Tag Archive for Real Talk

Real Talk | A -meri -Ca / A country divided

Never in my lifetime have I seen so much division in a democratic country. I realize that in a society where we have allowed sound bites and hash tags to think for us, we have gotten lost in the translation…

Real Talk | We need a culture change

I could use this space bemoaning why I vehemently oppose Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme court. It is clear to most of us that he got the benefit of the doubt simply because he is a white man. Being…

Real Talk | Chasing our identity/dream catchers

I walked into the Lorraine Motel, and chills ran down my body as I visited the now-museum and place where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. walked out on a balcony to die. As I walked through this monument of what…

Real Talk | The office of president

Traveling in Europe in the era of Trump has been quite interesting. In July, my niece, great-niece and great-great nephew and I flew to England to visit another niece and her husband. During our visit, Donald Trump also happened to…

Real Talk | Becoming an Accomplice

Colin Kaepernick knew that taking a stand, or in his case a knee, would negatively impact his football career. And he did it anyway. When the press finally realized, during the 2016 National Football League season, that Kaepernick wasn’t standing…

Real Talk | Losing to Win

Editor’s Note: Jamanni “Jay” Gibson, 21, of West Peoria died following a kayaking accident on American Lake near Tacoma, Wash., where he was stationed with the U.S. Army. Gibson graduated in the top 10 from Manual Academy in 2015 and…

Real Talk | Police mission should be “serve, protect, respect” NOT “contain, control, repress”

I attended a lecture at Bradley University by Dr. Simon Balto, an assistant professor of history and director of African-American Studies at Ball State University. The lecture was sponsored by Bradley’s department of history and was part of the Armstrong…

Real Talk: The Power of the Black Woman

I recently ran across a Facebook post I made responding to one of my dear friends who questioned what she should tell her children in response to Donald Trump winning the presidential election. They knew he was not a nice…

Kamara Taylor

The shadow of a bullet Mother’s Day weekend in May 2000, my life drastically changed. My 20-year-old brother Michael Taylor was shot one time in the abdomen by a rookie Chicago police officer, Nail Majid. I often wonder if terrorism…