Mychal Denzel Smith
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SocietyAugust 15, 2017
Historical Amnesia About Slavery Is a Tool of White Supremacy
Where we have (mostly) condemned slavery, we as a country have refused to condemn its defenders.
Mychal Denzel Smith
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Police and Law EnforcementAugust 3, 2016
It Doesn’t Matter Who Replaces Bill Bratton as NYPD Commissioner
He has defined modern policing, and his influence isn’t going anywhere.
Mychal Denzel Smith
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Mental HealthJune 23, 2016
If Black Men Want to Heal Racism’s Wounds, We Can’t Pretend to Be Strong All the Time
We’re proud that we’ve survived. But we should be honest about the costs.
Mychal Denzel Smith
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Criminal JusticeApril 14, 2016
Note to Bill Clinton: There Is No Inherent Criminality
At the heart of Bill Clinton’s comments about the 1994 crime bill is the belief in a natural and permanent class of criminals.
Mychal Denzel Smith
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Election 2016March 25, 2016
There Is No Truly Anti-Racist Presidential Candidate
But once there are real consequences for not having an anti-racist platform, things will be different.
Mychal Denzel Smith
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PoliticsFebruary 29, 2016
Trump’s Racism Didn’t Scare Me. Now It Does.
His primary victories have proved that explicit appeals to racism are politically viable again.
Mychal Denzel Smith
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ActivismFebruary 13, 2016
A Concrete Plan to Make Black Lives Matter
This is a plan for pressuring whoever is in office, whether they are sympathetic to the causes of racial and economic justice or not.
Mychal Denzel Smith
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Arts and EntertainmentJanuary 29, 2016
Why I’m Ready for More Slavery Films
As politicians and pundits dismiss slavery as ancient history, we need more movies forcing us to confront its reality.
Mychal Denzel Smith
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Racism and DiscriminationJanuary 21, 2016
The Seductive Danger of Symbolic Politics
Symbols, as powerful as they can be, are largely a distraction.
Mychal Denzel Smith
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Racism and DiscriminationDecember 29, 2015
Why Video Evidence Wasn’t Enough to Get Justice for Tamir Rice
The video didn’t matter to the prosecutor because killing black people is not a crime.
Mychal Denzel Smith