Mychal Denzel Smith

Mychal Denzel Smith is a blogger at TheNation.com and a Knobler Fellow at the Nation Institute. He is also a freelance writer and social commentator. His work on race, politics, social justice, pop culture, hip hop, mental health, feminism and black male identity has appeared in various publications, including The Guardian, Ebony, theGrio, the Root, Huffington Post and GOOD.

Articles

It's Not the Bad Guys—It's the Guns (US Politics, Guns and Gun Control)

Let's face the truth: anyone with a gun can be a "bad guy." What we need is fewer guns, period.

Mychal Denzel Smith

No, Backing Marriage Equality Won't Cost Obama Support of Black Voters (Barack Obama, US Politics, Gender and Sexuality)

The math doesn’t add up. It shouldn't cost Obama votes—and it won’t.

Mychal Denzel Smith

Charges for Trayvon Martin's Killer Are No Guarantee of Justice (Racism and Discrimination, Trayvon Martin, Law)

Those new to the cause of defending black life will soon have to face the bleak truth black people have lived with for so long: we don’t often win.

Mychal Denzel Smith

Justice for Trayvon Martin (Trayvon Martin)

Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law puts the threshold for self-defense so low that major questions in this case will likely go unanswered.

Mychal Denzel Smith

Blogs

Lessons to Learn From Arizona's New Gun Laws

The state’s recent legislation turns its gun-buyback program into a recycling initiative and underscores the necessity for federal...

Mychal Denzel Smith

White People Have to Give Up Racism

It's the only real solution to deaths like those of Trayvon Martin and Rodgrio Diaz.

Mychal Denzel Smith

President Obama Should Go to Chicago. And Yemen. And Pakistan. And ...

The president should condemn violence at home, and hold himself accountable for violence abroad, as well.

Mychal Denzel Smith

Why Ending 'Stand Your Ground' Isn't Enough to Prevent Another Trayvon Martin

There's nothing natural about black boys dying at age 17. We have to stop acting as if there is.

Mychal Denzel Smith

Michelle, Beyoncé and the Fruitless Politics of Respectability

Kathryn Jean Lopez is disappointed that the first lady holds Beyoncé in such high regard. Even if she didn’t, that wouldn...

Mychal Denzel Smith

On the Routine Criminalization of America's Black and Brown Youth

We create images of monsters and then wonder why people go out slaying them.

Mychal Denzel Smith

Let's End All Gun Deaths, Not Just Mass Killings

A mother buries her fourth child lost to gun violence as we as a nation continue to avoid a real solution.

Mychal Denzel Smith

For Black Boys, the NFL—and Traumatic Brain Injury—Can Be Lottery Tickets

What’s a little permanent brain damage when you’re facing a life of debilitating poverty?

Mychal Denzel Smith

Mychal Denzel Smith | The Nation