That may sound too simple for this loud age, but simple things have saved plenty of men. A rocking chair after supper. A slow Saturday morning with no phone buzzing. Crickets talking out near the tree line. Coffee in a chipped cup before anybody else wakes up. An old Bible with notes in the margin. A paperback somebody gave you years ago that finally makes sense now. Life has a way of bringing a man back to small things when big things have worn him down.

Too many brothers spend years moving like every day is a fight. Work wants more. Family needs more. Bills come early. Sleep comes late. News stays heavy. Folks call only when something is wrong. A man can start feeling like a walking answer to everybody else’s problem. After a while, even silence feels strange because noise has trained his nerves.

Porches used to matter deeply where I come from. Not fancy ones either. I am talking about those plain spots where elders sat with a glass of tea, watched cars pass, waved at neighbors, and let evening air cool off whatever morning had stirred up. A porch gave a man permission to sit without explaining himself. Nobody called it therapy back then, but something was being healed out there. Worry had room to loosen its grip. Thoughts could come and go without chasing every last one.

A porch teaches patience. You cannot rush dusk. You cannot hurry a breeze. Sit, lean back, listen, and remember that every problem does not require immediate combat. A few matters need prayer before reaction. Certain people require distance before conversation. Anger has a way of fading when a man refuses to keep feeding it. Sitting still can feel like weakness to a brother trained by pressure, but stillness takes discipline. A restless soul does not become calm by accident.

Fishing has a lesson too. Anybody who has spent time on a riverbank knows fish do not care about your schedule. New bait, clean line, a fine rod, and a cooler ready still may send you home with nothing but quiet. That is not failure. Sometimes quiet was the catch. A man standing near water can hear himself better. Ripples have a language. Trees leaning over a creek seem to know something our calendars forgot.

With a pole in hand, pride loses some volume. No boss to impress. No crowd to entertain. No argument to win. Just sun, mud, line, maybe a sandwich wrapped in foil, maybe an old friend sitting close enough for company but far enough for peace. A brother might talk about work for five minutes, then say nothing for an hour. Good friendship can handle that kind of silence. Every conversation does not need to dig up pain. Sometimes sitting beside another man without performing is medicine enough.

Books do another kind of work. A good book can walk into places where advice cannot. Some men will ignore a lecture but listen to a page. Stories let a brother examine life without feeling cornered. History reminds him that today’s struggle is not brand new. Scripture steadies his spirit. A novel may show a wound he never named. Biography can place courage beside his breakfast plate. Reading stretches inner rooms that stress tried to shrink.

I know some folks act like reading belongs to schoolchildren or people with extra time. That is foolishness. A grown man needs language for what he carries. Without language, frustration turns into snapping, drinking, withdrawing, overeating, or sitting in a room with loved ones while feeling miles away. A book gives shape to thought. It can slow breathing. It can remind a weary brother that somebody else crossed hard ground and left a map.

Long walks may be most underrated of all. Not power walking for applause. Not counting steps like life is a scoreboard. I mean walking down a quiet road, through a park, around a neighborhood, or across a yard after dinner just to clear out mental clutter. Feet moving, lungs opening, shoulders dropping a little at a time. A man can pray better on a walk. Maybe not loud. Maybe no fancy words. Just, “Lord, help me handle this.” That alone can change how he returns home.

Walking gives anger somewhere to go besides somebody’s face. It lets grief breathe. It helps blood move, which matters because too many of us wait until a doctor gives bad news before treating our bodies like they belong to us. A slow mile will not fix everything, but it may keep a man from saying what cannot be unsaid. It may lower pressure in more ways than one. Sometimes wisdom arrives after a few blocks.

Brothers need hobbies that do not turn into hustles. Everything enjoyable does not have to become a brand, a podcast, a side business, or content. Plant tomatoes because you want to see something grow. Learn chess because thinking feels good. Cook one fine meal just to feed people you love. Sit outside because sky still belongs to everybody. Rest should not require a profit plan. Peace loses flavor when every blessing gets dragged to market.

There is also something to be said for a man learning how to be alone without being lonely. Too many brothers stay around noise because quiet makes truth speak up. Solitude will ask questions. Are you tired or bitter? Are you angry or disappointed? Are you chasing respect from people who cannot give you peace? Are you building a life you actually want to live, or just surviving one obligation after another? Those are not easy questions, but better to meet them on a porch than in a hospital room.

Our community needs strong men, yes, but strength without recovery becomes danger. A worn out man can love his family and still bring tension into every room. A stressed brother can mean well and still make small matters feel big. Children notice. Wives notice. Friends notice. Even church members notice, though many will never say it. Rest is not selfish when it helps a man return with more patience, better judgment, and a softer answer.

Porches, fishing poles, books, and walks will not solve every problem facing Black men. Nobody with sense would claim that. Jobs still matter. Money still matters. Justice still matters. Health care, marriage, fatherhood, faith, safety, and opportunity still matter. Yet a man also needs places where his spirit can breathe. Fighting every day without a place to recover will make even a good heart hard around the edges.

Maybe that is why older folks used to step outside after a long day and just look around. No speech. No announcement. Just standing there, hands on hips, taking in air. Wisdom knew what pride forgot. A man has to come up for breath. He has to find a corner of life not owned by demand. He has to remember that being useful is not the same as being whole.

A brother needs a porch where nobody asks him for anything, even if only for ten minutes. Water, trees, and a line in the lake can quiet places inside him that noise keeps stirring up. A few pages from a good book may feed his mind better than another screen feeding his worry. A road long enough for walking can help anger cool before it turns into damage. These are not small comforts. They are quiet tools for survival.

A Black man deserves more than endurance. He deserves joy that does not embarrass him, calm that does not make him feel lazy, and rest that nobody mocks. Life will always bring work, trouble, and responsibility. That part is certain. Still, somewhere between sunrise and sundown, a man ought to have room to sit, breathe, read, cast, stroll, pray, and return to himself before the world asks for another piece.

Staff Writer; Lee Walker

This brother is a fitness trainer with 12 years of experience, focused on building strength, clarity, and real health within the Black community. Through his writing, Mr. Walker hopes to uplift younger Black men and men in general through honest conversations about fitness, financial pressure, fatherhood, discipline, mental wellness, and the importance of brotherhood.

Have questions? Reach me at LeeW@ThyBlackMan.com.

That may not sound flashy to folks chasing noise, but ask any grown person still healing from an empty chair at the table. Ask somebody who remembers waiting by a window for a car that never turned in the driveway. Ask the little one who learned early not to expect too much because expecting too much hurt worse. Being there may sound plain, but plain things can be sacred. Bread is plain. Water is plain. A front porch light is plain. Yet when you need them, they feel like mercy.

A man can buy a gift and still leave a hole. He can send money and remain distant. I am not making light of providing, because any grown person knows bills do not pay themselves. Food, shoes, rent, gas, school clothes, medicine, and all those little fees coming home in folders matter. Still, a young soul needs more than the hand that pays. A family needs the face, the voice, the ride, the correction, the laugh, and the steady witness of a grown man who does not vanish when life gets heavy.

Down South, many of us came up around men who loved in a language made of work. They rose before daylight and came home smelling like sweat, dust, oil, tobacco, grass, or whatever job had claimed their bodies that day. Some did not say much. One might sit in the same chair every evening like he was trying to hold the whole house together by being still. I respect that. A working man deserves honor. Yet truth is truth. Certain homes were starving for words that never came.

A boy may have known daddy cared because the lights stayed on, but he still needed to hear, “Son, I am proud of you.” A girl may have known protection, but she still needed a patient ear when her heart was tender. Many older men were not cruel. They were limited by what had been shown to them. Hard times taught survival, and survival does not always teach tenderness. So now another generation of brothers has to decide what to keep and what to lay down.

That is where breaking old family trouble begins. Not with a big speech. Not with a church announcement. Not with acting better than the people who raised us. It starts in a quiet place, usually inside a man’s own chest, when he says, “Some of what I received helped me. Some of it hurt me. My children do not have to carry all of it.” That kind of honesty will shake a man if he lets it. It makes him look back without lying and look forward without fear.

Every family has a pattern if you study it long enough. Silence may sit beside the dinner plates. A hot temper may pass from one generation to the next like an old pocketknife. Leaving may get dressed up as freedom. Coldness may be called strength. Shame around tears, hugs, apologies, and gentle talk may hide inside common sayings. Then one day a son repeats what wounded him, and everybody acts surprised.

A present dad interrupts that story. He may not do it perfectly. Most men do not wake up one morning healed from everything that bent them. But he tries. He catches himself before the old anger takes over. He lowers his voice when pride wants to raise it. He tells the truth when an excuse would be easier. He goes back into the room and says, “I handled that wrong.” Some folks do not understand how powerful that is. An apology from a grown man can put air back into a house.

To be a father is to live under observation. Children study a man in small places. The way he talks to their mother. The tone he uses with a waitress after a long wait. How he treats the mechanic, the cashier, the older neighbor easing across the yard. Church clothes can look good on Sunday, but home tells the truth by Tuesday. A young person picks up more from daily conduct than from any speech. The house is teaching, even when nobody calls it a lesson.

That is why discipline must be handled with wisdom. I believe in correction. A child without boundaries will make life harder for themselves and everyone around them. Young folks need chores. They need manners. They need to know that every mood does not deserve an audience. Somebody must say no and mean it. But correction should not become a place where a grown man dumps his old pain on young shoulders. A child ought to be guided, not crushed. There is a difference between raising a voice and raising a soul.

Our sons need that difference. A Black boy already has enough weight waiting on him outside the door. The world may misread his size, his silence, his walk, his clothes, and even his confidence. Home should not become another place where armor is required every minute. His dad has to teach strength, yes, but also judgment. Teach him when to speak. Teach him when to leave. Teach him that jail, pride, and a funeral can all grow out of one foolish moment. Teach him that manhood is not noise. It is responsibility with a backbone.

A daughter cherished by her daddy grows up with something solid beneath her feet. Respectful attention will not feel strange because she first saw it at home. Cheap affection may still come knocking, but it has a harder time fooling a girl who has already been valued. Her father shows her that strength does not have to sound harsh, and protection should never feel like a cage. When he honors her mind and listens with patience, he helps place dignity where foolish talk cannot easily reach.

Sacrifice is part of all this. No honest man can deny it. Children cost money, sleep, time, patience, and sometimes dreams that have to be delayed. A dad may pass on something he wants because the house needs something else. He may wear the same coat another winter. Work a shift that makes his feet ache. Miss a game with friends because math homework is waiting at the table. Bite back a selfish word because peace matters more than winning. That is not weakness. That is grown man business.

But let me say something for the brothers who are tired. Do not confuse sacrifice with slowly disappearing. Plenty of men are in the house but gone inside themselves. They are so busy carrying everybody that nobody notices their spirit limping. That is dangerous. Talk to somebody with sense. Pray before bitterness gets comfortable. Get your body checked. Rest when you can. Laugh sometimes. Let your children see you care for yourself without guilt. A worn out man can love deeply and still need help.

A good dad also lifts more than his own address. When a man raises his family with care, the neighborhood benefits. Teachers feel it. Coaches feel it. Churches feel it. Other young people notice. A boy down the street may see him loading groceries, cutting grass, holding a baby, or walking his daughter to the car, and that image may stay with him longer than anyone knows. We talk a lot about community, but community is built by daily examples before it is ever built by slogans.

That is why staying matters so much. Not just showing up for the easy moments, but standing near the hard ones too. The attitude. The report card. The slammed door. The quiet ride home. The hospital room. The awkward conversation. The unpaid bill. The child who disappointed you. The child who needs you after you have already given all you thought you had. Those are the places where love becomes more than a word.

No, every good father will not be famous. Most will not be thanked enough. Some will grow old and still wonder if they did enough. But small memories remain. The necktie lesson before church. The tire changed in the driveway. Dishes washed after supper. A prayer spoken low when trouble sat heavy in the room. A firm hand helping somebody stand again after life knocked them sideways. More than anything, a child remembers the man in the audience clapping like that little moment meant the whole world.

Being present is the real flex because it leaves something money cannot purchase. It leaves a covering. It leaves a memory. It leaves a better road. It tells a child, “You are not out here by yourself.” In a world full of noise, that kind of steady love may look ordinary to some people, but do not be fooled. A man who gives his family that gift is doing holy work, and long after the applause fades, his children will still be walking under the shade of what he planted.

Staff Writer; Lee Walker

This brother is a fitness trainer with 12 years of experience, focused on building strength, clarity, and real health within the Black community. Through his writing, Mr. Walker hopes to uplift younger Black men and men in general through honest conversations about fitness, financial pressure, fatherhood, discipline, mental wellness, and the importance of brotherhood.

Have questions? Reach me at LeeW@ThyBlackMan.com.

If you have ever asked yourself some of these same or similar questions, then perhaps you like me need to study the definition of what it means to be tolerant.

Tolerance means the acceptance of differing views and fairness towards the people who hold these different views, the act of putting up with somebody or something irritating or otherwise unpleasant, or even the ability to remain unaffected.

While on the surface this seems like quite a good definition and we may think on first blush “Oh I get it – enough said”. I believe we need to dig deeper to fully understand it because of a few words that stick out, at least to me, buried in its definition. These words are; acceptance, fairness, irritating and unaffected.

Acceptance is another sneaky way of saying you agree with or have a willingness to believe that something is true. It means that you are having a realization of a fact or truth and you are in the process of coming to terms with it.

Fairness means to be just or impartial and being impartial means that you have no direct involvement or interest in one side more than another.

To cause somebody to feel annoyance or exasperation is another way of saying that they are irritating you. However, irritating can also mean to cause a painful reaction.

Lastly the word unaffected is defined as to be not changed or influenced by something.

Wow – with those words explained, we can now move on to the heart of the issue associated with tolerance. When we dissect the word tolerance, we can put it into the form of what most people use it for when they lay claim to it. When someone says they are tolerant of other religions what they are truly saying for themselves is that they have no real religion of their own or that they don’t think enough of their own beliefs to stand up for them, therefore, they don’t truly have any. I know I said it; you might want to go back and read it again because I’m not going to change it!

If you’re still with me right now let me further explain it this way. First of all, religious tolerance is primarily relied upon to claim that each religion has some truth or truths to it. While that may be, I have been taught at least, as an American, to seek (and speak) the whole truth and nothing but the truth (so help me God).

Why is truth important? Well that really can only be answered by the individual because if truth is not important to you as an individual then nothing else matters. You can do whatever, whenever, wherever, to whomever you want. Given our society’s high violent crime rate and the world’s implosion on itself, you may agree with me that many today do not value truth. On the other hand if you do have a sense that truth is important, then it must be either all or nothing. Again, if it is only somewhat important, it’s easy to slide into the mindset previously described.

So then, if truth is important and truth by it’s definition is true and can not be altered why are we afraid to seek it, learn it, share it or even discuss or challenge it. If truth is truth, then throw it on the floor of the arena (the school auditorium, the court room, the military tribunal, the work place or any other venue of choice) and let it stand for itself. There is no need to argue for or against truth – it is what it is. For example, we know a truth here on earth called gravity. What goes up must come down. We do not have to argue the point, if you don’t agree with the truth just try to contradict it and suffer the consequences. Jump as high into the air as you can and defy gravity’s truth and you will soon see what I mean. Hence, those who live by truth have no need for argument or debate; they simply live it out as an example to others.

However, when one doesn’t know the truth but thinks that they do or they only know part of the truth and think perhaps that it’s the whole truth; they must fight for their point of view and hold their ground. It is this kind of thinking and argument that has given religion a bad name. Again, this is why many religious people end up fighting others or even against those of their own sect for their beliefs. Please understand that beliefs and truth are not always synonymous. Just because I may believe the earth is flat does not make it so.

If I do possess the truth, then when I encounter the counterfeit, what should be my obligation to it? Should I ignore it? Basically when someone taunts “tolerance” that is in effect what they are suggesting I do. They are in effect saying that I should be tolerant myself which according to the words we defined above would mean that I would be saying that I agree with the counterfeit or am at least willing to agree to it. Really? Why if I have the truth would I be willing to accept less than the truth? Doesn’t common sense cry out that I correct the situation and share (not force but also not deny) the truth. If I know about gravity and I see you attempting to defy it shouldn’t I at least warn you of the possible consequences of your getting hurt? Yes, I should warn you but in the end I must also realize your decision to jump is yours not mine to make.

Oh but then some will say that I’m not being fair in accepting the view of others even though it might not be true. Again, seriously? According to the definition of fairness, do I have to be impartial to the counterfeit when truth has been revealed? Shouldn’t my vested interest always reside in the truth? Should I give up my involvement in truth just so others don’t have to be affected by the truth? In other words, if we all deny the gravitational pull, will it just stop pulling on us?

By this time into the discussion you can usually tell when people no longer want to hear the truth or listen to reason because they claim that those with truth are irritating them. So they cry the louder for tolerance. What they truly desire is for the pain to be displaced back on the one with truth. For if the one with truth turns from it just to agree even in part with those who don’t will the consequences be any less? If I do give in to tolerance and agree with you that gravity may not be as important as I first thought, then suffer the bruise from falling does it hurt any less? I don’t think so!

Finally what those who cry for tolerance are really trying to say to those with truth is that they don’t want to be affected, they don’t want to change. They are truly afraid that truth will influence them to live in a different way and either they are just too comfortable to take the risk or just plain defiant because they want their own way so they retreat to the false cover of tolerance. However I believe it’s important for us to consider what scripture says:

“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15 KJV)

“Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38 KJV)
“Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.” (Proverbs 23:23 KJV)

“For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips.” (Proverbs 8:7 KJV)

“These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:” (Zechariah 8:16 KJV)

“Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.” (Ephesians 4:25 KJV)

“So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” (Revelation 3:16 KJV)

I would encourage you today not to be fooled by the guise of those who cry for tolerance. If tolerance is truly tolerance then those who cry for it should be the role model for it, which is typically not the case. I do agree strongly with the principle of treating people with love, respect and proper dignity, but I also believe it is important to share the truth with those who have need of it!

Staff Writer; Rick S.

One may contact this man of God at: RS@ThyBlackMan.com.

That might be asking too much of a teen in a world where violence is glorified by the minute. And manhood is dumbly and wrongly defined as acting out the tough guy, take no crap from anyone, stance. But as we see that momentary violent acting didn’t serve Anthony well.

His conviction for murder was again brutal proof of one immutable fact. Young Blacks who commit the same crimes as young whites will never get the same treatment within the criminal justice system as they do.

This by no means is a defense of Anthony’s act violent response. He took a life. He must pay for that. However, the price he paid should not be higher than that paid if circumstances were reversed and a young white killed a young Black.

Yet countless studies and surveys on the gaping racial disparities have amply proven that it is.

The Stanford University Three Strikes Project in 2025 found that Blacks get a much harsher sentence than whites for the same crime.

This is hardly the revelation of the ages for many criminal justice reform advocates. They have long contended, backed up by a wealth of facts, figures, studies, and reports, that race does matter when it comes to criminal sentencing.

District attorneys have enormous power in determining who to prosecute, even whether to prosecute, and what sentences to ask for when prosecuting. Judges lean heavily on the sentencing recommendation of prosecutors when rendering a decision on a sentence for a defendant following conviction.

Repeated studies within and without California provide overwhelming evidence that in some California courts there are glaring sentencing disparities. In almost all cases, the defendant getting the book thrown at them is Black whereas whites are far more likely to walk.

The Stanford Project cited numerous cases of glaring discrepancies in sentencing for a Black defendant versus that slapped on a white defendant for the same crime. It specifically singled out sentencing in Los Angeles and San Diego County courts among the worst offenders in the racial sentencing double standard. It zeroed in on the sentencing for robberies.

In Los Angeles County, Blacks convicted of robbery received prison sentences that were more than 30% longer than whites for the same crime. In San Diego County, Blacks who were convicted of low-level robberies received sentences that were longer than whites. Though it particularly singled out San Diego and L.A. counties for criticism, the pattern of apparent discriminatory sentencing held throughout California. That same pattern could be found in virtually every region of the country.

The Stanford Project, in tandem with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, went on the offensive. It filed legal action to reverse 18 prison sentences of Blacks on the grounds of sentencing discrimination. The petition was filed in accord with the 2021 state law, the Racial Justice Act, which prohibits discriminatory sentencing. The law aims at reducing racial disparities in the criminal justice system.

“The sad truth is that in California, like so many other states in our country, people of color are serving significantly longer sentences than white people, and that’s for the same offenses with no legitimate justification for those disparities,” noted NAACP Legal Defense Fund attorney John Fowler said.

The Stanford project took particular care in choosing the 18 cases for review. The Black offenders had been sentenced to life in prison for low-level crimes in which no one was hurt or even touched. They compared those cases to comparable cases where white offenders received much less harsh sentences.

One of the culprits in perpetuating racial sentencing disparity is the judges. Some judges may well bring their latent or not so latent racial biases into courtrooms. In Anthony’s case, the judge could have posed other alternatives to the jury to find him guilty of such crimes as criminal negligence. These lesser charges would not have carried the stiff sentence mandated by a first-degree murder conviction. The charge Anthony was convicted of.

Yes, Anthony should have walked away from the provocation. His impulsive act to strike back cost him dearly. Unfortunately, many other Blacks such as him have found out the hard way that racial equity within the criminal justice system is an alien concept for Black men when it comes to crime and punishment.

Written By Earl Ofari Hutchinson

One can find more info about Mr. Hutchinson over at the following site; TheHutchinson Report.

Also feel free to connect with him through twitter; http://twitter.com/earlhutchins

He is also an associate editor of New America Media. His forthcoming book is From King to Obama: Witness to a Turbulent History (Middle Passage Press).

What Thune said that stuck with me was not simply that he had no experience, but citing the experience he had. He said that the national intelligence director’s job shouldn’t be “weaponized” and should be led by “professionals.”

Hear, hear, Senator Thune. What about de-weaponizing the Justice Department and letting the professionals there do their jobs?

Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and John Cornyn of Texas — all of whom are leaving the Senate — also expressed concerns about Pulte. Will they express similar concerns about Trump’s choice of Todd Blanche to be Attorney General?

There is no question that under Blanche’s active leadership, the Justice Department has been weaponized not only to pursue Trump’s agenda but to punish his enemies. His confirmation hearings and the vote on his confirmation provide a rare opportunity for a mid-term correction of course by the Justice Department.

According to press reports and insiders, the Department is in shambles, suffering from a mass exodus of talented lawyers and leaders (who didn’t think they were signing up for political jobs, and mostly didn’t want to be) and plunging morale. The presumption that used to favor the government in federal court has been dramatically lost in the excuses and mistakes that have resulted. The lawyers are overworked and overwrought, finding themselves in impossible situations in court.

Grand juries, notoriously compliant with prosecutors (the saying goes that a good prosecutor can convince a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich), are saying no to high-profile revenge prosecutions and immigration overreactions, which have the effect of undermining respect for the rule of law.

You couldn’t find someone better qualified to weaponize the Justice Department than Todd Blanche. He is in the position he is because he was Trump’s personal lawyer and because his so-called boss, Pam Bondi, reportedly did not move aggressively enough against Trump’s enemies. The havoc wreaked on the Justice Department was not enough for him. Left to his own devices, the future looks grim.

But Blanche is not left to his own devices — not if he wants to be confirmed — which will take the votes of Senators who owe nothing to Trump and may yet lose their re-election (Susan Collins of Maine) because of their ties to him. Congress has not exactly distinguished itself by standing up to Trump’s weaponization of the federal government. But the revolt over the $1.8 billion slush fund and the reversal of course on the Pulte nomination signal that the closing months of this Congress might yet be different.

Both Senator Thom Tillis (one of the Republican leaders of the fight against the $1.8 billion fund, who is retiring) and Senator John Cornyn (who, along with Bill Cassidy, can thank Trump for having lost his primary) are on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will hold hearings on Blanche this summer. Tillis railed against the fund as “politically tone deaf” and a “payout pot for punks.” As for Cornyn, he told reporters this week, “I’m interested in hearing how he (Blanche) would approach the job, because he was President Trump’s lawyer at one time, but if he’s AG, he won’t be the president’s lawyer.”

The nomination of Todd Blanche is an opportunity for the Senate Judiciary Committee to insist on a mid-course correction in the weaponization of the Justice Department. The Committee’s oversight of the Justice Department has been woefully lacking, and now is the time — and now they have the leverage — to do something about it.

Written by Susan Estrich

As a Black man old enough to remember when rap still had to fight for respect in certain rooms, I do not take Jay Z’s rise lightly. I also do not look at him like some perfect figure sitting above criticism. He is an artist, a businessman, a husband, a father, and a complicated brother whose best work came from pressure, hunger, and observation. That is why his legacy stretches beyond rap, but rap remains the foundation. Before the boardrooms opened, before the billionaire headlines, before the corporate language started following his name, he had to prove he could rhyme with the best of them.

That point matters to me as a hip hop critic, especially coming from the South. Down here, folks can spot fake confidence before the first verse ends. We know the difference between a man performing toughness and another man carrying old pressure in his voice. Jay Z always had that second thing. Even when the music sounded smooth, there was a hard edge under it. He could talk about success, but you still heard the hunger that came before it. He could mention luxury, but it never felt completely separated from the survival instincts that helped shape him.

Reasonable Doubt remains the clearest beginning point because that album did not sound like a young man merely chasing fame. It sounded like a mind already seasoned by hard choices. The record had polish, but it also had tension. It carried expensive taste, street memory, guilt, pride, cold logic, and quiet fear in the same breath. That is why it has lasted. It was not simply about crime stories or flashy living. It was about a Black man trying to explain what survival can do to the soul when the world offers few clean exits.

That album also showed his greatest strength early. He was not only reporting what happened around him. He was explaining how pressure changes a person’s thinking. Many rappers can describe danger. Fewer can make listeners understand the mental math behind it. Hov could make wealth sound like protection. Betrayal sounded expected. Success felt like both a dream and a burden. He did not beg the audience to feel sorry for him, but he made people understand the environment. That is a different level of writing.

His flow deserves more respect in these conversations too. People often talk about the business moves, the classic albums, and the famous lines, but sometimes they skip the mechanics. Jay Z did not rap like somebody trying to prove he owned a dictionary. His gift was making sharp language feel casual. He could move across a beat like he was talking to you from the passenger seat, then leave behind a line that did not fully hit until years later. Some emcees sound written. Others sound rehearsed. At his best, Hov sounded like thought itself had found rhythm.

That conversational style helped him last. Hip hop changes fast, and plenty of gifted artists get trapped inside the sound that made them famous. Jay Z kept adjusting without completely losing himself. He could ride glossy production, soul samples, street anthems, radio records, club songs, and grown man reflection without sounding lost. Every experiment did not land, but the range mattered. It showed an artist who understood movement. Standing still too long can turn any legend into a museum piece, and Hov was too restless for that.

The Blueprint showed how powerful he could be when pressure was all around him. That album had warmth, arrogance, hurt, and victory sitting together. The soul samples gave it a grown feeling, while the lyrics carried the energy of a man answering public doubt. Hip hop loves competition, but there is a difference between throwing insults and turning conflict into music that still has life decades later. Jay Z knew how to turn tension into theater. He made the battle sound personal without letting it become small.

The Black Album gave listeners another version of him. It felt like a man trying to close one chapter while making sure nobody misunderstood what he had already built. Retirement talk made the moment dramatic, but the music carried more than a gimmick. There was pride in it. There was reflection too. A listener could hear a brother looking back over the climb, measuring wins, scars, enemies, growth, and the strange loneliness that can come with standing on top. Victory does not erase memory. Sometimes it makes a man remember even more.

What makes his career so rare is the way the music and the business kept feeding each other. The artist made the businessman credible. The businessman made the older lyrics feel larger. When he spoke about ownership, publishing, company building, and refusing to be used by people who did not respect the culture, those words landed because listeners had already heard him think out loud for years. He was not stepping into that conversation from nowhere. He had been talking about leverage before casual fans knew what leverage meant.

There is a deeper Black cultural piece in all of this. Jay Z became a symbol of escape, but not in a clean fairy tale way. His story carried contradictions, and those contradictions made him more interesting. He could be inspiring and difficult, generous and guarded, brilliant and hard to read. That sounds like real life to me. Black success in America is often forced into simple boxes. Folks want a hero with no stains or a villain with no humanity. Jay Z never fit neatly into either one. His work made listeners sit with ambition wrapped in damage.

That is why I push back when people act like his importance is mostly about wealth now. The money matters. Ownership matters. A Black man turning hip hop capital into serious business power means something in a country that has spent generations profiting from Black culture while keeping control somewhere else. Still, wealth alone is not why people debate his albums at cookouts. Nobody argues over a balance sheet like that. People argue over verses, hooks, beats, rivalries, album rankings, and songs that helped them walk through a season of life.

The South understands that kind of connection. We have our own legends who changed how the world hears rhythm, pain, slang, faith, struggle, and ambition. So when I look at Jay Z from below the Mason Dixon line, I do not see some untouchable New York monument. I hear an artist dealing with questions every region has had to face. How does a Black creator grow without losing the people who first believed? How does a man talk about luxury while still respecting the poverty that sharpened him? How does success change the voice without emptying it?

He did not answer those questions perfectly every time. No artist does. Some albums felt less urgent than others. Certain lines aged better than a few others. Business choices brought criticism, and part of that criticism was fair. Respect does not require blindness. Real criticism should have enough backbone to praise greatness while noticing where the shine gets uneven. Jay Z’s career is strong enough to survive honest conversation. Treating him like a living artist instead of a statue makes the discussion better.

One of the strongest parts of his catalog is how it grows with the listener. A young person may first hear confidence. Later, that same listener catches the anxiety. Years after that, regret becomes more obvious. That kind of layered writing keeps the music breathing. The best records are not frozen in the year they came out. They change as life changes. A young brother may hear motivation. A grown man may hear warning. A father may hear the cost of chasing so hard that peace becomes unfamiliar.

Age and family added another layer to his public image. The same man once known for cool distance eventually had to be viewed through marriage, children, maturity, and reflection. That transition matters because hip hop spent years acting like men were not supposed to age in public. Jay Z helped widen the picture. He showed that a rapper could become an elder voice without dressing like a teenager or chasing every trend. Silence became part of his rhythm. When he appears now, people pay attention because he does not make himself too available.

His Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction confirmed what many hip hop heads had already known. Rap had long earned its place among the great American art forms, and Jay Z stood as one of the clearest examples of its reach. His career shows that hip hop can produce poets, executives, cultural architects, family men, flawed leaders, sharp critics, and complicated icons. The honor did not create his importance. The music had already done that in headphones, cars, clubs, block parties, gyms, offices, and late night rides when a person needed the right line at the right time.

Younger artists should study that part carefully. Do not only study the deals. Study the foundation. Study how long he sharpened his voice before the world called him a mogul. Study the timing, patience, language, image, discipline, and instinct. Study how he used music as confession, armor, strategy, and testimony. Too many people want the harvest without respecting the dirt. Jay Z’s rise reminds us that visible success usually comes from invisible hours, hard lessons, and a craft treated with seriousness.

That is why his legacy is bigger than rap, but rap is still the root. The companies may expand. The investments may grow. His public image may keep changing as time moves. Yet anybody trying to understand why his name carries so much weight has to return to the records. Listen to the young man from Brooklyn bending language around pain, hunger, pride, and desire. Hear the grind before the luxury. Notice the artist before the executive.

Jay Z became more than a rapper because he first became great at rap. That order matters. The boardroom did not make him legendary. The microphone opened the door. The songs gave him credibility. The verses made people care. Everything else widened the story, but the foundation was already strong enough to hold every floor he added.

Staff Writer; Jamar Jackson

This brother has a passion for poetry and music. One may contact him at; JJackson@ThyBlackMan.com.

A German named Freddy came to Atlanta and made his way up to North Georgia, went tubing on the Chattahoochee, drove through Chattanooga and on to Auburn, Ala. He has been tweeting it all home in stunned, joyful disbelief. Auburn’s eagle flies around the stadium. There was a military flyover — he had never seen one. At sunset over the stadium, he wrote that the European mind cannot comprehend the moment. He and his friends went to a Buc-ee’s at one in the morning, bought brisket sandwiches and Beaver Nuggets, and ate them sitting on a pile of bagged deer corn. He is having the time of his life.

A man from Spain stood at the rim of the Grand Canyon and wept. Another couple could not believe Memphis has a pyramid. Visitors stood slack-jawed at the ducks marching through the Peabody and at the width of the Mississippi, a river that makes the Thames look like a drainage ditch. A young woman drove across Indiana and could not get over the size of the houses — the houses of people we would call poor. And she is not wrong to be amazed: the poorest state in America, Miss., now posts a median income that outpaces much of Western Europe.

Think about the asymmetry. We fly to Spain to see cathedrals and to Rome to stand among ruins two thousand years older than our republic. We assume the old world holds the wonders. Here are the people of the old world, crossing an ocean and crying at our canyon, marveling at Memphis, a city we just sent the National Guard to help. They look at what we walk past every day and cannot believe their luck at getting to see it.

Now look at us.

We are weeks from our 250th birthday, and we are spending the run-up like a country in a midlife crisis. We talk about a “national divorce” as if we could simply cut the cord and walk away — as if the heartland of California weren’t ruby red and the cities of the reddest states weren’t deep blue, as if we weren’t all hopelessly, beautifully intermarried. We have decided that political disagreement is grounds to call one another evil. We marinate online in our own outrage, believing the worst about our neighbors because a screen confirmed it, passing around lies because the lie flatters what we already wanted to think. We go looking for America at its worst, and the algorithm is happy to oblige.

The strangers at our door are finding America at its best. One group of fans reached their hotel in the rain with no way to the stadium and no public transit in sight. The receptionist put them in her own car and drove them to the game. That is not a marketing campaign. That is just an American being an American.

Two hundred and fifty years ago, 56 men signed their names to a document that pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to forge this nation. Some went bankrupt. Some watched their property seized and their children buried. They staked everything so that we could inherit a country so abundant, so free, and so safe that we now have the luxury of despising one another over politics from the comfort of our phones.

Maybe the foreigners have it right. Maybe the eagle and the flyover and the canyon and the kindness of a stranger with car keys really are worth crossing an ocean to see. Maybe, watching them fall in love with the place we take for granted, we could fall in love with it again ourselves and decide to be a little more charitable to the neighbor God told us to love, even when we cannot stand how he votes.

Written by Erick Erickson 

Official website; https://x.com/EWErickson

WIC is not cash welfare. It is not a giveaway. It is one of the most efficient and humane nutrition programs this country has ever created. It provides targeted food support, breastfeeding support, nutrition counseling, and health referrals to pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and children up to age five. It helps families buy milk, eggs, cereal, formula, fruits, vegetables, and other basics that make the difference between nourishment and hunger.

Now the House has decided that these families should do with less.

On June 4, the House passed the FY2027 Agriculture appropriations bill, including a $200 million cut to WIC and a reduction in the fruit-and-vegetable benefit. For a family already stretching every dollar, that is not an abstraction. That is fewer apples. Fewer greens. Less formula. Less food at the very moment when food matters most.

The numbers are stark. The House bill cuts WIC by $200 million and reduces the fruit-and-vegetable benefit. The White House proposal goes even further, slashing the monthly produce benefit for young children from $26 to about $10. That is a $16 cut per child each month — more than 60 percent — in the very part of WIC designed to put fresh food on the table.

Some will say that $16 a month is not much. But $16 is only “not much” to people who have never been down to their last $16. For a family living on the edge, $16 is milk and bananas, eggs and apples, bus fare to the grocery store, or the difference between buying fresh food and buying the cheapest calories available. A cut does not have to be large to be cruel. Sometimes the last $16 is the last straw.

This is what cruelty looks like when it wears a green eyeshade.

We are told, endlessly, that this nation cares about children. Politicians pose with babies, praise mothers, salute families, and campaign on “values.” But values are not measured by slogans. They are measured by budgets. And a budget that takes food from women and children tells us exactly whose lives are expendable.

WIC also supports farmers, grocers, and local food economies. When a mother uses WIC dollars to buy fresh fruit, vegetables, milk, eggs, cereal, or formula, that money does not disappear. It goes to grocery stores, farmers markets, dairy producers, food distributors, and growers who depend on regular customers. Less WIC money means fewer purchases of healthy food. It means fewer dollars circulating in local communities. It means that a cut aimed at poor women and children also reaches farmers and small businesses. Nutrition dollars are economic dollars, too.

That is especially important because healthy food is already too expensive for too many families. Fruits and vegetables are often the first things to disappear from a household budget when money gets tight. WIC helps keep those foods on the table. Cutting the fruit-and-vegetable benefit does not simply reduce choice; it narrows possibility. It tells a mother to stretch, substitute, and make do. It tells a child that fresh food is optional. It tells farmers that the public dollars that helped families buy their produce are no longer a priority.

What kind of country negotiates over the nutrition of infants? What kind of Congress looks at pregnant women and toddlers and says, “You cost too much”? What kind of moral arithmetic takes fresh fruit and vegetables from a child’s plate while protecting tax breaks, weapons contracts, corporate subsidies, and political theater? What kind of Congress spends nearly $2 billion a day on an undeclared war against Iran, then skimps on food for children?

The House has acted, but the Senate has not finished its work. Final negotiations are still ahead. That means advocacy matters now. Not next month. Not after recess. Now.

The ask is simple: fully fund WIC. Reject cuts to the fruit-and-vegetable benefit. Preserve the virtual and remote services that make WIC accessible to working mothers, rural families, and those without easy transportation. Do not balance the budget on babies.

The United States can find money for tax breaks, weapons, walls, corporate subsidies, and billionaire giveaways. Surely it can find money for bananas, carrots, milk, cereal, formula, and breastfeeding support.

The families who rely on WIC are not asking for luxury. They are asking for food. They are asking for nourishment. They are asking for a basic public commitment that babies should not go hungry, that pregnant women should not be undernourished, and that children should have access to the building blocks of health. That should not be controversial. It should be the floor beneath our politics.

When children are hungry, delay is a decision. When pregnant women are undernourished, silence is complicity. And when Congress chooses austerity for babies while protecting abundance for the powerful, we should name it for what it is.

This is not fiscal discipline.

It is moral failure.

Written by Julianne Malveaux

Official website; https://www.juliannemalveaux.com

Keeping up with these changes can sometimes feel overwhelming. But the good news is that technology also creates opportunities to save time, make better decisions, and enjoy more personalized experiences.

Here are ways you can make the most of the digital age and take advantage of the tools available to you.

Embrace Digital Tools That Simplify Your Life

Technology is most valuable when it makes everyday tasks easier. Think about how many activities that once required a trip across town can now be completed from your phone. You can order groceries, book appointments, pay bills, manage investments, and communicate with friends and family in minutes.

Companies like Amazon have helped redefine convenience by making shopping faster and more accessible than ever. Features such as one-click purchasing, same-day delivery, and personalized recommendations save consumers both time and effort.

The key is finding digital tools that genuinely improve your daily routine rather than adding unnecessary complexity. Whether it’s a budgeting app, a cloud storage service, or an online learning platform, the right technology can help you stay organized and productive.

Use Data to Make Better Decisions

You may not think about it often, but data plays a major role in many of the decisions you make online.

Streaming platforms like Netflix and Spotify use data to recommend movies, shows, music, and podcasts based on your preferences. Instead of spending hours searching through endless options, you’re presented with content that’s more likely to match your interests.

You can apply the same principle to your own life. Many financial apps now provide spending insights that help you understand where your money is going. Fitness trackers analyze your activity levels and offer suggestions for improving your health. Shopping platforms compare prices and highlight deals that match your interests.

The more information you have, the easier it becomes to make informed choices about your spending, entertainment, and lifestyle.

Take Advantage of Personalized Experiences

Personalization has become one of the biggest benefits of modern technology. Rather than offering the same experience to everyone, many digital services now adapt to your individual preferences.

Apple is a great example. Its ecosystem is designed so that devices work together seamlessly. Your photos, messages, files, and apps can move effortlessly between your iPhone, iPad, and MacBook, creating a smoother and more personalized experience.

You’ll see personalization everywhere today. Online retailers recommend products based on previous purchases. Streaming platforms suggest content tailored to your viewing habits. Travel websites highlight destinations that match your interests.

When used thoughtfully, personalization can save time and help you discover products, services, and experiences that are genuinely relevant to you.

Make the Most of Digital Services and Payment Options

One of the biggest advantages of the digital age is the growing number of ways to shop and pay online.

Consumers now have access to digital wallets, instant bank transfers, mobile payment apps, and alternative payment methods that offer additional flexibility and security.

Having multiple payment options allows you to choose the method that best suits your needs. Some people prioritize convenience, while others focus on privacy, budgeting, or security.

Services such as Skrill have become popular because they offer consumers alternative ways to manage online transactions without relying exclusively on traditional banking methods. The more options available, the easier it becomes to shop online with confidence and control.

Stay Curious and Open to Innovation

Technology evolves quickly, and some of the most useful tools today didn’t even exist a few years ago.

The people who benefit most from the digital age are often those who remain curious and willing to explore new solutions.

That doesn’t mean chasing every trend or downloading every new app. It simply means staying open to technologies that could improve your daily life.

Many innovations that consumers now rely on started as experimental ideas. Gmail, Google Maps, and countless other digital tools began as projects that evolved into services used by millions around the world.

By staying informed and willing to adapt, you’ll be better positioned to take advantage of new opportunities as they emerge.

Conclusion

The digital age offers more convenience, choice, and access than ever before. From personalized recommendations and smarter financial tools to flexible payment options and innovative digital services, technology has the potential to make everyday life easier and more enjoyable.

The key isn’t trying to keep up with every new development. It’s finding the tools and technologies that work for you.

As technology continues to evolve, consumers who embrace useful innovations, make informed decisions, and remain adaptable will be best positioned to enjoy the benefits of an increasingly connected world.

Staff Writer; Mark Stewart

Or maybe your confusion was of a different order. Your mind was swirling and twirling with loads of fact that you just could not make sense of; you were unable to distinguish what was real and what was fictional or inconsequential.

Perhaps it was worse, you were confronted with moral dilemmas where it was imperative to make important decisions and yet the mind seemed to offer nothing but fogginess and shadows and a nebulous reality.

It is telling that God disown confusion, especially with respect to believers, and the Bible puts it like this:

“For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.” (1 Corinthians 14:33)

It is manifestly the case that confusion, like pride and lies, and it takes no great research to establish the truth, is a product of Satan and errant humanity.

Confusion is about bewilderment, lack of clarity, mistaking one for another, disorder, embarrassment, disoriented state of mind, and the definition goes on.

The devil loves confusion, spreads confusion, generates confusion everywhere to more easily hide his devilry, in similar manner to an army carrying out an operation behind a smoke screen.

In the world generally confusion is disastrous, but when it rears its ugly head in the assemblies of God, or among believers, it can become more serious, it can become deadly.

Confusion prevents clarity. It can be argued that Satan managed to confuse one third of the angels and lured them to vacate heaven and to certain destruction. Clear-thinking angels could never have chosen Satan in preference to God. No matter your good intentions where there is confusion the seeds of catastrophe reside.

An interesting quote says, “You can’t follow your heart when it is more confused than your head” and when there are those who are bent on adding to your confusion, you can see that is part of a plan to derail you and your good intentions.

There are some in the church, among them ministers of the gospel, who have clearly lost their faith and rather than do the right thing and move on would rather stay and spread confusion.

And they are young, impressionable minds seeing all this are apt to be thoroughly confused.

What are the youth to make of a same-sex couple in your church who are in full communion, partaking of the Sacraments, and even adopting a child with the church’s blessing?

What are the youth to make of a minister of the gospel, who professes love for God and the gospel of Jesus Christ, marrying a same-sex couple?

How do you explain to the youth why there is obfuscation about what is clean and unclean when the Bible goes to great pain and gives so much clear details?

The greatest error anyone can make is to get so confused as to credit Satan with that which belongs to God. It is called blasphemy, and is the one sin that is not forgiven. The Jews fell into this trap when they said Jesus was performing miracles because he was the prince of devils, Beelzebub.

It should have been clear to the Jews that no one but God, and his agents, could perform these awesome miracles that Jesus did; for their rulers had already concluded such, “The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.” (John 3:2)

Confusion is like a snowball rolling don hill that gets bigger as it goes because it does other bad things as well.

Confusion generates disaster and strife, i.e., conflict. Even among Christians who have left the world and embraced the teachings of Jesus Christ, confusion, that leads to conflict, is never far.

Paul and Apollos, two very sincere Christians, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to believers in cloistered assemblies, you would think, would be the epitome of harmony. You would be wrong. People in one of those assemblies, at Corinth, found something to be confused about and fomented great conflict that required the stern intervention of the Apostle Paul.

Paul saw the confusion and strife that was tearing the church Corinthian apart; and he addressed it directly. This was not a dispute about doctrine, or theology, which in some ways would be understandable, but this was about personality, about preaching styles, oratory and preaching performance. How very sad that people could believe virtually the same thing and create strife about some pettifogging issue.

There is a long list of trivial issues that believers fight over, each believing that it is necessary to contest and win, and some go so far as to require resignation and expulsion for the losers or those in opposition.

Paul was right to point his finger at the underlying cause of such confusion and strife, “For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? (1 Corinthians 3:3-4)

Confusion undermines divine plans. God is the God of order, of organisation, of harmony and of arrangement. We see very early in the creation cycle what God was like, “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” (Genesis 1:2-3)

God wants people to see clearly so that they can make informed decisions.

God wants people to be able to distinguish right from wrong so that they know precisely what they are doing and can evaluate the consequences.

God plans are, and always have been, that all humanity be saved even if it goes through the most intense hardships during the process.

Satan’s plans are to add confusion, and thereby undermine God’s plans.

How does Satan manage to use confusion to his advantage?

Satan knows that humans are vulnerable; especially when their prestige and pride are brought into question or perceived as threatened.

Eve fell to temptation in the Garden principally because she was full of herself, she did not even consult Adam before acting so rashly, she thought God was holding out on her and she was going to do her thing; whether God liked it or not.

The truth is that people get confused when they turn away, wholly or partly, from the clear teachings set out in the Bible and do their own thing.

Like the young Christian woman who could not find a husband among the believers, so she married a nice young man who was not a Christian. Guess what happened.

Like the man, saved and sanctified, who could not find employment so he went to work as a barman serving drinks in a brothel.

Like the Christian mother that thought it was fine to be the banker to her drug-dealing son as he peddles death to the youth.

Confusion is piteous, debilitating and shameful but some don’t seem to care. “My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me”. (Psalm 44:15) To get rid of confusion is to fully and without reservation trust God, and it might even prevent confusion in the first place, “In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion”. (Psalm 71:1)

Staff Writer; Henderson W.

You can contact this Christian brother at: HWard@ThyBlackMan.com.