My bootleg Oprah’s Book Club. My thoughts on some new and old books that everyone should check out at some point in their life.
The Notorious B.I.G. once said, “You’re Nobody ‘Til Somebody Kills You.” Look no further than Gary Webb. Although he had won a Pulitzer Prize, he didn’t achieve national acclaim until he stumbled upon a story connecting the Nicaraguan Contras to the Los Angeles crack trade. The series and the book titled “Dark Alliance: The CIA, …
Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion Read More »
Troy Davis is scheduled to be executed tomorrow at 7 pm. He was denied clemency today in what may go down as yet another case of police corruption. Davis was convicted for the killing of a police officer but he maintains his innocence. Despite several witnesses recanting their stories, Davis is still set to die. …
Snitch: Informants, Cooperators and the Corruption of Justice Read More »
After Anders Brevik murdered scores of mostly youth in Norway, American pundits were quick to deny he was a Christian fundamentalist. He wrote a 1500 page manifesto outlining a Christian crusade but that couldn’t shake the selective amnesia (You would swear some on the right practice it as a religion to get closer to Reagan) …
C Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to American Democracy Read More »
When you listen to a song like NWA’s “Gangsta Gangsta” and hear Ice Cube talking about stomping out people at parties and gunning down others for the hell of it, it might sound strange considering the only member of the group who had a criminal record at the time was the late Eazy-E. However, Public …
Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member Read More »
The saying goes, “Behind every great fortune is a great crime.” In that sense, Shawn Carter, aka Jay-Z, is akin to P.J. Kennedy. Kennedy ran a bootlegging operation during Prohibition, which won him popularity and guaranteed him success when he ran for political office. Since, his descendants have accumulated massive wealth and political power (and …