Ken Makin

2 weeks ago | csmonitor.com | Ken Makin

| Valerie June’s unique and soulful voice should come with a disclaimer: Comparison is the thief of joy. It is certainly understandable why folks attempt to characterize Ms. June’s sound, closing their eyes and murmuring the names of eclectic Black female artists like Macy Gray and Erykah Badu. Carrying a tune is one thing, but how an artist carries it is something else entirely. There’s a way that Ms. June’s music resonates, like a hummingbird’s wings. It’s why christenings from and...

4 weeks ago | csmonitor.com | Ken Makin

When the U.S. Department of Defense removed Jackie Robinson’s history of military service from its website last week, there was one of Robinson’s professions I thought about even more than his careers as a baseball player and as a soldier. I thought about Jackie Robinson the columnist. Back in 1964, well after he played his last game and had been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, Robinson trained his eyes on a presidential primary in Wisconsin.

1 month ago | andscape.com | Ken Makin

It is ironic to hear the chorus of complaints about the success of South Carolina’s women’s basketball program over the past few years, whether it’s commentary about McDonald’s All Americans, physicality, or the site of the conference championship. For the criticisms about the Gamecocks’ style of play, it’s head coach Dawn Staley and her team who’ve had to endure the bulk of the cheap shots. Some say success is the best revenge, and South Carolina is quite the case study.

1 month ago | csmonitor.com | Ken Makin

If a Washington, D.C., mural was any indication, Black lives mattered for less than five years. The same mayoral administration that commissioned a Black Lives Matter mural and plaza in June 2020, positioned just steps from the White House, called for their removal under pressure from the current presidential administration.

1 month ago | csmonitor.com | Ken Makin

Phillip Agnew is familiar with standing alongside civil rights icons. He co-founded the Dream Defenders in the aftermath of Trayvon Martin’s death in 2012 and conducted a monthlong sit-in after shooter George Zimmerman’s acquittal in 2013. He was visited and supported by the likes of singer, actor, and activist Harry Belafonte and lawmaker and activist Julian Bond.