Random Thoughts on a Thursday

I’m not doing the students good if they’ve seen a film 10 million times already. I’m trying to introduce them to things. I’ll say, “You know there was some good s— made before you were born. And it might be black-and-white.” And “On the Waterfront” is one of my...

Thoughts on a Tuesday

White Collar Crime prosecutions at all time low. It seems to me that there is a massive decline today in compassion and in moral courage. And I think that, in some ways, both are connected. On social media, there’s an expectation that you will not get compassion: You...

On the Lions and charismatic leadership

I’ve been following the Detroit Lions almost all of my life–I write “almost” because I don’t have memories of any games before 1979 or so. I’ve lived in two cities with better teams–I lived in St Louis when the Rams moved...

On the BU Antiracist Center (and Kendi)

This week a number of journalists have written on the fiscal challenges of the BU Antiracist Center. After having received millions of dollars in support the center has laid off a number of its staff members and is now undergoing investigation. I’d turn those...

Is this thing on?

Been thinking about coming back to writing on the internets. Long story short I wrote one of the first if not the first social science blogs for a while, then transitioned to public writing through sites like Africana.com and Blackvoices.com and then after that to...

Mo(u)rning in American 2017

On September 11, 2001 I was a 32 year old professor at Washington University in Saint Louis, making a left turn onto Forest Park on the way to work. As I listened to The Tom Joyner morning show Joyner and his crew made to joke about a plane flying into the...