I first wrote the following commentary in January 2011 for the now-defunct Option-Magazine.com. At the time, America had a Black president. We were cautiously optimistic. […]
Yeezus! Is ‘Pazz & Jop’ Critically Ill?
Everybody’s a critic. That’s what they used to say. These days, it’s literally true. We have the Interwebs! We all can be critics. We all […]
The Ballad of Wreckless and Amy: A Punk-Rock Love Story
Ever had a YouTube rabbit-hole experience? Sure you have. I had one tonight that warmed the icy punk-rock part of my heart. You know the […]
My (belated) list of should-be 2014 Rock And Roll Hall of Fame inductees (with video)
I’m a little late with my picks for the 2014 Rock And Roll Hall of Fame. Sue me. I had to think about it. Have some […]
15 Minutes with You: Lou Reed, 1942-2013
“Ah, baby, you’re so vicious…” Reading on Facebook today that Lou Reed had died, I had one of those visceral reactions. I literally felt it […]
High school senior promotes free speech in Randolph County with a “Banned book read-off”
I’ve spent the past two days in my hometown of Asheboro, North Carolina, talking to residents in the small Randolph County community about books — […]
Critical Race Theory: School board reverses ‘Invisible Man’ ban, but education still threatened
If you don’t think race played a role in the banning of Invisible Man from a rural county school system in the Piedmont area of […]
Open Letter to the Randolph County Board of “Education”
Earlier this morning, I sent the following letter to the Randolph County Board of “Education.” For those who haven’t read the news, this board voted to ban […]
“Civil rights freed the white southerner… It gave us grace”
Those words come from the late Phil Walden, one-time manager of the southern soul singer Otis Redding and southern blues-rock band The Allman Brothers. It […]
Keeping it Real: A dusty Kentucky coal town outlaws LGBT discrimination
Thanks to a recent Stephen Colbert segment, I went back and found an interesting item that appeared in The New York Times earlier this year. It’s […]