A Dream Detained (after Langston Hughes)     For the Dream Defenders, occupying the Florida state capitol for Trayvon Martin and racial justice     And the #Dream9 immigrant activists, who were detained at the border and won their freedom 

“Oh my god, he is so….GHETTO.” It’s a common expression these days. I hear it all the time from white folks, black folks, even Jay-Z himself. Mr. Beyonce may be using ‘ghetto’ as a self-referential complement, but for most people the word is an unmitigated insult.

This is for Oakland, for the fallen brothers, for the fallen trees – and for the good men in my life. The Tree Hugger his skin is brown limbs long, he is lanky like me but still: strong arms, thick spine he is an oak tree rooted in the Town…

  Why Passover is the Greatest Holiday of All Time more than the fourth glass of wine in a family that gets drunk off two more than the smirk you throw at your older brother when you recite the tenth plague, the killing of the first-born more than hiding the…

Last week, I got to celebrate Valentine’s Day with a group of people I truly love: Oakland youth. Teaching a writing workshop, it was a dozen high school kids and me, talking about love, heartbreak, and how Rihanna could go back and make a song with Chris Brown. (The general…