Vox Populi

A curated webspace for Poetry, Politics, and Nature with over 20,000 daily subscribers and over 8,000 archived posts.

Clarence Lusane: Making America White Again

The Deafening Silence of Trump’s Black Supporters

April 8, 2025 · 5 Comments

Video: Incident (Mature content, includes actual violence)

Harith (Snoop) Augustus had left work at the barbershop down the street when he was shot by a Chicago police officer. Morrison’s documentary captures the final moments of his life, and the actions and reactions of the police and neighbors who were there when it happened.

January 11, 2025 · 8 Comments

Richard Michelson: Three Poems

Today, I am weary of my soul, forever dragging behind me, 
clanging for attention like tin cans left tied to a coupe fender    
long after the sacred vows.

December 17, 2023 · 4 Comments

Video: Lucille Clifton reads “won’t you celebrate with me”

won’t you celebrate with me
what i have shaped into
a kind of life?

August 20, 2023 · 18 Comments

Brett Wilkins: 6 Mississippi ‘Goon Squad’ Deputies Plead Guilty to Torturing Black Men

Anyone surprised by this, at this point, can only be a willful denier of what Black people have said—and continue to say—about the broken culture of policing in America.

August 8, 2023 · 14 Comments

Claude McKay: The Lynching

The ghastly body swaying in the sun:
The women thronged to look, but never a one
Showed sorrow in her eyes of steely blue

June 9, 2023 · 7 Comments

Kim Stafford: Poems for a Cause

Maybe we’re past hints and whispers,
our chance gone for subtle scents
and fugitive flavors—time for coffee
black, jolt of onion, garlic unadorned.

April 26, 2023 · 10 Comments

George Yancy: Policing Does Not Have Problems — It Is the Problem

We must examine proactive ways to address the social issues that lead to crime and violence, which does not necessitate more police.

April 12, 2023 · 4 Comments

Daja E. Henry: Environmental Justice Activists in Memphis Are Finally Turning the Tide

Black women, particularly mothers, are leading efforts to treat people currently harmed by toxic neighborhoods and prevent future damage.

March 21, 2023 · 4 Comments

Clarence Lusane: The Votes That Weren’t Cast

The history of the suppression of Black voters is a first-rate horror story that as yet shows no sign of ending.

February 6, 2023 · 4 Comments

Abby Zimet: Acts That Defy Humanity

The arrests offer little solace to friends and family grieving for a kind, joyful, “good human,” “quirky and true to himself,” “good spirit and soul” who attended church youth group and worked to be a good dad.

February 2, 2023 · 6 Comments

Rashad Shabazz: Black police officers aren’t colorblind – they’re infected by the same anti-Black bias as American society and police in general

Policing in the U.S. has, from its inception, treated Black people as domestic enemies.

February 1, 2023 · 5 Comments

Maria J. Stephan: Achieving a Multiracial Democracy

King understood that no single approach would be sufficient to combat the interconnected evils of racism, economic exploitation and militarism. 

January 16, 2023 · 4 Comments

Derrick Z. Jackson: Black College Students Are An Endangered Species Unless They Play Ball

One thing seems certain if the Supreme Court bans affirmative action in college admissions: The only Black men left on campus will be athletes.

January 2, 2023 · 4 Comments

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