Author: Reggie Jackson

My Words Are My Weapons: I Write What I Like

“It is better to die for an idea that will live, than to live for an idea that will die.” “The most potent weapon of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed. So as a prelude whites must be made to realise that they are only human, not superior. Same with Blacks. They must be made to realise that they are also human, not inferior.” Both of the aforementioned quotes are from South African freedom fighter Steve Biko. Since I first learned of this great man back in the 1990s I have been an admirer of his work...

Read More

White leaders have emboldened angry white men with guns, now white society is surprised they are murdering people

“Law enforcement is outnumbered and our Mayor has failed. “Take up arms and lets defend our CITY!” – Kenosha Guard, Social Media Post Since the coronavirus pandemic hit this country we’ve seen images of angry White males brandishing weapons in front of police who stand idly by doing and saying nothing. They stormed the Michigan State Capitol and America shrugged it off. Angry White males have driven cars into protestors across the country, shot pellet guns at Milwaukee activists marching to Washington DC, stood in front of their homes next to their wives threatening peaceful protestors with an assault...

Read More

How Long Will This Go On? The Driving Force Behind My Righteous Anger

The comedian Richard Prior made an album in 1976 entitled “Bicentennial Nigger.” As always he used very colorful language as he critically took a look at this nation we live in. One of the sketches he did was called Bicentennial Prayer. In this brilliant piece, he said using the voice of a Black preacher that “White folks have had the essence of dis-understanding on their side for quite a while… we offer this prayer. And the prayer is. How long will this Bull**it go on? How long? How long?” I was reminded of this idea over the past few...

Read More

When America catches a cold, Blacks gets pneumonia: The impact of an uneven economic playing field

“The U.S. economy must undergo a fundamental change if it is to retain a measure of economic viability let alone leadership in the remaining 20 years of this century. The goal must be nothing less than the reindustrialization of America.” – Business Week, June 30, 1980 This warning about the U.S. economy from Business Week came nearly forty years after something monumental happened to Black workers in the Mississippi Delta and other parts of the South. On a hot October day in 1944 a mechanized cotton picker was put on display for the first time. For a majority of...

Read More

Everything About Us, Except Us: The Psychology of Systemic Racism

“People often hurl stones, steel, and insults at one another in order to own, to control, and to secure privileges. In pursuit of these aims, reason is lost sight of, passions run high, and morality is conveniently shelved or proclaimed for self-vindication. Wars are fought, societies disrupted, cultures dislocated, families uprooted, and psyches ruptured.” – Hussein A. Bulhan We live in a world which is becoming increasingly concerned with issues of systemic racism. Some people are embracing the concept while others bemoan it as a fantasy designed to make white people feel guilty. Perspective is everything when it comes...

Read More

Blaming the Victim: Techniques used to avoid talking about systemic racism

In recent weeks I have begun to notice a pattern developing. I have heard similar language used by people pushing back against the conversations about systemic racism. Some old tried and true tropes are making the rounds and leading to fear by some who are trying to have real conversations about racism for the first time in their lives. You may have noticed it yourself. They call these conversations about systemic racism rhetoric. They claim there are always two sides to the story but always feel their side is the only legitimate one. They pushback against ideas which make...

Read More