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Celebrating Manhood

Whenever I've had something I needed to say to my brother but couldn't verbalize, I wrote him a letter. There have been two letters, in particular, that have proven to be the most important. And this, in a way, is an open letter to him, but it is, most especially to all of you.

[Stiggers] ‘Letter of Concern'

Miss Doodle Mae: "Good morning, Jojo's Discount Dollar Store staff! Jojo asked me to conduct a special staff meeting in response to the Shirley Sherrod controversy. Most of you witnessed a hasty decision—caused by a manipulative individual—to terminate a sincere and diligent employee."

A Letter to Caller Number One

"Why don't y'all just leave him alone?" The passion in the caller's voice was alarming. "He's an old man. Just leave him be. Let sleeping dogs lie." When I heard these words back in February, I stepped away from the sink where I was washing dishes and stood in front of my television, with suds dripping down onto my feet and the hardwood floors below. The anonymous caller was ranting to the hotline of a local news station, and the "old man" was James Ford Seale.

Listen to the Moans

Sunday morning, I was organizing my new writing room at home and turned on the Galloway Methodist broadcast on WAPT to keep me company. I didn't pay much attention until I heard Rev. Ross Olivier challenge his audience to "listen to the moans." I pulled up a chair to listen.

Art For the People

After an exquisite breakfast of fresh fruit and hot flapjacks during our recent honeymoon in Belize, my husband, J.P., and I slowly sipped our glasses of orange juice and walked 20 feet from the Turtle Inn restaurant to the sandy beach. The Caribbean Sea seemed to stretch for miles down the shoreline, and we wanted to explore.

[Stiggers] Turkey Day Parade

Miss Doodle Mae: "As the holiday season approaches, Jojo's Discount Dollar Store is gearing up for a special event during Thanksgiving. It's an event the financially challenged community will enjoy."

Jackson Needs a Money Manager

Here's something we all know: Mayor Melton likes to throw money around. Prior to his election, he was well known for sending kids to college, "adopting" young men into his home, and handing out high paying jobs to friends, former enemies and family.

Happiness Worth Celebrating

In my own relationship with an abusive man, "You're the best" turned fairly quickly into "I'm the only one who loves you," along with overt attempts to demonize my friends and isolate me.

[Stiggers] The Four-Way Test

Miss Doodle Mae: "The staff of Jojo's Discount Dollar Store just finished the daily staff meeting, similar to the meeting seen on the television series ‘Hill Street Blues.' Our morning meeting is a great opportunity to prepare for the work day."

[Balko] Drug Warriors Want Your Assets

The Supreme Court reviews Illinois' awful asset forfeiture law.

The Trash Man Cometh

Your efforts at greening your life do make a difference, and they will add up with all the other actions by those around you.

[Stiggers] This Funky Society

Mr. Announcement: "In the ghetto criminal justice system, the people are represented by members of the Ghetto Science Community: police officer and part-time security guard at the Funky Ghetto Mall, Dudley ‘Do-Right' McBride; attorney Cootie McBride of the law firm McBride, Myself and I; and Sista Encouragement, co-host of the Rev. Cletus Car Sales Church Broadcast. This is their story."

[Stiggers] An Already Angry Sista

TaaQweema: "I'm Boneqweesha's star student and Suma Cum Lawd Have Mercy graduate of the Hair Did University school of Cosmetology. You're watching 'Ask 'TaaQweema,' the new call-in and advice television show. Before I close, I must address a question via e-mail from 'AlreadyAngrySista-N-2007.' She writes:

[Dortch] Legislature: Raise Cigarette Tax by $1

"Of all the concerns, there is one—taxation—that alarms us the most. While marketing and public and passive smoking restrictions do depress volume, in our experience taxation depresses it much more severely. Our concern for taxation is, therefore, central to our thinking. …"

[Purvis] Wasteland of Empty Promises

"Call—call the police!" I stammered through the phone tenuously gripped in my trembling hand. I was kneeling in my mother's living room in the midst of broken glass and a carpet stained with drops of blood—his blood. He had punched out the glass in the patio door and the panes in the living-room windows.

[Stiggers] Future Paradise

Rudy McBride: "This may sound weird, but an epiphany came to me. It happened while I was doing some paperwork and listening to the 'Good Morning Ghetto' Drive Time Morning Crew on the Serious Ghetto Science Team Radio Network."

I CARA, do you?

I've never been much of a volunteer. My high school required a certain amount of volunteer hours to graduate, which I completed, however grudgingly. My college sorority's charity of choice was arthritis research, for which I sullenly participated in pie sales and walk-a-thons. Call me selfish, call me cold, but I've just never found a cause to which I truly want to donate my time and/or money.

We Like ‘Obamacare'

With the U.S. Supreme Court considering health-care reform, we thought we'd mention that (a) our health-insurance rates are down, (b) we appreciate the tax credits for our small business, and (c) we've already seen cases where pre-existing conditions or gaps in coverage—which used to keep employees from getting insurance—are no longer barriers to coverage.

Children of Cowardice

Why should I apologize if I don't mean it?

[Collier] When the Clock Ticks

The incessant tick-tock of the biological clock has been the cause of anxiety for women who haven't yet had children but want them, and those who are still waiting for "the one." I've never bought into the internal clock phenomenon much. Until I had a birthday recently, that is.

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