Roy L. Pickering Jr.'s Blog, page 26

Shirley Sherrod, You're Fired! No, Wait, Never Mind

Tweets by CNN's Roland Martin first brought the Shirley Sherrod situation to my attention. It was apparent that he was being given a hard time by numerous people on Twitter for his stated opinion. I didn't know what the subject matter was yet, but was in agreement with what he was saying in his defense about racism being a two-way street, and if you condemned it when flowing one way it would be hypocritical not to also do so when it went the opposite. If someone in position of authority...

The Reverend Who Cried Wolf

Every day numerous examples of legitimate racism in action take place in this country. Yes we currently have a brown skin biracial President who most (including him) identify as African American. Yes, while certainly not in the fantasy land of post racial identity existence, this country has come a long way. Yes, no matter how far we've come, the legacy of racism by whites against blacks and the institution of slavery will never be fully lived down by this nation. It is an irremovable stain...

What you up to, LeBron?

My blog allows me to speak publicly about the wonder of the world that is LeBron James, and my beloved Twitter allows me to speak not only of him but TO him. Are you listening, LBJ? If so, the following is what I have to say to you and fellow basketball fans.

"…a high % of sports fans hold little interest in parity. They want a clearly defined best team, a dynasty, led by an easily recognizable star, its emperor." I wrote these words in '01 in response to false Michael Jordan comeback rumor.

Do...

Response to Garrison Keillor's position that: When everyone's a writer, no one is

In this article Garrison Keillor bemoans the current and future state of publishing which has been inundated by self published authors. Since I happen to be a self published author (as well as one who has sold rights to my writing to publishers, thus putting me on both sides of fence) it may surprise you to learn that I in large part agree with the premise of Mr. Keillor's article. I didn't even need to be invited to a fancy Tribeca rooftop party surrounded by literary bigwigs each preening l...

Interview

I was just interviewed by Dorothy Dreyer for her blog - We Do Write. I enjoyed answering her insightful questions and am looking forward to getting some reader responses either there or here at A Line A Day. Happy reading, happy Memorial Day, and happy start of Summer 2010!

Welcome, Roy! Tell us a bit about yourself.
Well, I was born on the idyllic island of St. Thomas and now reside in a quaint New Jersey town where the residents are taxed far too heavily. In between I grew up in the Bronx...

Crossing Paths

RIP Aiyanna Jones - Heaven receives some angels far too soon


The facts have not all been sorted through and made public, but one thing was perfectly clear right from the start. No 7-year old girl should die from a bullet, stray or otherwise. Any situation that may set up such an awful result should never be. Who is to blame and for what reason was a little girl shot while she lay asleep during a police raid on her apartment? Cameras don't usually lie and they happened to be present (friggin' r...

Some Book Reviews

Rabbit at Rest by John Updike - It has been several years since I read the previous entries in the Rabbit series, but Updike sketched the character of Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom so vividly that I remembered him quite well and was immediately absorbed by his final adventure. What can I say about Updike's writing, particularly in the Rabbit books, that hasn't been said already? Has any other character in the history of literature been brought more fully to life? None to my recollection. This book...

Interview with Authors on the Rise

Recently some questions were posed to me by Dee Dee M Scott at her author interview blog.

Dee Dee: When did you write your first book, and how long did it take you to complete?
Roy: My first attempt at a novel was undertaken when I was in high school. I abandoned it after a few chapters but showed enough commitment to convince myself that I had full novels in me some day. This was later proven when I completed Patches of Grey. The first draft took me a couple of years to finish as it was...

Reparations

Seems this article by Professor Henry Louis Gates has riled some people up. x x xI'm seeing nothing (on Twitter) but disagreement with what Gates had to say, probably because he said something not 100% in step with mainstream opinion.

As I wrote yesterday about Jason Whitlock's Roethlisberger article, just because an assertion is unpopular & makes you uncomfortable doesn't mean it doesn't contain kernels of truth, or perhaps much more than kernels. The more people protest the more...

Big But Not Bright Ben

Ben Roethlisberger has been suspended for six games without pay (which may be reduced to four games with good behavior) by the NFL. This means his behavior was publicly embarrassing and immoral enough to warrant action against someone who no doubt has a morality clause in his lucrative contract. It means a professional football player need not be convicted of a crime to be punished by his employer for giving the reputation conscious league a black eye. But it has not been proven that...