2025 Year In Review
COMMENTARY BY DOPPER0189, BLACK KOS MANAGING EDITOR
We’ve nearly reached the end of a very exhausting year. December is when we the editors at Black Kos enjoy looking back at the highlights of our writing throughout the year. We covered a lot of ground on Black Kos in 2025, from criminal justice to protest, crushing election and court losses, history and law, local politics and international events, from prose to poetry, as well as great Black scientists and vile right-wing racists.
But we have now come to the time of the year, when we the Black Kos editors take our annual holiday break. We will not be returning until Friday January 9th, 2026. But before we go, I would like to once again thank everyone who reads and participates in Black Kos for continuing to support us. Putting these diaries together is both a group effort and a lot of individual work. I have always viewed it as a blessing that our diaries are so well received.
But as for 2025, let’s look back at this year. I have always enjoyed spending a little time at thee end of each year looking back at the great work this team has put together. Here are some of the highlights from this year’s edition of Black Kos. So on behalf of Deoliver47, Justice Putnam, JoanMar, Chitown Kev and myself, I would like to say thank you to all our readers.
Have a safe holiday season, and we look forward to seeing you again in the new year.
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Commentary: THE 92% is tired of protesting when voting is more effective.
By dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
At the beginning of 2023 I wrote the opening of last year’s Black Kos with this story (diary) — Black Kos, New Year - Democracy and the Rule of Law On the Ballot and these words:
Black people more than any other group in American history (with the exception of Native Peoples) have seen what are the consequences of the denial of democratic rule and the rule of law. Through out most of our history in the New World this was our norm not the exception.
The US billed itself as a beacon freedom, liberty, and a government ruled by the will of it citizens. But from its founding in 1776 through two hundred years of slavery and then Jim Crow, the US denied some of it’s citizens the ability to exercise their fundamental rights.
When I see scenes like this:
My mind runs to the history of violence to deny the right to vote in our past. Scenes like this:
Black Americans have seen and felt the consequences of the use of mob violence to distort and destroy democracy. As a student of history I also am aware of the 50th anniversary rule. When an event happens the 50th anniversary marks the turning point where more people alive where were not alive during that event than were alive.
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The famous shocked black guy meme. In spite of the fact that none of the events to come in 2025 will surprise me in 2025, I, like the late great Toni Morrison, want to retain the ability to be shocked...sometimes...by the avalanche of hot mess to come. (I just noticed...is that Jerry-world in the background of this pic?...if so, that's fitting!)
In the beginning…
Commentary by Chitown Kev
As 2025 begins and the new maladministration comes into power and media headlines appear, at first glance, to be imports from a surrealistic nightmare or two that I’ve had, apocalyptic scifi, and Salvador Dali paintings, I am doing all that I can to protect my mind.
I get it. All of a sudden, once-in-a-century catastrophes are a result of governmental policies of diversity, equity, and inclusion never mind that cis white men have been in charge of once-in-a-century catastrophes at least 20 times per every previous century and I might even have to include the brief portion of the 21st century that has already taken place in that assessment, including the current crisis taking place in California.
I’m...not supposed to know that.
Whatevs.
I’ve drastically altered my media diet. I still trust the legacy print media to give me the bare-boned facts of a particular story. I still haven’t closely watched any of the broadcast media since Nov. 7 other than about 10 minutes of Deadline White House just yesterday.
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Y'all blew it. Black voters wanted Kamala Harris for President. Now look at who you've got (Ain't posting Dump's picture)
In other words, y’all are about to F**k Around and Find Out.
Commentary by Black Kos Editor Denise Oliver-Velez
I’m glad to be back commenting here in Black Kos, after our winter hiatus. Sorry, I feel the need to rant after the last few weeks of mostly holding my feelings in.
After celebrating Martin Luther King Day, and moving towards Black History Month in February, and watching the never ending hypocrisy of our home grown supposed “MAGA Christians” who talk out of both sides of their necks, quoting their bibles while supporting Convict for Life, rapist, racist Dump, I have to admit that though our Black folks, who remain at the bottom of the hierarchy along side of Native Americans, (and have been there for 400 years — more or less) will continue to suffer, I am going to tighten my seat belt and soldier on.
At age 77, (will be 78 this year) I’m one of those “old people” in the Party, who ageists here love to dismiss.
Along with my brethren and sistren — I’ll be watching all y’all who couldn’t bring yourselves to cast a vote for sanity see what you actually voted for and wind up paying a harsh price. That includes all those purists who didn’t vote as well. Y’all can go to hell in a handbasket.
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"... They show him the rifle and what can he do but be forced into the car, driven past this life into the next... " - Remica Bingham-Risher "25 days after I am born"
Voices & Soul
by Justice Putnam, Black Kos Editor
I was called a race traitor again by the usual bigots who insist I always “see” racism where none exists. That’s why they want to pull a Stasi Quo and turn in neighbors who are not white to ICE. They have no problem turning in Black workers for being DEI hires, just don’t call it racist. They accuse us of being radicalized by Critical Race Theory, when I was actually radicalized in third grade in Corvallis, Oregon, September of 1963, when those little Black school girls were blown up in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing by the KKK. I was radicalized by tv news coverage of police dogs attacking Black school boys at lunch counters and high pressure fire hoses knocking elderly Black women to the ground. I was only a kid, but Black men, women and children beaten to a pulp on the Edmund Pettus Bridge radicalized me to the core.
I cannot capitulate. I refuse to pretend a Nazi salute is an awkward gesture, I cannot pretend the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers are nothing but Brownshirts goosestepping to their own Wagnerian drummer for the King of America. I refuse to forget all that was fought for. And I refuse to give up.
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Or: The War on DEI and the Myth of White Superiority.
Commentary by Black Kos editor JoanMar
Four of the most mediocre white men “on God’s green earth” (read that in my Grandma’s voice) dared to open their mouths to talk about “superior intelligence.” By now, we should all know that going forward, racists will find a way to blame all tragedies on Black and Brown people. Whether it’s an aviation disaster or any high-stakes failure, the immediate assumption will be that melanin is responsible, because white people are naturally gifted with superior intelligence and competence.
“Air traffic controllers are 75% white and 84% male”
Remember that time when we were told that immigrants are coming in to take “Black jobs”? In their minds, you see, certain immigrants only have the intelligence to work at manual labor. They are here to do construction, farm work, janitorial services, childcare, and elder care. In the minds of racists, Black and Brown people belong in those service roles, not in positions of leadership or expertise. It is commonly held that our descent into this nightmare started when President Obama made fun of the current occupant at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. I beg to differ. The seed of resentment was planted when he first realized that a Black man would ascend to the highest office in the land. Imagine what a shock that must have been to his racist soul? And what an existential threat that realization posed to racists’ idea of the natural order of things? The thought of a Black person as a president, a pilot, or an air traffic controller challenges their worldview, making them desperate to discredit any progress made by marginalized communities.
The underlying belief that white men are inherently more competent and natural born leaders, while people of color and women are bound to make catastrophic mistakes is not just an ignorant assumption, it is a blatant, provable, monstrous lie. And worse, it’s a desperate attempt at counter-programming.
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I’m Black 365 days a year. Dump and his anti-DEI klan an’t change that.
Commentary by Black Kos Editor Denise Oliver Velez.
If you don’t know this by now —Donnie Dump decided to go on and issue a vapid and narcissistic Black History Month Proclamation this year even as his agency heads eliminate celebrating it. In his proclamation he made the decision to mention and honor a dis-invited from the BBQ person like Clarence Thomas in the same sentence with Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman. He, or his writers managed to not capitalize “Black” in his text, referencing “black Americans” instead of Black Americans. We know that the America preparing to enter “a historic Golden Age” under his reign is dross.
My google doc copy of his text gives me a “Word count: 318.” Let’s compare and contrast it with POTUS Joe Biden’s from last year. “Word count: 944.” Both Dump’s and Biden’s are posted on the American Presidency Project website, so no need to go to Whitehouse.gov to read his.
Here’s POTUS Biden’s:
Proclamation 10699—National Black History Month, 2024
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"Sometimes you've got to pop out and show a [racist]...."
Commentary by Black Kos editor JoanMar
“What did you think about the Super Bowl halftime show?”
(Before I could round up my mouth to respond) “I tell you, I’m not a racist, but in my mind that was pure nonsense. Did you watch that?”
Me: “I’m curious why you prefaced your statement with that disclaimer?”
“You know me. You know I’m not a racist, but I didn’t understand a word of it.”
Me: “Of course, not understanding ‘a word of it’ doesn’t make you a racist, but that’s a separate issue, isn’t it? You first dismissed it as pure nonsense, and then you admitted you didn’t understand a word of it. I mean, I don’t speak Italian, yet I’ve sat through at least one opera performed in that language without ever coming away thinking the performance was pure nonsense.”
(Changes tactic) “Well, clearly you didn’t think it was nonsense. Help me understand. Tell me what I missed.”
Me: “Maybe some other time. But I’ll leave you with this: Kendrick Lamar is a Pulitzer Prize-winning artist. What you witnessed and casually dismissed was a master at his craft. That was a multi-layered, multi-dimensional tour de force. That was a history lesson, a commentary on current events, a call to action, a redemption story, and a path forward all wrapped in one. Catch you later.”
“Okay...”
(Me interrupting as I prepared to walk off) “And you might want to sit with the fact that you and MAGAland are in total agreement on this one. What story is that telling, I wonder.”
“Don’t be mad at me. You not mad at me, are you?”
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We are not gonna be erased!
'This Is What Banned Books Look Like' from the African American Literature Book Club
Commentary by Black Kos Editor Denise Oliver-Velez.
Let’s start with the bad news first.
The destruction of the U.S. Department of Education is underway, and part and parcel of this move by the Orange Bigot In Chief and his minions was reported by Liam Knox at Inside Higher Ed:
Ed Department: DEI Violates Civil Rights Law
In a sweeping and unprecedented letter issued over the weekend, the Office for Civil Rights declared race-based scholarships, cultural centers and even graduation ceremonies illegal.
The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights declared all race-conscious student programming, resources and financial aid illegal over the weekend and threatened to investigate and rescind federal funding for any institution that does not comply within 14 days.
In a Dear Colleague letter published late Friday night, acting assistant secretary for civil rights Craig Trainor outlined a sweeping interpretation of the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which struck down affirmative action. While the decision applied specifically to admissions, the Trump administration believes it extends to all race-conscious spending, activities and programming at colleges.
[...]
The letter mentions a wide range of university programs and policies that could be subject to an OCR investigation, including “hiring, promotion, compensation, financial aid, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, discipline, housing, graduation ceremonies, and all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life.”
“Put simply, educational institutions may neither separate or segregate students based on race, nor distribute benefits or burdens based on race,” Trainor writes.
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The African American who introduced inoculation to the Western World
Commentary: Black Scientists, Explorers, and Inventors
By dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
There are no portraits of Onesimus. Artist , Jean-Louis André Théodore Géricault, Portrait of a Black Man, France (c. 1823), Oil on Canvas
Fears and misinformation surrounding inoculation and vaccination are old themes in American culture. One piece of information lost to history that helps counter this disinformation campaign is that the principles of inoculation were first introduced to the Western world by a enslaved black African in Boston Massachusetts. But then just as now fear, racism, and religious bias lead to inoculation’s widespread rejection in the 1700s just as with the modern antivaxxer campaigns.
Onesimus (late 1600s–1700s) was a black man instrumental in the mitigation of a major 1721 smallpox outbreak in Boston, Massachusetts. Onesimus birth name is unknown. He was at some point enslaved and given in 1706 to a New England Puritan minister named Cotton Mather, who renamed Onesimus. Mather was the Puritan minister of Boston’s North Church (he was also a prominent figure in the Salem Witch Trials). Mather renamed his slave after a first-century slave mentioned in the Bible. The name, "Onesimus" means useful, helpful, or profitable.
I first heard of Onesimus growing up near Boston, but I didn’t know much about him other than he was part of the local black folklore. It was only years later watching PBS that I learned more about him. I was recently think that maybe he should be promoted as an antidote to many antivaxxers who have wormed their way into black cultural spaces.
Little is known of Onesimus early life as he was just one of the millions of Africans kidnapped from West Africa, and forced into a perilous transatlantic slave trade. Yet from these terrible beginnings Onesimus changed the course of history by spurring the first recorded use of inoculation in the New World. Onesimus’ knowledge helped pave the way for the development of the first vaccines 75 years later.
In 1721 a terrifying news swept colonial Massachusetts, Smallpox had arrived in Boston and was spreading rapidly. The first victims, passengers on a ship from the Caribbean, were shut in a house identified only by a red flag reading “God have mercy on this house.” Meanwhile, hundreds of residents of the bustling colonial town started to flee for their lives, terrified of exposing themselves to the deadly disease.
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Irving Garland Penn's "The Afro-American Press and its Editors" (1891)
Commentary by Chitown Kev
Screenshot of a portrait of Irving Garland Penn, the author of a 19th century anthology of Black journalism, "The Afro-American Press and its Editors."
I caught the mention from Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and professor of investigative reporting at American University Wesley Lowery writing for The New York Review of Books.
I’ve found myself revisiting an essay on the journalist’s role in a free society by the Reverend Levi Jenkins Coppin, editor of the AME Church Review, included in Irvine Garland Penn’s influential 1891 volume c...
Waitaminute, did I read that right? 1891?
I did know that the history of African American journalism stretched back to the early 19th century, that there were even Black correspondents during the Civil War, that Frederick Douglass founded his own paper,
I was not aware that such a history of African American journalism— and journalists— was anthologized in the 19th century
After reading Coppin’s essay, I looked up and down the internet and, sure enough, I did find a digitized copy of The Afro-American Press and its Editors by Irving Garland Penn; perhaps the most invaluable collection of Black journalism ever produced. One of the more interesting figures in the volume might be Mr. Penn himself.
Herb Boyd/The New Amsterdam News
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A tribute to our friend Tortmaster from Black Kos editor JoanMar
"...Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it." Our Tortmaster led by example.
Tortmaster’s presence on this site was a precious gift. Those of us who had the privilege of getting to know the man behind the avatar—especially those of us who worked with him behind the scenes of his many groups— know of his tireless advocacy on behalf of the vulnerable, his razor sharp wit, his sheer brilliance, and his unshakeable integrity. What many may not have realized, however, is just how much he contributed to the richness and depth of this our online home.
Yes, I've been talking about my dear friend in the past tense. Greg died of an acute illness two weeks ago. Help me honor the legacy of this uniquely honorable, gifted and beautiful man.
Our Tortmaster didn’t just write diaries — he produced masterpieces. He poured his heart into everything he did. Whether it was his Art Mysteries series, The Kos Art series, the many Support the Dream Defenders’ campaigns, or his scathing takedowns of the scums of the earth. Each bit of work showcased his passion, his keen intellect, and unwavering commitment to justice. It was no coincidence that his favorite author was Charles Dickens.
Tortmaster understood the assignment of being an ally. On this site, he showed unshakeable loyalty to groups dedicated to advocating for marginalized & demonized communities. He led by example and those of us in the Support the Dream Defenders group group witnessed first hand his personal and financial sacrifices as he fought for communities under siege.
When teenage Michael Brown was publicly executed for Walking While Black, we relied on Tortmaster’s legal expertise to draft the Michael Brown Over-Policed Rights Act which aimed to empower ordinary citizens to police the police. With the enthusiastic support of the broader Daily Kos community, we were able to produce a proposal that garnered the support of members of the NAACP and supportive responses from members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
When stories and videos surfaced of cops willfully leaving people to bleed out, Tortmaster again came to the rescue as we worked on the Good Samaritan Act which sought to force cops to render aid to people they had wounded in the course of their duties.
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Commentary: Black Scientists, Explorers, and Inventors
By dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
Jesse Ernest Wilkins, Jr. (November 27, 1923 – May 1, 2011) was an African American nuclear scientist, mechanical engineer and mathematician, who gained first fame on entering the University of Chicago at age 13, becoming its youngest ever student. His intelligence led to him being referred to as a "negro genius" in the media.
Jesse Wilkins and Eugene Wigner co-developed the Wigner-Wilkins approach for estimating the distribution of neutron energies within nuclear reactors, which is the basis for how all nuclear reactors are designed. Wilkins later went on to become the President of the American Nuclear Society in 1974. But despite Wilkins’ stature and fame during his career, he was not unaffected by the prevalent racism that existed for much of his life.
Wilkins had a widely varied career, spanning seven decades and including significant contributions to pure and applied mathematics, civil and nuclear engineering, and optics. As part of a widely varied and notable career, Wilkins contributed to the Manhattan Project during the Second World War. He also gained fame working in and conducting nuclear physics research in both academia and industry.
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Lorraine Hansberry. Political activist, playwright and author of "A Raisin in the Sun"
Lorraine Hansberry’s “Raisin In The Sun” debuted on Broadway, March 11, 1959
Commentary by Black Kos Editor Denise Oliver-Velez
I was delighted to see playwright, and activist Lorraine Hansberry getting her props today, during this “Women’s History Month.”
However I think it is important to note that the subject matter, housing discrimination and segregation is an issue that still exists today.
Stephen Menendian’s piece written for NBC in 2021 went straight to the point:
U.S. neighborhoods are more segregated than a generation ago, perpetuating racial inequity
We often overlook one of the root causes in staggering disparities in health, income and incarceration — where we live.
Racial residential segregation in the United States is the mechanism by which people are sorted into neighborhoods and communities that offer opportunity and deny it. Your residence determines the schools your children are zoned for, the amenities in your neighborhood, the safety of your streets and air and drinking water, your proximity to jobs, the strength of your municipal tax base and local economy and the degree of police surveillance and harassment you may endure.
Although economic segregation has been rising in recent decades, racial residential segregation is higher and stronger. Even affluent and middle-class people of color disproportionately reside in lower-opportunity neighborhoods, while lower-income white people have access to higher-opportunity communities.
Residential segregation was carefully built into our metropolitan areas during the course of the 20th century through collective private action and government policy. And although fair housing laws now prohibit discrimination in housing, segregation persists for a variety of complicated reasons, including differences in wealth and income and local land use policies.
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by Justice Putnam, Black Kos Editor
I was thinking about Kurt Vonnegut the other day. I was thinking about the firebombing of Dresden and the burning of Beatles albums in the South. I was thinking about the destruction of
"... dreams imploded inside the molten iron across the narrow book lined street... " - devorah major "on the day Al-Mutanabbi street was bombed"
the Library in Alexandria and the cannonading of the Buddhas of Bamyan. I was thinking of laws that prevented Blacks from reading and if there were no laws, the local Citizens Council made sure no reading occurred, by any means necessary.
Vonnegut was not the only one to call the bombing of Dresden an act of terror. Even British Air Commodore Colin McKay Grierson, a confidant of Churchill, admitted to AP war correspondent Howard Cowan, that the raid also helped destroy...
“ ... what is left of German morale… “
Cowan then filed a report that the allies had resorted to terror bombing.
The firebombing of Dresden, a center for Art and Literature, was a strategic act of terror. The burning of Beatles albums was a conscious act by white supremacists and one meant to intimidate. The murder of Trayvon Martin and the gaslighting about his brutal murder, like the removal of the Tuskagee Airmen from the military record, did not happen in a vacuum devoid of racist intent. It is one thing to admit the virulent resurgence of laws to enforce only a “white” education, but we are in a full-blown Rawanda Radio ethnic cleansing with masked government hit squads renditioning professors and scientists right off the street in broad daylight, we are witnessing a wholesale blitzkrieg to re-write history, to erase anything or anyone from the annals who fought long and hard so that democracy would not perish from the face of the Earth.
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Flowers for Lonnie Bunch III, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution
Commentary by Chitown Kev
The current occupant of the Oval Office, along with his sidekick, seems determined to turn these United States into...I don’t know, reflections of their conscious and unconscious mind, and with results that the entire world can see. These feats of dark metamorphosis and projection are taking place right before our very eyes and includes not only America's present but its past, as well.
The 14th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and the founding director of the National Museum of African American of History and Culture, Lonnie G. Bunch III
Take, for instance, the recent executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History”
Once widely respected as a symbol of American excellence and a global icon of cultural achievement, the Smithsonian Institution has, in recent years, come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology. This shift has promoted narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive. For example, the Smithsonian American Art Museum today features “The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture,” an exhibit representing that “[s]ocieties including the United States have used race to establish and maintain systems of power, privilege, and disenfranchisement.” The exhibit further claims that “sculpture has been a powerful tool in promoting scientific racism” and promotes the view that race is not a biological reality but a social construct, stating “Race is a human invention.”
Fortunately, I don’t have to concerned about where to begin with all of that hot mess, the 14th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Lonnie g. Bunch III does a better, more diplomatic job of that than I ever could, in a internal memo to Smithsonian staff in response to Trump’s executive order.
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My block finger has been very busy today.
Commentary by Black Kos Editor Denise Oliver Velez
There was an interesting opinion piece in The New York Times, (gift link) yesterday from political scientist Dr. Christina Greer. She addressed how many of us Black folks are feeling these days:
MVP Harris joins Bluesky, posting a video in which she states "Fear has a way of being contagious. But courage is also contagious
Black people have seen this America before. We have endured throughout history’s progress and regress, watching the arc of justice bend with the changing winds. Until we reckon with our fellow citizens’ capacity — even hunger — for injustice, we will fail to meet, understand and survive this political moment. What I mean by that is the ability of some Americans (historically, almost all of them white, though increasingly there are multiethnic fellow travelers in MAGA these days) to burn this country to the ground before they share it with those deemed other and unworthy. I also mean how long it takes for almost everyone else to wake up to the danger these people pose not only to Black people but, yes, to everyone else, too.
Again, Black people are not surprised. Far too many well-meaning white Americans have been what I like to call ally ostriches, believing in progress while burying their heads in the sand when discussions around the past become uncomfortable. Or newer Americans, perhaps the children of immigrants of recent decades, who don’t see what business it is of theirs what violence slave owners or Jim Crow enforcers visited on their fellow citizens or the legacy of it. And now some of them are seeing people who look like them summarily deported. How did this happen?
Every day I hear, spoken by these ostriches but also, increasingly, by those who blithely voted for Mr. Trump, thinking he didn’t intend to actually do those things he said he would do, or who just couldn’t bring themselves to vote for a Black woman or who feel some version of disbelief. As if the America of chattel slavery, of Native American expulsion and attempted extermination, of reckless imperial expansion, of Jim Crow, of internment camps was echoed by authoritarian regimes across the globe in the past. I find myself reminding those who are surprised by this moment that my still very spry mother attended legally mandated segregated schools her entire life. The past has somehow turned into prologue, and the head-scratching of many tells me there is a fundamental lack of understanding of this country and what Americans are capable of. No, dear ostriches, not all Americans. But enough and often enough.
And in the midst of this fear and real threats to democracy, most Black people are not only not surprised but also tired out by explaining why all of this is not surprising. (And yes, I am aware there are a few Black ostriches, too.) That is why many of the 92 percent of Black women who have been the keepers of the Democratic Party and democracy writ large have been resoundingly silent. Why did no one listen to us?
Dr. Greer asks an important question here, and frankly, my answer is that for the vast majority of my fellow citizens, deaf ears don’t listen to Black voices. If they did we wouldn’t still be living in a country controlled by systemic racism for 400 years.
This rant today (and yes I’m in rant mode) is directed at a group of mostly white folks who fled TwitX to go to the “progressive non-Muskated safe haven” of Bluesky. It has been touted as a space where folks could avoid right wing trolls and bots and the flood of depredations from MAGAs.
(FYI, I haven’t left TwitX, since Bluesky doesn’t have accounts from most of the Black /Caribbean/African sources I use in my writing, and the large part of Black Twitter still remains there. I do post and read and repost on Bluesky daily)
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Commentary by Black Kos editor JoanMar
Karmelo Anthony - which image did you see in the media? (Courtesy GoFundMe)
Throughout history, racists have employed demonizing and dehumanizing language to attribute criminal and violent behavior to Black people. This is no accident. This strategy has been central to justifying the subjugation and brutalization of Black folks. Five hundred years since Christopher Columbus stumbled into the “new world” and still melanated people are portrayed as inherently savage, animalistic, and incapable of self-control. You think this is just hyperbolic language on my part? Check out the racist shithole that is that site formerly known as Twitter and see the responses to the stabbing death of Austin Metcalf.
FRISCO, Texas -- A 17-year-old student charged with murder in the fatal stabbing of another student at a track meet allegedly confessed to the killing and officers say he told them he was protecting himself, according to the arrest report.
The incident occurred Wednesday morning at a Frisco Independent School District stadium during a track and field championship involving multiple schools in the district.
Austin Metcalf, 17, an 11th grader at Frisco Memorial High School, died after police said another student stabbed him during an altercation in the bleachers at the meet.
The death of this young man is tragic. One white teen dead and a Black teen behind bars awaiting his fate as it will be decided by others. Despite the fact that Karmelo was arrested at the crime scene, racists are incensed that there is no nationwide protest and no burning down of cities to bring attention to this story. Had this tragedy happened in the 1920s (or even much later), young Karmelo’s remains would already be decorating some hanging tree and bits and pieces of him would already be proudly displayed on various mantelpieces.
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Toussaint- Louverture, First Leader of the Haitian Revolution
By dopper0189, Black Kos, Managing Editor
Toussaint Louverture born François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture (also known as Toussaint Bréda) was the first leader of the slave revolt that became the Haitian Revolution. Toussaint was born in what then known as Saint-Domingue, the French colony that would later become Haiti. Haiti is the only nation born of a slave revolt. The fact that there are so few monuments to slave revolts in the US (and a large number of monuments to Confederate generals) made me think about him.
Renowned for his military genius and political acumen, Toussaint led the first successful attempt by a slave population in the world to win independence from European colonialism. Under his leadership the Haitian revolutionaries defeated the armies of three great imperial powers: Spain, France, and later Great Britain. The success of the Haitian Revolution had enduring effects on shaking the institution of slavery throughout the New World. The groundwork laid by Toussaint prepared Haiti to become the second independent republic in the Americas.
Former slaves led by Toussaint proclaimed independence on New Years, January 1st 1804, declaring the new nation be named "Ayiti". Interesting Ayiti is simultaneously a Native American and African term." To honor one of the indigenous Taíno names for the island, it means "home or mother of the earth”. In the Fon language of West Africa it means "sacred earth or homeland".
Most histories think Toussaint’s father was from Gaou Guinou West Africa (a younger son of the king of Arrada in modern-day Benin) who had been captured in warfare and sold into slavery. His mother, Pauline, was Gaou Guinou’s second wife. The couple had several children, of whom Toussaint was the eldest son. A few believe that his father was Pierre Baptiste, who is usually supposed to have been his godfather. Traditionally, Toussaint was thought to have been born on the plantation of Bréda at Haut de Cap in Saint-Domingue, owned by the Comte de Noé and later managed by Bayon de Libertat. His date of birth is uncertain, but his name suggests he was born on All Saints Day, and he was about 50 at the start of the revolution.
It is believed that Toussaint was educated by his godfather, Pierre Baptiste. Early historians speculated on what he mostly read, with many particularly citing Raynal who wrote against slavery, and in whom they saw a foreshadowing of Toussaint‘s career:
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Voices & Soul
by Black Kos Editor, Justice Putnam
"... Remember that there are no better angels/ above or beneath our skies, above or beneath/ charred churches and trees... " -Cameron Barnett "Little Africa on Fire"
When the Department of Education misspelled W.E. du Bois’ name back during Trump’s first foray in the destruction of the natural order, it was emblematic of a more systemic problem inflicted on the body politic, how entrenched opinions about race are predicated on a lack of knowledge and facts, knowledge and facts as basic as the spelling of a great man’s name.
I’ve heard it argued that political change takes time. I’ve heard we may never see the results of our activism. I’ve heard it argued that the irrevocable change of rocks being worn away by the crashing of the sea is the result of our actions, it may not happen in our lifetime, but change will indeed occur.
But what happens when the rocks need to be smashed with sledge hammers, that change and freedom in the future mean little when folks are suffering now? Will we continue to accept this safety in incrementalism? What happens when the gates need to be crashed and the walls of oppression need to be made to tumble down, now?
While waiting for Time to wear away oppression, those living in oppression remain oppressed.
When american Latino families are murdered by white nationalist vigilantes and forgotten, when black men and women are incarcerated in astronomical numbers, when income and housing inequality ravage communities, when segregation is not only prevalent, but surging, incrementalism is somewhat then, like a nice shiny ribbon on a gift. The package looks nice, but the hate contained within is not negated by the beauty of the bow.
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Commentary by Black Kos editor JoanMar
A white woman claims a Black child is trying to steal from her and her child. As a civilized adult, she
has a few options to deal with the problem — if one existed outside of her fetid imagination, that is. Even if one were to accept the worst possible interpretation of what she claims, this was not a life-threatening situation. Mom, and we’ll allow that she may have been a bit anxious to reunite her baby with a missing toy, could have simply asked the little boy to return it. Or, she could have engaged the other parent/guardian and asked that they facilitate the return of the toy. But Miz Shiloh Hendrix, blinded by hate and motivated by racism, chose neither of those two deescalating options. Instead, she launched a racist attack against the Black child and proceeded to attribute the worst possible motives to him. When challenged on her hate filled rant against a child, Miz Karen doubled down. She was unapologetic. She loudly and proudly claimed her racism with her whole chest.
But that’s not the worst thing about this one incident — an incident that is sadly illustrative of where we are in the age of emboldened trumpism. This woman who so disgustingly abused a Black baby over a toy is being richly rewarded for her gross, full-frontal attack on that defenseless child. Racists near and far heard about their white damsel in non-distress and crashed the gates in their haste to show their support, contributing close to $1M in mere days!
An online fundraiser purported to be for a woman in Minnesota who admitted in a viral video to calling a child the N-word at a public park has garnered more than $675,000 in donations, many of which came with comments espousing white supremacist views.
Many of the racist comments were posted by anonymous users or those using racist handles...
A white woman caught on camera verbally abusing a child over a toy and she’s not shamed, silenced, or shunned, instead she’s celebrated and rewarded. But then, racists are well known for their habit of celebrating cruelty. That’s just who they are and what they do.
Of course, this isn’t happening in a vacuum. The gun that Zimmerman used to kill Trayvon Martin went for a cool quarter million. Kyle Rittenhouse was feted and made into a star on the right-wing talk circuit. There was debate about offering Daniel Perry the keys to the city of New York, and after he was acquitted of the murder of homeless, food-deprived Jordan Neely, no less a person than the current VP had him as a plus-one at an event. And that’s just recent history.
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Commentary: Black Scientists, Explorers, and Inventors
By dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
Sometimes the greatest inventions are those which simplify necessary tasks. Such is the case with Jan Matzeliger – the man who made it possible for ordinary citizens to purchase shoes.
Jan Matzeliger (September 15, 1852 – August 24, 1889) was born in Dutch Guiana (now known as Surinam) in South America. His father was a Dutch engineer and his mother was born in Dutch Guiana and was of African ancestry. His father had been sent to Surinam by the Dutch government to oversee colonial work in the South American country.
At an early age, Jan showed a remarkable ability to repair complex machinery and often did so when accompanying his father to a factory. When he turned 19, he decided to venture away from home to explore other parts of the world. For two years he worked aboard an East Indian merchant ship and was able to visit several countries. In 1873, Jan decided to stay in the United States for a while, landing in Pennsylvania. Although he spoke very little English, he was befriended by some Black residents who were active in a local church and took pity on him. Because he was good with his hands and mechanically inclined, he was able to get small jobs in order to earn a living.
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She’s not like other Times Square statues, and that’s the point
Commentary by Black Kos Editor Denise Oliver-Velez
In last Tuesday’s Black Kos, Managing Editor dopper0189, posted this news story from Angela Wilson, at The Root:
"Grounded in the Stars" statue by Thomas J. Price, currently in New York City's Time Square
A 12-Foot Bronze Statue of a Black Woman Pops Up in Times Square and MAGA is Absolutely Losing it
The plus-size Black woman statue with her hands on her hips has MAGA in a full-blown meltdown.
Times Square Arts Director Jean Cooney explained how the artwork “is making a statement, potentially asking questions, about what we value as a city, as a society, and hopefully it’s a tribute to our shared humanity.” Per Price’s website, the statue was created to “disrupt traditional ideas” about what a “triumphant figure” ought to look like.
But MAGA online don’t quite see it that way and well, we can’t say we’re exactly surprised.
Author and ex-investment banker John LeFevre took to X with a photoshopped image of the statue with Attorney General Letitia James real head edited in place.
He wrote: “My favorite thing about Letitia James is that she says ‘statue of limitations’ instead of ‘statute.’” SMH.
One conservative wrote on X: “BREAKING: New York puts up a 25 foot bronze statue of Letitia James in Time Square.”
As a New Yorker, and former art history major, I was curious to read/hear more, wishing that I could head downstate to the city to see it myself. Since that isn’t doable I had to settle for news coverage.
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On those boycotts…
Commentary by Chitown Kev
I would rather not go to the nearby Target but I have little choice but to do so.
As most people know, I have a little trouble walking because of atherosclerosis which primarily affects my left leg.
I can walk normally for roughly five minutes and then the pain starts in and I start to get a limp. The pain never gets overwhelming, exactly, and roughly 10 minutes of resting the leg and I can walk normally for another...5 minutes or so. Rinse and repeat.
The closet retail store to my house is a Target roughly three blocks away. I do live near three other grocery stores but I do not consider them to be “walking distance” for me anymore, although when I do catch a ride, I opt to go to those stores.
Even though I use public transportation, very often when I go another store for, say, office supplies or a new notebook I cannot find the the item that I’m looking for. I know that I can always look up and then (usually) find any item that I need at Amazon and sometimes I do.
I’m quite aware that I should not want to shop at a place like Target because of their rollback on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. In fact, I don’t want to shop at Target. I would love to participate in the Target boycott and I am delighted that it has been effective. But it is, by far, the most convenient store for me to go and get needed items.
I’m fortunate that I have never had the addiction to Amazon shopping that I see that so many other people have. However, when I am looking for, say, a used and out of print book or a certain kind of shoelaces, Amazon is usually the only place where I can find such items in a pinch.
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Voices & Soul
by Justice Putnam, Black Kos Editor
"...no one needs approval from a Mad King Boer-ing his way through life and declaring himself God on Earth, in the Land of the Free... " - Justice Putnam
Since I was a child, I have been both enamored and appalled at the increasing militancy of our nation. We glory the Soldier as a Hero, one whose pedestal is not to be sullied. Songs are sung and films are broadcast about yellow ribbons and Gold Stars, about red sky at morning and Johnny come marching home, tears are shed at Arlington on Memorial and Veteran's Day with 20 gun salutes and full metal jackets shredding jungles and deserts, seas and air, and the intersection of Liberty Avenue at Main Street.
Everywhere I look, supplicants genuflect and tithe at the Altar of the Military. Politicians and preachers sky pilot high school football homecoming prom dances, while daddy works in a coal mine going down down down burning fossil microbes to steam a turbine, while economies and marriages suffer from codified martial strategies of weapons procurement and international arms sales.
Barney Fife seems to have fragged the Mayberry Sheriff and outfitted the newly deputized insurrectionists with the best paramilitary gear the School of the Americas could buy for neo Nazi dictatorships, here and abroad.
There is a reason the few anti slave founders of this nation argued against a standing army. We see in real time the exact unconstitutional lawlessness they warned against. We have valorized the protectors of Democracy, and rightfully so, but five-time draft dodgers now demand military parades in their honor, and they order troops to disappear people in an ethnic purge, all while stealing valor and holding it as a commodity, handing it off to the highest paying tech CEO’s and knighting them as lieutenants of the realm. The Mobster King thinks he can Sharpie the most American of holidays into a memory hole of his own imagination. A holiday that revels in Freedom and Humanity and helping your neighbor navigate self-governance. He thinks he can, and he will claim he has. But no one needs approval from a Mad King Boer-ing his way through life and declaring himself God on Earth, in the Land of the Free.
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Commentary by Black Kos editor JoanMar
For over 8 1/2 hours, Hakeem Jeffries stood with his finger in the dam.
I remember reading the story of the little Dutch Boy who stuck his finger in a dam in a desperate attempt to protect his village from being flooded. It’s highly unlikely that the thumb of a small boy could hold back the force of water that could lead to the destruction of a village, but that’s not the point of the story. The moral lies in his willingness to do the only thing that he could think of, however small, however improbable. His action was motivated by love for his fellow humans and love for his village. That little hero stayed there all night not because he thought he could save his village all by himself, but because he just couldn’t walk away and do nothing.
The image of the little Dutch boy came to mind as I watched the the final moments of Hakeem Jeffries’ marathon address to Congress. Jeffries knew that he was never going to stop the passing of a bill that symbolized the effort to remake the USA into the tiny, hateful, mean-spirited, and cruel image of its authors. He couldn’t stop the tidal wave of hate that could gleefully promote and celebrate the idea of sending living, breathing human beings to live on a tiny island surrounded by amphibious alligators in a known hurricane alley. No, his act of self-sacrifice wasn’t going to stop that or any of the other acts of mind-blowing, unhinged cruelty, but what he could do is force them to conduct their hateful business in the light of day and not under the comforting cloak of darkness. In that he succeeded.
Hakeem Jeffries isn’t necessarily known for the soaring rhetoric and impassioned delivery of Obama, but for the part of his speech that I caught, he was downright Obamaesque. We needed his words. I needed to hear that speech. He managed to inspire a nation and I know he inspired me. He brought me to tears as he stood there, surrounding by people who understood the urgency of this moment, invoking the legacies of Dr. Martin Luther King and Representative John Lewis.
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“Good Trouble Lives On”
Commentary by Black Kos Editor Denise Oliver Velez
This is a reminder that actions will be taking place across the nation on Thursday, July 17th, the anniversary of Congressman John Lewis joining the ancestors.
Civil Rights Leader and Congressman John Lewis (February 21, 1940 - July 17, 2020)
Find an event near you!
Good Trouble Lives On is a national day of action to respond to the attacks on our civil and human rights by the Trump administration. Together, we’ll remind them that in America, the power lies with the people.
Coined by civil rights leader Congressman John Lewis, "Good Trouble" is the action of coming together to take peaceful, non-violent action to challenge injustice and create meaningful change.
The civil rights leaders of the past have shown us the power of collective action. That’s why on July 17, five years since the passing of Congressman John Lewis, communities across the country will take to the streets, courthouses, and community spaces to carry forward his fight for justice, voting rights, and dignity for all.
Spread the word:
x
We are facing the most brazen rollback of civil rights in generations.
On July 17th, five years since the passing of Congressman John Lewis, communities are mobilizing to ensure #GoodTroubleLivesOn and carry John Lewis’ legacy forward.
➡️Find a good trouble event: social.demcast.com/s/65nTti3j
[image or embed]
— Union of Concerned Scientists (@ucs.org) July 10, 2025 at 1:57 PM
I’ve collected a series of biographies and interviews here today, for folks who might need a refresher course on his history.
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The heat wave of 1995
Commentary by Chitown Kev
No, that is not 2020 during the COVID pandemic. These refrigerated trucks were called in to help store bodies during the 1995 Chicago heat wave, which killed 739 people, mostly elderly and Black.
During the summer of 1995, I lived in an alcohol/drug rehab house in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, roughly a ½ mile from the lakefront, close to Loyola University.
That summer was hot.
The recovery house had no air conditioner so the house managers decided to keep several noisy fans running in the house around the clock for a few days.
One day (Wikipedia informs me that it must have been July 13, two days after my birthday) it was too hot inside and outside.
(I also must have been on vacation because the calendar reminds me that July 13 was a Thursday. The office where I worked was air conditioned.)
I went down to Lunt Avenue Beach dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. As shy as I was about people seeing my body, I took off my t-shirt and wished that I could have taken off everything else; it was soooooo hot.
I took off my shoes and looked into the always rather murky and suspicious looking waters of Lake Michigan. I had never stuck more than a foot, maybe, into Lake Michigan but that day...I stepped right into the water up to my stomach. Frankly, I found it to be a little gross. The water was a little warmer than it was all the times that I dipped a toe or a foot in the lake but I stood in that water for about ½ hour before getting out, drying off, and going to the coffeehouse on the corner of Lunt and Sheridan Road.
Because I was young and lived close to the lakefront (as I still do), I was a lucky one that summer of 1995.
739 Chicago residents died during the five-day heat wave, the worst weather-related disaster in Chicago history; so memorable that Chicago’s WGN pulled its legendary meteorologist Tom Skilling out of retirement for his commentary on the 30-year anniversary of the Chicago heat wave of 1995.
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Support the WNBA players union!
Commentary by Black Kos Editor Denise Oliver-Velez
Napheesa Collier, Vice President of the WNBA Players Association (WNBPA) in a "Pay Us What You Owe Us" tee shirt at the All Star weekend
Over the years I’ve talked about women in sports, and particularly the racism, sexism and homophobia faced by the women who play them. Far too many “political” folks are ignoring the fact that sports
is political, and more people here tune in to sporting events than those who eschew them.
Recently, more than 2 million viewers tuned in the the Women’s National Basketball (WNBA) All Star weekend, where the player’s union staged a protest.
They were immediately attacked by a slew of (mostly male) sports journalists and podcasters for daring to stand up for their rights. I won’t post any of that crap here, because it has been so vile.
The inequities faced by the players in a league where most of the men make multi million dollar salaries when some of the women get paid the minimum of 62 thousand dollars a year is unconscionable. The women in the union aren’t demanding millions, but they are fighting for a fair share of the profits from recent tv deals and other income the men’s league and the team owners are garnering.
Here’s a guest link to a recent NYTimes op-ed by Harvard economist Claudia Goldin:
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Commentary by Black Kos editor JoanMar
Senator Cory Booker, "It’s time for us to fight! It’s time for us to draw a line!"
Despite the fierce and sustained efforts of good people, slavery lasted for centuries — some 7 generations in fact. And it was not simply tolerated; it was protected by law, sanctified by churches who claimed that it aligned with God’s divine will, and upheld by rapacious economic interests. Despite world-wide condemnation and internal resistance, apartheid lasted for some 50 years in South Africa. Fifty long years under a system designed to dehumanize the majority of that nation’s population.
It took the Nazis just over a decade to murder some 6M Jews, over one million Romas, untold numbers of people with disabilities, hundreds of Jehovah Witnesses, and so many others. Good people saw what was happening. Many were outraged and were not afraid to let their voices be heard. Still, evil prevailed. The genocide, displacement, and starvation of Indigenous Peoples were deliberate and systematic. Despite the loud voices of conscience raised in opposition, treaties were broken, lands seized, and cultures erased any damn way.
As we have seen time and time again, evil can move pretty fast and it doesn’t even need majorities to take hold. Even when challenged, evil doesn’t just survive, but it can thrive and last for generations. As Sheree of Real Housewives of Atlanta fame once asked, “Who gonna check [evil], boo?” Who has the power to actually do something? McConnell and Republicans stole two Supreme Court seats in broad daylight. And boasted about it! Speeches, protests, outrage, but no consequences for him/them. Not so for us, as we continue to suffer because of the loss of those two seats. Food meant for starving people sit rotting in warehouses. Concentration camps surrounded by amphibious alligators, kidnappings in broad daylight, corruption run rampant, people’s lives disrupted and upended, attempts to gerrymander themselves into a permanent majority. And nothing happens. Evil is here and on steroids.
Enter Senator Cory Booker.
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DC is under attack, from the White Klan House
Commentary from Black Kos Editor, Denise Oliver-Velez
The Free DC movement rally outside the White House
While the nation watches this latest atrocity generated by the Orange resident of the White House, and DC residents respond, I dumped what I had planned to write today, and am scouring the news and reports on social media for reactions and responses.
I lived in DC, aka “Chocolate City” for quite a few years, and have family that was born there and still lives in the District. I went to Howard University there. I went through fighting for DC to finally get Home Rule and the right to elect its own Mayor, rather than Congress appointing one.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the history of Home rule, the District of Columbia ACLU has an excellent and extensive article, “D.C. Home Rule: What It Is, How It Works, and Why It Matters”
What is D.C. home rule?
D.C. home rule is shorthand for the D.C. Home Rule Act of 1973, which allowed D.C. residents to elect the mayor, D.C. Councilmembers, and Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners who run day-to-day affairs in the District.
Before Congress passed and President Nixon signed the D.C. Home Rule Act of 1973 into law, federally-appointed commissioners and members of Congress—never elected by D.C. residents—shared the responsibility of running the District's local laws and budget. Congressional offices fielded calls about D.C.’s potholes, trash pickup, schools, and crime, in addition to all the calls they were getting from their constituents in their home states.
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"... I am tired of fooling around he said. As for the rights of anyone, tell your people they can go fuck them-selves... " - Carolyn Forché "The Colonel"
Voices & Soul
by Black Kos Editor, Justice Putnam
The poetry of witness is a powerful force. It not only can describe events, it also can give voice back to those people and things that have been rendered voiceless. At least, it’s pretty to think so. I once had much more Romantic notions about the active participant poet and the duties expected than I allow myself currently. I remember back to that distant, late Honduran afternoon after a long day drilling school water wells for UNICEF and coming upon the gutted remains of Honduran peasants desiccated next to red bougainvillea, as green hummingbirds darted and stopped at delicate petals and darted away again. The brutal beauty and nauseating gore of the moment gave me a clarity I had not expected. I had no power to put words in the mouths of the dead. And it was paternalistic to think I should.
On an aid mission during the Kosovo war, with my French actress ex, we were blocks from a mortar attack that blasted the remains of the last hospital in Sarajevo, spilling stone and beds and bodies onto the street. What voice could I give but my own? I sullenly realized I was the active participant first person white savior on a mission of Self, maybe even using God as an excuse. The Punk in me was appalled and the epiphany was so profound, even the nature of poetics collapsed outside my window.
A true Japanese Haiku is not only relegated in form to the familiar 5 syllable, 7 syllable, 5 syllable three-line morsel, but is also confined to only observations of nature, devoid of a human participant, yet in its subtle and quiet voice, a true haiku conveys a human emotion without showing the human.
At some point I decided if I was to be a poet, I could only describe what I saw, what I heard, what I smelled and tasted. I could only relay the quality of light and the lay of the landscape.
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Commentary: African American Scientists, Explorers and Inventors
By dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
James Beckwourth
James Pierson Beckwourth (born April 26, 1798 or 1800 – died either October 29, 1866 or 1867 the dates are unclear), was an American mountain man, fur trader, and explorer. James Beckwourth made major contributions to America’s early Western explorations. He documented and recorded his journey from Florida’s Everglades to the Pacific Ocean as well as from Canada’s south to Mexico’s north. He is only known African American who left such detailed records of this time and area.
Beckwourth, who was born into slavery in Virginia, was nicknamed "Bloody Arm" because of his skill as a fighter. He was freed by his White father (and master) and then apprenticed to a blacksmith so that he could learn a trade. Beckwourth worked on his autobiography between 1854 and 1855; the book was published in 1856 and entitled “The Life and Adventures of James P. Beckwourth, Mountaineer, Scout, and Pioneer, and Chief of the Crow Nation of Indians”.
James father Jennings Beckwith moved to Missouri from Virginia around 1809, when James was young, taking his mother and all their children with him. Although Beckwith acknowledged and raised his mixed-race children as his own, he legally held them as master. His father arranged to apprentice him to a blacksmith so that he could learn a good trade. At age 19, he was fired by the artisan after getting into an argument with him. His father later freed Beckworth by deed of emancipation in court between 1824 and 1826.
As a young man, Beckwourth moved to the American West, first making connections with fur traders in St. Louis. As a fur trapper, he lived with the Crow Nation for years. During the California Gold Rush years he is credited with the discovery of Beckwourth Pass through the Sierra Nevada, between present-day Reno, Nevada, and Portola, California. He improved the Beckwourth Trail, which thousands of settlers followed to central California.
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Commentary by Black Kos editor JoanMar
Taylor Townsend
If tennis courts could talk, what a tale they’d tell. And if we cared to listen, we might hear echoes of the hostility Black players have been forced to endure for daring to claim space in a place where it was made abundantly clear that they were not welcome. Hostility from officials, from commentators/analysts, from journalists covering the sport, and from fellow players. I mean, I am old enough to remember when the “Swiss Miss” Martina Hingis and the American Lindsey Davenport (think I’ve forgotten that Miz Lindsey), and other white players reportedly had a pact that anyone could win, so long as it wasn’t the Williams Sisters. Yep, that really happened.
After suffering a loss at the finals of the French Open, Sabalenka dismissed the brilliance of the winner and had a bunch of excuses as to why she lost. In fact, she emphasized that she knew that had that other top white player played the Black winner, the white player would have won. So no, Coco deserved no credit for her win. That was not at all racist, we were told. Let’s extend grace to the poor, beleaguered player, we were told. Ok, then.
Fast forward to the US Open and Jelena Ostapenko. After losing to Taylor Townsend, the Latvian player ranked No. 26, aggressively wagged her finger in the winner’s face and told her that she had “no class” and “no education.” According to news report, Ostapenko repeated that charge three times! Dem be fighting words in any culture. But given the history of tennis and its lack of welcome for Black players, that is tapping into the mother lode of racist sh*t. That direct frontal assault was echoing the old narrative of Black players not belonging on the same hallowed courts with white players. In so many words, Ostapenko with all of her education and stuff, was telling Townsend that she was uncivilized and undeserving of the space she occupied. It’s important to note that Taylor Townsend is not a nobody. She may be ranked No. 139 in singles, but she’s World No.1 in doubles. She’s earned her place on that court and in the history books.
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Commentary from Black Kos Editor Denise Oliver-Velez
I grew up with both Ebony and Jet as a fixture in our home, alongside of Life, Look and Good Housekeeping
When I was growing up in New York’s borough of Brooklyn in the neighborhood of Crown Heights, I had several “best friends” who were not Black (most were Jewish) and I remember being a bit surprised when I visited their homes and noticed that the family coffee tables displayed many of the same magazines we had in our home — with one glaring exception. None had Ebony or Jet. When I was about 9 or 10, their newspapers, like ours, included The Village Voice and The New York Times, however nowhere was The Amsterdam News to be found, which we always had at home. My family in Philly subscribed similarly, however they read The Philadelphia Tribune, “the nation’s oldest continuously published newspaper reflecting the African-American experience.”
Fast forward six decades or more, and we live in a era dominated by the internet, smart phones, and multiple media platforms like Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook as well as the standard tv channels alongside of streaming outlets like HULU and Disney and Amazon Prime.
Twice each week here at Black Kos I do a news roundup from accounts I follow on TwitX and Bluesky, and I wonder...do not-Black readers here follow, and re-post any of them? This is not to say that there aren’t Black journalists and tv hosts at venues like the NYT or on MSNBC and CNN, however it’s interesting that we Black folks are expected to be cognizant of all things not-Black, but the reverse is not true. I’ve actually had people ask me why I daily cover Puerto Rico since I’m not Puerto Rican? My answer — why not?
After listening to the following program from Roland Martin, I wondered how many not-Black readers listen to/subscribe to his podcast?
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You will not erase us.
Commentary by Black Kos Editor Denise Oliver-Velez
Watching the latest attempts by the current administration to whitewash Charlie Kirk’s racism, to push anti-DEI policy, to attack Black women and Black men in positions of authority and to erase our history in this country and hemisphere means we have to step up our battle to ensure that they fail.
Peter (formerly identified as "Gordon")
None of us should ever forget the slogans shouted by our homegrown Nazi klan:
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Commentary: Black Scientists, Explorers, and Inventors
By dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
Elijah J. McCoy (May 2, 1844 – October 10, 1929) was a Black Canadian-born engineer and inventor of African American descent. McCoy is notable for 57 US patents, most having to do with the lubrication of steam engines. McCoy was born in Canada, to parents who fled slavery in the US. As a teenager, McCoy trained in Scotland as an engineer. Later as an adult, unable to find work as an engineer in the United States, he took a job working for a railroad. Working around trains, McCoy subsequently invented a lubrication device to make railroad operations more efficient. There is also evidence that although a popular expression was not created by his admirers, fans of his work made it popular.
Elijah McCoy was born on May 2, 1844, in Colchester, Ontario, Canada, to George and Mildred Goins McCoy. The McCoys were fugitive slaves who escaped from Kentucky to Canada via the Underground Railroad. In 1847, the large McCoy family returned to the United States, settling in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
Starting at a young age, McCoy showed a strong interest in mechanics. His parents arranged for him to travel to Scotland at the age of 15 for an apprenticeship in mechanical engineering. He returned home to Michigan after becoming certified as a mechanical engineer.
Despite his qualifications, McCoy was unable to find employment as an engineer in the United States due to racial barriers. In the 1890’s skilled professional positions were not available for African Americans regardless of their education. So McCoy accepted a position as a fireman and oiler for the Michigan Central Railroad. It was during working directly on trains that he developed his first major inventions.
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When ICE hits home
Commentary by Chitown Kev
I was up until about 3am Sunday morning putting the finishing touches on Sunday morning’s Abbreviated Pundit Roundup. I had to report to work later on that morning so, secure that APR was tight, I went to sleep.
The front of Saint Jerome Catholic Church in the Rogers Park section of Chicago. Note that the sign indicating the Mass times is now covered because of ICE activity in the area.
I woke up about 9 or so and went to check my phone for updates and that’s when I saw the texts and had a voice mail from Miss Denise that the APR denizens were concerned about me given the recent federal actions in Chicago and much of Cook County.
I assured everyone that I was good and that I had simply forgot to post the APR in the queue.
However, considering the ICE surveillance and detainments south and north of Howard Street in Chicago, people were right to be concerned.
NBC 5 Chicago:
Chicago's Rogers Park community remained vigilant after reports of federal agents near a Catholic church during Sunday mass.
A neighbor, who wished only to be called by her first name, shared cell phone video with NBC Chicago from 8:30 a.m. She explained what she saw from her home just outside St. Jerome Catholic Church on West Lunt Avenue.
"There was like four guys," the neighbor named Julie said. "They were in camouflage and saying something to the car, and I started yelling out the window to go away. They did leave then went this way in like a little caravan."
Julie said she ran down to make sure they weren’t "hassling everybody at the church."
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by Justice Putnam, Black Kos Editor
"... with the wholesale purge of people of color right off the street in broad daylight by masked Gestapo thugs, the resonant cadences of chain gangs past can be heard echoing from sea to shining sea... " - Justice Putnam "Chain Gang Gulags for Profit and Fun"
The Prison Industrial Complex insists that it is a growth industry; and it's hard to argue with that assessment. With the building of ever more prisons, both by Government and Private Industry, with mandatory sentencing and inflexible drug laws, with the wholesale purge of people of color right off the street in broad daylight by masked Gestapo thugs, the resonant cadences of chain gangs past can be heard echoing from sea to shining sea.
It is presumed that Drug Prohibition began with the Harrison Act of 1914, but California enacted the Nation's first anti-narcotics law in 1875 in response to anti-chinese sentiment. Ostensibly enacted to crack down on opium dens, the law was used to incarcerate or banish Chinese nationals deemed as unfair competition with white workers. When several boatloads of Punjabi Sikhs landed in San Francisco in 1910, it sparked an uproar of protest from Asian exclusionists, who pronounced them to be even more unfit for American civilization than the Chinese. Immigration authorities capped the influx at little more than 2,000 in the state, mostly in agricultural areas of the Central Valley. Even so, the Sikhs remained a popular target by racists of the times and were accused of many crimes, all while under the influence of hashish or marijuana, it was alleged. In the 1920's and 1940's, when Braceros and other workers from Mexico were no longer needed, even harsher laws were enacted to hasten their exodus. Anti-narcotics laws were also enacted in the South to intimidate the black population and used as an excuse to deny them the vote.
To ignore the racial animus that drives the Prison Industrial Complex, is to ignore the obvious, it is to ignore the history of our nation. And that is exactly the point the regime demands.
Divide and Conquer is a strategy used by military and political professionals alike. If people can be divided by culture and race, the job of the King, the Vichy General, or the MAGA Oligarch runs smoother. It runs smoother still, if the divisions extend within those very cultures and races, as well.
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Commentary by Black Kos editor JoanMar
A fearsome hurricane had the island of Jamaica in its sights.
Hurricane Melissa sat in the Caribbean Sea for six long days. It sat there gathering strength and biding its time. On the seventh day, it unleashed all its pent-up fury on the little dot of an island known as Jamaica. Jamaica, the land of wood and water. Jamaica, the home of the fierce warrior queen Nanny of the Maroons. The home of Bob Marley, of Marcus Garvey, of Claude McKay, of Michael & Norman Manley, of Harry Belafonte, of Usain Bolt, of Shelly-Ann Frazier-Price, and of thousands of other iconic names — and millions more whose names will never appear in a history book.
Jamaica, birthplace of reggae; land of jerk chicken & jerk pork (a fiery legacy of the indomitable Maroons); land of ackee and saltfish, curry goat, and flaky patties. Jamaica with its lush beauty, white-sand beaches, and people of unconquerable spirit.
Roughly the size of Connecticut and home to fewer than three million, Jamaica bore the brunt of Melissa’s wrath. The hurricane did some serious damage to Haiti and Cuba, but it saved its worst for Jamaica. Today, our hearts are also with our brothers and sisters in Haiti and Cuba.
From 10/29/2025 NPR:
Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica Tuesday as the strongest storm in the island's history. The Category 5 hurricane tore a path of destruction across the island, causing major flooding and power cuts. Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared the country a "disaster area."
And this is a monster of a storm that meteorologists say will be in the history books. Only six other Atlantic storms have done that since record-keeping began.
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The American Maroons of Virginia and North Carolina
By dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
The Great Dismal Swamp Maroons were African-Americans who escaped the horrors of American slavery by living in the marshlands of the Great Dismal Swamp. The swamp covers an area between the states of Virginia and North Carolina. Although The Great Dismal Swamp has a very harsh environment, modern research suggests that thousands of Maroons lived in the swamps between about 1700 until the end of the Civil War in the late 1860s. Runaway slaves and indentured servants were a persistent problem for landowners in colonial Virginia. Slaves and indentured servants fled from abusive masters, to escape from a lifetime of forced conscription without pay, or in search of family members from whom they had been separated. I personally find this subject particular subject interesting because I’m elated to the Maroons of Jamaica from my mother side of the family.
In 1842, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote his poem "The Slave In Dismal Swamp" for the Poems on Slavery collection. He used six verses to write about the "hunted Negro", mentioning the use of bloodhounds and describing the conditions as being "where hardly a human foot could pass, or a human heart would dare". Later in 1856, Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, published her second anti-slavery novel, Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp.
Stowe’s title character, Dred is a Great Dismal Swamp Maroon who preaches against slavery and incites slaves to escape bondage. Dred was first published in two volumes beginning in 1856. her novel “Dred” initially had better sales numbers than Uncle Tom's Cabin. But many have speculated that because its narrative was written like a documentary it just doesn’t evoke the powerful long lasting emotional reaction from readers that characters in Uncle Tom's Cabin did. The response to Stowe's first work, Uncle Tom's Cabin, appears to have powerfully impacted her second anti-slavery novel Dred. Uncle Tom's Cabin drew criticism from many abolitionists and African-American authors at the time for its perceived passive martyrdom of the title character Uncle Tom and its seeming endorsement of colonization as the solution to slavery. Dred, by contrast, introduced a revolutionary black character who was an heir to the American revolution rather than a passive problem to be expatriated away.
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"... And from its ample folds/ Shall rise no cry to God,/ Upon its warp and woof shall be/ No stain of tears and blood... " - Frances Ellen Watkins Harper "Free Labor"
"Wept Tears of Hopeless Anguish"
by Black Kos Editor, Justice Putnam
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, though born a free woman in the time of slavery, was nonetheless, a fierce advocate for abolition and equal rights. Part of the Free Produce Movement, a boycott of goods made with slave labor, Harper insisted what she owned was truly from, Free Labor. "Free" meant, "not enlsaved" and "Produce" was any good or crop made or harvested by human effort. Some have argued how effective the movement truly was, given that slavery existed for almost a century from the movement's inception. But whether a boycott is against "Blood Diamonds", or "Sweat Shop Fabric", an individual stand, indeed, carries great power. It brings about irrevocable change, like waves wearing away rock along the coast line.
When asked by the landed gentry of the times, why she would boycott goods made by her "people", she insisted that what she owned was Free, that it was manufactured by men and women of their own Free Will, who were paid an honest wage for an honest day's work. She insisted that what she owned was not extracted by the whip and the lash, by the tearing apart of families, the flailing of flesh and the murder of the Soul.
But when confronted with the assault on liberty today, a free people making goods freely for a free people is sure to be judged as woke, and the chief executing officer will make sure we suffer for it. After all, the King did issue an edict to ban anything that puts white America in a bad light.
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Malcolm X had it right about Black women
Commentary by Black Kos Editor Denise Oliver-Velez
Looking at the viral video of a Black pregnant woman screaming in pain (posted below) I heard these immortal words from Malcolm X in my head:
“The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.”
—Malcolm X, 1962
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A giant exits the stage. Thank you for your contribution to humanity, Mr. James Chambers.
Commentary by Black Kos editor JoanMar
I once met a young blond, blue-eyed music exec from Germany who told me that his favorite movie was The Harder They Come. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. At that time, I’d only watch the film once and had largely missed its message and it’s significance.
After that conversation, I revisited the movie — this time with adult eyes and woke sensibilities. And I got it. I understood why the movie became such a cultural phenomenon and why Jimmy Cliff became one of Jamaica’s most influential and enduring musical icons.
Well, they tell me of a pie up in the sky
Waiting for me when I die
But between the day you're born and when you die
They never seem to hear even your cry…
A little about this iconic movie:
“The Harder They Come” is a landmark of Caribbean cinema. The first full-length feature film shot in Jamaica by a Jamaican director with a fully Jamaican cast, it centers on a plot based on the lives of ordinary Jamaicans, making it unlike anything to come before. Through Jimmy Cliff’s sympathetic portrayal of Ivan, a determined character whose pride will not allow him to be beaten down but whose desperation leads to an inevitably swift and gory demise, filmmaker Perry Henzell illuminates the widespread social injustice commonplace in the developing world. //
Though it took time to establish itself abroad, “The Harder They Come” brought the sights and sounds of Jamaica to overseas audiences for the very first time; in particular, it made plain the jarring reality of the Kingston slums and gave some indication of the Rastafari way of life, sparking an interest for many in the island’s music and culture, especially in the USA, where the soundtrack was a revelation.
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George "Crum" Speck
By dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
Commentary: Black Scientists, Explorers, and Inventors
As a world food, potatoes are second in human consumption only to rice. And as thin, salted, crisp chips, they are America's favorite snack food — the potato chip. Thus, every time a person crunches into a potato chip, he or she is enjoying the delicious taste of one of the world's most famous snacks – a treat that might not exist without the contribution of black inventor George Crum (also known as George Speck July 15, 1824 – July 22, 1914) was an American chef. Speck was born of an African-American father and a Native American mother,
Speck developed his culinary skills at Cary Moon's Lake House on Saratoga Lake, noted as an expensive restaurant at a time when wealthy families from Manhattan and other areas were building summer "camps" in the area. Speck and his sister, Wicks, also cooked at the Sans Souci in Ballston Spa, alongside another St. Regis Mohawk Indian known for his skills as a guide and cook, Pete Francis One of the regular customers at Moon's was shipping tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt, who, although he savored the food, could never seem to remember Speck's name. On one occasion, he called a waiter over to ask, "Crum, how long before we shall eat?" Rather than take offense, Speck decided to embrace the nickname, figuring that, "A crumb is bigger than a speck."
The now George Crum was working as the head chef in the summer of 1853 at the Moon's Lake House, a resort in Saratoga Springs, New York. At work one hot summer day in August, Crum was in his kitchen when a patron ordered a plate of French-fried potatoes. Cooked to perfection, the potatoes were delivered to the customer, who, turning his nose up, complained that the potatoes were too thick and too soft. Crum cut and fried a thinner batch, but these, too, met with disapproval. Exasperated, Crum decided to rile the guest by producing French fries too thin and crisp to skewer with a fork. Slicing potatoes paper thin, Crum over fried them to a crisp and seasoned them with an excess of salt. Crum then gave the chips to the customer, who, to his surprise loved them.
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Commentary by Black Kos Editor Denise Oliver Velez
I was listening to Roland Martin Unfiltered yesterday morning, and one of the topics was “Black Women’s Jobless Rate Soars”
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THANK YOU EVERYONE SEE YOU IN 2026
THE PORCH IS NOW CLOSED
