Tag Archives: PRX

55

Posted on by toddpanther

So my quest for a hit single/EP is beginning to fade, the long-nebulous goal of grasping Solange-level power in a public-sphere world of Beyonces starting to look sad, even to me. (Since my pilot never aired, I don’t have to worry about cancellation.) My decades-long nightmare of becoming the lead character in Mr. Holland’s Opus–for an intellectual adventurer like myself, a horror movie personified!–has slowly come true, despite my best and worst efforts. During my five decades of life, I have had to learn how to be my own writer, which means for me that writers should take sides but not necessarily be on sides. My provocative approach to my professional journey means my skeleton will one day be found in some wings somewhere, still waiting for its close-up, its all-too-brief moment of viral spin in a writing world dominated by bots. But for right now, inspired by ever-infuriating, ever-fascinating and often-courageous magazine journalism, take-no-prisoners podcasting, diligent documenting and powerful historical narrative nonfiction, I am still here to contribute and complain. As a writer (and now audio commentator) who will probably be remembered best as my superhero secret identity The Human eNewsletter 🙂 , I give thanks to God, the Ancestors and you.

My Reaction, Re: “Reveal”‘s “Mississippi Goddam”

Posted on by toddpanther

I have no doubt that Al Letson poured his heart and soul into this investigation. His rage contained but explained, he and the other investigative journalist connected the dots well to the veteran Black police investigator who, for whatever reason, put cuffs on himself, who decided not to go the extra mile. Even in the “woke” era, no one dares the individual neck weight-pressure of the historic foot but those who will also risk being marginalized, un-alphabetized (ABC, MSNBC, and on)–and these Mississippi gunshots raced into history before then. This was a rare case because of the complete set of uncovered facts–the results of “hundreds of thousands of dollars,” “dozens of staffers” and “three years,” went Leston’s refrain throughout the almost two months. The sad sum was silences old and new. So now what? The public-radio medium’s constraints needed–and got–Letson’s Broadway showmanship to be powerfully pulled into the servicing of Billey Joe Williams. There could have been angrier, more sardonic ways to end Reveal’s report, but such a stand would not help anyone directly involved and perhaps instead only create national psychic reverb, causing dainty cups and saucers to smash, destroying a good brunch in the den or the Saturday-afternoon soccer-practice drive. More cuffs. 😦