ve taught in three different states. Whenever I enter a classroom, the student doesn’t know me. I am a stranger, and they are a stranger to me.

I gaze across the apprehensive faces and wonder what discoveries we can make together. I introduce myself and give a few personal facts. I try and break the ice, but it’s difficult. Kids today go through so much, and where I work, they have more trouble than most. I work in a juvenile detention center…

LOVE ONE ANOTHER

In recent months I’ve begun to contemplate why we as African Americans continue to persevere and fight for a country that never seems to offer love in return. We fight because we love our fellow Americans. We’ve sacrificed blood, flesh, and tears so we can enjoy the whole fruits of justice. The stories of our past and current leaders tell the story of why we love our country's people so immensely.

During the Boston Massacre, Crispus Attucks was one of the first to die. A runaway slave who was a seaman and a rope maker, he attacked the British soldiers…

In the last several months, we’ve witnessed the murders of four African Americans. Ahmed Aubry was hunted and shot down in the street. Breanna Taylor shot eight times in the supposed safety of her own home. George Floyd strangled to death under the knee of a monster. Now the latest Rayshad Brooks shot in the back twice while fleeing from the police.

Furthermore, in the black community, the trauma is way too real and remains for months in the psyche.

If an adult’s mental and emotional state is in turmoil, you can only imagine what it’s like for a black…

Today I was speaking to another African American about mental health and our communities. We each have our issues in our families, and we found common ground in our discussion. That dialogue is the basis for this article.

The toll of racism on African American mental health.

African Americans are 10 percent more likely to experience severe mental distress because of socioeconomic disparities. The black experience is hard in America.

As a race of people that suffered under 300 hundred years of chattel slavery and another 60 years of Jim Crow, it’s no wonder we are more vulnerable than the nation at large to mental illness.

I know this…

He was born with blues in his soul
Abandoned and alone
A story was written
Bleeding out his pain
Through a pen

Realism stoked the black and white
Reality of being black
Punching you in the face
Yet his growls were laced with grace
He gave us a taste of the street on his terms

His verses cried out truth
Facts that hit like ghetto jackhammers
Making you wave your hands
While holding back tears
As you saw the Dark Man’s blues

Prayers spoken from a flawed man’s lips Whose wings seemed broken But only hidden until God made the…

Last month I made 8 dollars. The month before that, it was a little over five dollars. Yes, that’s growth, but it’s similar to watching grass grow in the summer. I’ve written on Medium for over two years, and I have about 4k followers. When I first began, I believed growing a following was everything. Once I reached several thousand followers, the money would roll onto my financial shores like a tsunami. However, instead, it’s gentle lapping at the shore that pays for my Medium subscription.

I don’t know why my work never receives large amounts of fans or claps…

Mitch McConnell is a liar and hypocrite. He led the United States Senate for four years and protected a misogynistic, racist, homophobic, and xenophobic president from being convicted twice. The precedent is set that at all costs, we must protect white supremacy in this nation. It proves that integrity and honesty are out the window when it comes to this nation’s seat of government. The idea that Mitch believes he can stand at the people's podium and attempt to hold the former president accountable is ridiculous. …

Recently I wrote a short commentary on the consequences doled out to Morgan Wellen for his use of the N-word. It was titled is it “Cancel Culture of Consequences”. I decided to attempt to write the death certificate of the N-word. I thought about the history bound to its DNA. It’s a horrible word that definitely needs to die. Below is what I believe the official death notice would read.

There it is dead In the street bleeding out hate A well-deserved fate Shot by humanity Love the bullet That laid it down Terrorized the African American and stole our…