Posts by Solomon
We saw Derek Chauvin murder George Floyd. A juror’s hat and tshirt doesn’t change that
Yesterday, Derek Chauvin’s lawyer filed a motion for a new trial, and attorney Eric Nelson threw in everything but the kitchen sink. He said Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill made mistakes, that there was prosecutorial misconduct, too much publicity, witness intimidation, and juror misconduct. Maybe he was talking about the Black juror who had the…
Read More Joe Biden has a lot to brag about. But Black folks need more than a speech
Joe Biden will be speaking before a joint session of Congress Wednesday night, and he’s got a lot to brag about. He said he would have 100 million vaccinations done in his first hundred days. He’s done 200 million. He said he would get stimulus checks in people’s hands. For many Americans, that’s done too.…
Read More Black people want Oscar-worthy endings when it comes to social justice
I wish real life was more like the Oscars, where people can win top honors for stuff you’ve never heard of. Raise your hand if you’ve seen Nomadland. Yeah, me either. But the film won best picture and the director, Chloé Zhao, won best director. Pundits said she was the first woman of color to…
Read More Looking into the eyes of Derek Chauvin, the cop who murdered George Floyd
When the guilty verdicts were read, I just wanted to see Derek Chauvin’s eyes. His eyes, after all, convinced me of his guilt when I watched snippets of the video in which he murdered George Floyd. Those cold, heartless eyes stared into a camera phone held by a 17-year-old girl named Darnella Frazier. Those eyes…
Read More Dr. Fauci has alerted America to a new public health crisis–gun violence
Dr. Fauci’s been in the news a lot over the past few days. First because GOP bully Jim Jordan tried to play Fauci during a House committee hearing by pretending COVID restrictions were about personal liberty instead of the fact that half a million Americans are dead. Maxine Waters, who we all know as Auntie…
Read More Theres no defense for Chauvin’s actions. Now it’s up to the jury
After 4 days and just 7 witnesses, the defense rested in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis cop charged with murder in the death of George Floyd. After his lawyer apparently tried to convince him to testify in his own defense, Chauvin declined to do so. Instead, he took the fifth amendment, refusing to…
Read More Police said Daunte Wright’s death was an accident. I don’t believe that’s true.
I don’t care that Kim Potter, the police officer who shot and killed Daunte Wright during a car stop, has resigned. I don’t care that Police Chief Tim Gannon stepped down either. I’m still enraged, because wright didn’t have to die. It happened Sunday in BrooklynCenter, Minnesota—a suburb just 10 miles from the Minneapolis courthouse where former officer Derek Chauvin…
Read More After 11 are shot in 24 hours, Philly’s homicides aren’t someone else’s problem. They’re ours
Eleven people were shot in less than 24 hours in Philly this weekend, and if we continue at this pace, we’ll have 600 homicides in Philadelphia by year’s end. That’s 600 funerals, 600 grieving families, 600 futures erased—600 lives lost in a cycle that is vicious in more ways than one. This is not someone…
Read More The major difference in the Chauvin case? His fellow officers are not trying to protect him
When I watch the Derek Chauvin trial, I know we’ve been here before. A grieving Black family whose loved one is gone. A criminal justice system with a track record of racism. A community bracing itself for a verdict no one wants to see. Don’t get me wrong. I believe Chauvin will be found guilty…
Read More You want to stop gun violence? Listen to the streets
Gun violence has taken our peace, our prosperity, and our people. It’s left far too many of us in a constant state of fight or flight, wondering if the next moment might be our last. In a city where 499 homicides took place last year, we can’t sit here hoping things will get better. We…
Read More