Views from Point Breeze

Governor Chris Christie dropped out of the Republican presidential primary race after a disappointing finish in New Hampshire.  He had been relegated to the junior varsity debate team during the numerous debates before his announcement.  It is a shocking move because the other two viable candidates in the race, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, at least have political experience.  Donald Trump has been one sound bite after another and none of them add up to a relevant policy approach to running the United States. I woke up this morning to a headline that Mr. Trump wants to be able to lift libel laws to sue any newspaper or publication that runs and article that is not to someone's liking.  The information could be factual but the Donald will want money anyway to keep his win, win, win image up for his legions of followers.  He is mad at the New York Times because they said that his fortune might not be as great as he states that it is.  Also, there is ...

I opened the Philadelphia Inquirer today to find out that Chinese American communities across the  country felt the need to protest the recent conviction of Peter Liang in the murder of Akai Gurley in November 2014.  I am confused as to why this issue has become such a focal point in the Asian community.  Last year alone, police killed more than 102 unarmed black men in this country, more than any other race.  Nearly 1 in 3 black people killed by police last year were identified as unarmed.  The young man that was killed by Officer Liang was unarmed and was walking with his girlfriend.  Officer Liang indicated that his gun just seemed to go off.  After shooting Mr. Gurley, he stepped over his dying body and refused to give medical assistance.  He and his partner supposedly argued about what they were going to tell the Sergeant about what had transpired.  I often have to wonder what type of training these officers receive before they have t...

Queen Charlotte was the wife of the English King George III.  She was directly descended from Margarito de Castro y Sousa a black branch of the Portuguese Royal House.  As I have begun to expand my exploration of Black history and the African Diaspora, this woman piques my interest.  I saw the movie Belle, and was intrigued by the fact that the main character was the result of an affair with an English Captain Sir John Lindsay.  Se was living in poverty in the West Indies before her father rescued her and bought her into his home with an inheritance. The artist responsible for the portraits of Queen Charlotte was Sir Allan Ramsay.  He was an anti-slaver intellectual and he probably took risks showing the true features of this Queen.  As my research proceeded, I found out that Sir Allan Ramsay married Dido Elizabeth Belle.  He was instrumental in trying a case that involved the massacre of slaves for insurance money.  Britain was one of the firs...

It is Valentine's Day and I am chilling in my kitchen finishing up dinner.  My turkey ribs are in the crock pot and will be done at 6:30.  I am finishing up my rice as I write.  Shawn has made the ham and seasoned it up.  My double chocolate cake is frosted with a milk chocolate icing.  We were watching The Revenant earlier.  I am still trying to figure out why this was nominated for an Oscar while Straight Outta Compton is sitting on the sidelines.  I will focus on that in another blog. We have a new mayor now with Jim Kenney steering the city for the next four years.  Former Mayor Michael Nutter declared the city a much safer city as he was riding off into the sunset of private enterprise and CNN interviews,  For whatever reason, I feel that it is not safer for a specific subset of individuals residing in this city.  I don't know Eric Ferguson or Donte Wilson personally.  I know from newspaper reports that they were twent...

Super Bowl 50 is fast approaching.  I can imagine the excitement in the respective cities.  Denver fans might be used to the gala.  The Broncos have been to the Super Bowl six times and won twice.  This is the second trip for the Carolina Panthers who have lost once in their previous trip.  The Eagles lost to the Panthers in the NFC Championship game during our run of playoff victories under Andy Reid and Donovan.  I kept my radio glued to WIP and the Fanatic during these runs.  I barely listen to sports talk radio now.  My brother Julius is planning a Super Bowl party.  It will be a low profile day for me.  We used to have serious parties when my team was hot.  At least the Patriots are not going back to the big game. Much of the talk this week was around Cam Newton and his celebratory antics.  The Dab has become a national phenomenon.  It hasn't approached the level of the Whip Nae Nae but most of the students I work ...