(Dedicated to the memory of Ghassan Kanafani, an iconic Palestinian leader and engaged intellectual who was assassinated by the Israeli Mossad on July 8, 1972)

 Years before the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, US media introduced many new characters, promoting them as ‘experts’ who helped ratchet up US propaganda, ultimately allowing the US government to secure enough popular support for the war. 

She is absolutely my favorite human rights activist and historical figure from the twentieth century. Who could not be in love with and awe of Fannie Lou Hamer?

A poor, black, Mississippi sharecropper with a sixth-grade education–it was rumored that Coretta Scott King, the refined, highly educated wife of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, once refused to share a platform with a woman of so little education–bedeviled two United States senators, a President, the Democratic Party, and every white supremacist in Mississippi with her uncompromising talk about racism in America. And that voice! She had a molasses-thick southern accent, and her voice had a frank and unapologetic tone that put the listener on notice that she was going to say what needed to be said and there would be no sugar coating. If Barbara Jordan sounded like God at His most prim and proper, Hamer sounded like your best sistah friend who reminded you she told you not to go out with that no good so-and-so in the first place.

As our nation’s birthday rolls around again, there is a strange and eerie feeling about the country we’re living in these days. The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade –– thus removing federal protections for abortion rights –– has sent shock waves across the country and unleashed a firestorm upon our political system. While abortion is often painted in the light of “left versus right” –– and Lord knows each side could not be more different on this complicated issue –– our binary way of political thinking obviously doesn’t always apply to everyone. But in light of other recent events –– insurrections, false claims of stolen elections, the erosion of our democratic processes and systemic erasure of constitutional rights –– it might be time for independent voters to pick a side.

Ohio has been going gun crazy for years and it’s only going to get Wild West worse.

As of this month the state is now not only a “stand your ground” state, but also permitless carry, meaning state-mandated training or a background check to legally carry guns is optional, and gun nuts also have the option to openly carry because God says it’s okay.

The above picture was taken at a local grocery store. True, grocery stores are targets for active shooters, but must we all be openly carrying so to put an end to active shooters?

When it comes to America’s gun fetish there’s too much blame to go around, but arguably the biggest gun-pusher trap house in Ohio is the Ohio Statehouse, as its dominating GOP leadership apparently wants an AR-15 slung over everyone’s shoulder.