While some people are overly invested in the trial of former BART transit cop Johannes Mehserle who was convicted Thursday of involuntary manslaughter for shooting Oscar Grant, life will go on. It seems much of the outrage stems from those who have focused primarily on the race of the cop in question, making Oscar Grant the poster child for racism conspiracy theories.
What most do not realize is there is little “new” about cases such as these. While historically there has been an established pattern of aggression where innocent men were …

By Andrew Padula
A couple of days after the election last year, I attended a foreign policy seminar in downtown D.C. I had really been looking forward to this opportunity to rub elbows with international political and business leaders while enjoying one heck of a free lunch buffet. Unfortunately, the most memorable part of this day was my commute on the pride of our nation’s rail system, the Washington Metro. Three or four stops had passed by on my trip home. I was sitting quietly by myself …

I have been bugging Andrew Padula to write the post that follows since he told me about his disturbing encounter on the DC metro last year. He was extremely hesitant to do so, but finally put it together in the wake of the Chicago beating-murder of the young honor roll student that was captured on cell phone video.
As the victim of violent bullies as a child, when I lived in New York I dreaded being on the subway at the time schools let out because of the overt aggression …

Maurice Clemmons, alleged assassin, child rapist and repeatedly convicted felon is still on the loose as of now. Clemmons ambush murder of four police officers starting the day at a coffee shop, is one of those street level crimes that tears at the thin fabric of human decency in which most of us seek comfort. Maurice Clemmons apparently went hunting for police officers to kill. And Clemmons is alleged to have told acquaintances as much. He reportedly said to them, “Watch the the news tomorrow. I’m going to kill some …

It is good to see that law enforcement is finally taking on crystal methamphetamine as seriously as it did crack cocaine. Increased law enforcement crackdowns in conjunction with more effective alternatives to automatic prison sentences for non-violent or first time offenders has led to a shifting racial make up of drug offenders in prison.
According to the Sentencing Project, the number of blacks in prison for drug offenses is declining while the number of whites is increasing.
For the first time since crack cocaine sparked a war on drugs …

I distinctly remember seeing ‘New Jack City’ on Friday night of its opening weekend. One of my BFF’s and I headed to Mann’s Chinese in Hollywood for an early show. It was still bright outside when we headed into the theater. As soon as we sat down my friend, who is bi-racial and self identifies as black, said, “Check out where all the exits are. If they start shooting, we’re outta here.” I responded, “Yea. Remember to drop and crawl to get to the doors.” Well, we watched the movie …

I have read and watched quite a number of stories which detailed how armed and race frightened white people turned on black people during the aftermath of Katrina. At a time when human beings should have been pulling together, some white and other privileged people who could have helped their neighbors instead decided that all black people were criminals, and anyone with black skin in close proximity would be greeted with guns and violence. The latest is the most disturbing. From The Nation – "Katrina’s Hidden Race War" by A.C. …

The story of the brutal murder of Little Rock news anchor Anne Pressly caught my attention right away. I try to ignore crime stories for the most part, but the slaying of this beautiful young reporter resonated perhaps because of my past profession as a network journalist and the fact that she fought her attacker with so much force and resolve. And when police arrested a black male suspect in Pressly’s case, I had two immediate thoughts. My first reaction was relief that law enforcement had taken an allegedly depraved …

I apologize for posts coming a little slowly for the past month or so. Preparing for the big move on July 4th, Blogging While Brown and for the business conference I am attending right now has been a little distracting. Next week, we’re gonna get back into “it” full tilt, so fasten your seat belts.
In the meantime, there are important stories that I’ve not addressed here. I want to make sure you don’t miss them. So please follow the links below for the latest news you won’t find on cable.
An …

Contributor Carole McDonnell’s short stories and essays appear online and in print, in speculative fiction, ethnic, and Christian publications. She lives in New York with her husband, two sons, and their pets. Wind Follower, published by Juno Books, is Carole’s first novel. Her voice adds plenty to our discussion, so I welcome Carole and her column Faith in Color to Allaboutrace.com.
I don’t know why but I really like watching reality shows. My tastes are pretty eclectic. Whether it’s stuff like The Deadliest Catch which tells about the hard dangerous lives …

The latest DVD distributed assault to our societal consciousness is “Criminals Gone Wild.” And no, contrary to what you might expect given the title, this is not a compilation of violent thugs baring booty. No, this DVD shows violent, gun toting criminals in action, in real time. The viewer gets to see criminals robbing, beating and shooting their victims.

Yes, that’s right. A twisted filmmaker/entrepreneur has packaged scene after scene of poor black men attacking other poor black men and is selling the DVD online. Is this for real? How would …

Alexis Goggins is a victim of our failures. She is the latest young victim of the violence that rages through our country, most pointedly in our cities and often against women and children. Alexis is a victim of our lack of concern and activism on behalf of the most vulnerable members of our society.

This selfless 7 year old threw her body in front of her mother’s to protect her mom from gunshots being fired by the mother’s ex-boyfriend.This all happened at close range, inside a car. After the ex …

In the 80’s it was New York City’s Bernhard Goetz. Now, in 21st Century America, we have Houston’s Joe Horn. There is no question that Joe Horn ended the lives of the two men he watched stealing from his neighbor. Horn shot the two men killing them both. Joe Horn pushed outside, directly defying instructions from a 911 dispatcher to stay safely inside his home as police arrival was imminent. The police arrived on scene seconds after Joe Horn had killed the two men.
More than two weeks after these killings; …