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Everything seems so incidental after seeing the heartbreaking Facebook video posted by Diamond Reynolds as her boyfriend Philandro Castile, is dying after execution by a Minneapolis police officer because of a broken taillight. Compounding the tragedy is the sympathetic voice of their four-year-old daughter who witnessed his brutal slaying. Day’s prior a similar horrific depiction in New Orleans ((Alton Sterling). The pattern is statistically unavoidable---minor traffic infractions, selling looseys or CDs, wearing a hoodie, are a pretext to stop, frisk, searches and shoot black people, see http://mappingpoliceviolence.org/unarmed/. Profiling of African Americans is sanctioned for government control, historical/contemporary oppression and revenue. We must candidly face the systematic devaluation of black lives in all our institutions, not just criminal justice system. When all else has failed the courts and prison become societies response to racism, disparities, poverty, unemployment and hopelessness. The prison removes the reality from view and is the least capable institution to resolve the racial chasm. Maybe the visual of Philandro’s death at the hands of state action will awaken the self-denial of the majority. I have to assume humanity, empathy and truth will prevail. But I recall saying the same thing after witnessing Rodney King’s brutal beating, Trayvon Martin, Walter Scott, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, Tamir Rice and seeing in Jet magazine the open casket of Emmet Till. To the African American spirit that has suffered for so long, this must end. Hearts and minds, in a just society, can no longer accept the inhumanity and ugliness including the police assassinations in Dallas that we all witnessed this week.

As I got back into my workout regimen last weekend, I was in my feelings about all the things that had taken place lately. I needed an outlet, so I decided to write this poem. Shattered windows. Shattered dreams. Ulterior motives it seems. Pieces of him. Pieces of me. It’s just too bad the blind are the first to see. Legacies undone. A man gone before the sun. Set on his life. Fatherless kids gloom amongst the ranks. Souls torn for they have witnessed the Shawshank before the redemption. It’s sad because some may never get this. The past remain the present with heavily coated makeup. Covering up all the blemishes. Showing the beautiful exterior when it the interior that is “Still under construction.” Keep out and skull bone signs show there is imminent danger, but how can one know when the package has been adorned to protect?

Earlier this year we killed a project we worked on for over two years called the Power List. It was an attempt to fill in the void left when Essence Magazine abandoned their bestsellers list almost a decade ago. Unfortunately, the Power List was never embraced enough to make it worth the effort to continue producing. After I started the AALBC.com website upgrade, allocating resources to maintaining the Power List, was impossible to justify. Especially when you consider that I'm expanding AALBC.com's Bestsellers list The really interesting thing is that people still cite the Essence's list even though the list has been defunct for years. I received a galley in the mail and the publisher boasted that the author was a "#1 Essence bestseller." I'm saying to myself, "Well sheesh, I guess this authors must not have accomplished anything lately..." Even at it's prime the Essence's list and it's methodology wasn't anything to write home about. Once Time, purchased the magazine Essence's coverage of books suffered, skewing heavily toward the most popular and celebrity driven titles. It was not long before the bestsellers list was abandoned. After Essence ditched the Black bookseller at their music festival, I cancelled my subscription and have not really thought about them very much since. Still, the Essence brand carried a lot more clout and their bestsellers list definitely gained much more traction that the Power List ever did, and Black books and authors benefited as a result--which is all I really cared about. I hoped the Power List would recreated that benefit. But hey the AALBC.com list has been around 18 years and is getting stronger each period. The more authors who boast about making AALBC.com's bestsellers list the more we all benefit.