Is $27 million enough to set an example for other police departments?

Two months after a stunned, pandemic world watched the killing of George Floyd at the corner of 8th Street East and Chicago Avenue, a battery of civil rights attorneys filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the three cops who participated in Floyd’s death. The lawyers’ chief spokesperson is Benjamin Crump. He has built a cottage industry in police misconduct cases following the Trayvon Martin family’s representation nine years ago.

After filing the lawsuit, Crump told reporters that “the tipping point had arrived.” Crump…

New Time Period Suggests Civil Case Settled Too Soon and For Too Little Money

Four early take-aways are evident after the first three days of testimony in the Derek Chauvin trial for the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

First, there is no doubt that Chauvin used excessive force from the get-go on Memorial Day 2020. After banging on the driver-side door of an SUV driven by Floyd, Chauvin immediately drew his firearm and pointed it at Floyd. The officer’s approach caused Floyd to cringe and beg for his life. He asked Chauvin to not shot him. Floyd never…

Lorenzo “Lo” Ogden Now Playing First Base With the Heavenly Host

When Lorenzo Ogden stepped on the Tuskegee Institute campus in1968, he was a tall, skinny kid off the sandlots of Birmingham, Alabama. He spent his summer days playing baseball during the week, but on Sundays you could find him at old Rickwood Field watching the Birmingham Black Barons play the best competition in the Negro Leagues.

While watching the games, “Lo” chased down foul balls and returned them to the team’s player-manager Lorenzo “Piper” Davis.

“Lo” was not recruited to play baseball at Tuskegee. History lured him to “The…

HBCU Alumni Proud of National Spotlight

Marie Duval did not attend an HBCU; she received her educational experience at a predominately white institution, Mercer University, a private Baptist-supported school in Macon, Georgia, her hometown. The other half of the Duval family, Steve Duval, attended two HBCUs, Hampton University and Tuskegee University. The Duvals traveled 150 miles to witness a rare national spotlight shine on Black college baseball.

“I am excited to be here, Marie Duval said, then explained, “There are times I wish I had attended an HBCU. “I am rejoicing with my HBCU friends,” Marie Duval said.

“Every time…

Why the Ralph Garr-Bill Lucas HBCU Baseball Classic Matters

A faint breeze slightly chilled the night air, the sky tinted ocean blue, and patches of small fluffy clouds lingered in the afterglow of dusk, hinted at the artistry of the Divine.

Down below on a baseball diamond where Triple-A professionals dream of getting a call up to the big league are two historic Black universities, Florida A & M University and Grambling State University. …

Tuskegee University Returns Home Games to Campus

Many of the happiest days of my life are moments spent on a baseball diamond. Mostly sandlots: sometimes cow pastures turned into a ball field for Sunday baseball outings, some with meticulously kept lawns, and some in the oldest minor league ballpark in America, Luther Williams Field, in Macon, Georgia.

At least 365 of those happy days were spent on Washington Field, essentially a sandlot, on Tuskegee University’s campus. In the early 1970s, I patrolled all three outfield positions for the Golden Tigers, ending my collegiate career with a .1000 …

And The FBI Ran The Scheme To Kill A Black Leader

By all accounts, Malcolm X was a peace-loving brother; at least, he did not advocate violence as an act of aggression. Malcolm believed that all humans had a right to defend themselves if attacked, but no one had a right to inflict violence on a person who came in peace.

When he was shot down in the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem that cold February day in 1965, many people said that it was a case of living by the gun and dying by the gun. …

Zip it Mitch - Spare Us Another Lie

The novelist and social critic Norman Mailer once wrote, “You can be the best in the world and still lose.” Mailer uttered these profound words to lament his defeat in a race for the office of Mayor of New York City. His prodigious ego led him to believe he was the best candidate in the race. Perhaps history will give him the benefit of the doubt and adjudge Mailer the best novelist turned politician in that contest.

The events of 2/13 give renewed meaning to those words of Mailer. For indeed, the…