I thought long and hard about it, but I’m here to prove that it’s not that bad
The Covid-19 pandemic has killed more than 500,000 people and infected almost 30 million people in the United States alone. Even with these extraordinarily high numbers, cases have been disproportionately amplified within communities of color. According to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native people had an age-adjusted Covid-19 hospitalization rate about 5.3 times that of non-Hispanic White people. Covid-19 hospitalization rates among non-Hispanic Black people and Hispanic or Latino people were both about 4.7 times the rate of non-Hispanic White people.
Fortunately, within the past several months, three vaccines…
I recently had a phone conversation with my mother about my childhood education and she casually told me that I was reading at a high level by the age of three. I was shocked because for as long as I can remember, performing well in school has always been a challenge for me. It was because of these early signs of promise that she enrolled me in a Head Start program so that I could get used to a classroom setting. I must have breezed through Head Start fairly quickly because I entered kindergarten a full year before most kids…
In the world that we live in today, we are constantly reminded of how things advance. There is the progression in technology, food, fashion, education and some could argue that we can even throw jobs in that bunch, especially when you combine it with the advancement in technology. Although there have been many advancements around most traditional workplaces, there is still room for progression. The improvement that I am referring to has nothing to do with better computers, telephone systems, and other supplies that most people think of when it comes to upgrades at the workplace. …
On November 26, 2020, gospel singer Smokie Norful posted a picture on Instagram of his 16-year-old son. This wasn’t a picture of his son just posing with a smile, instead, it was a picture of his 16-year-old son sleeping in his arms. The picture caused quite a reaction from the social media world. Most of the comments were from people that directly follow Smokie Norful on his Instagram. These comments were extremely positive and encouraging, they just saw a son laying in his father’s arms. …
Very few people can focus their energy and determination on their goals and dreams without using age as a factor somewhere along the way. When you are young and map out what you think you may want to do in life, you say that you want to be this type of professional by 25, or you want to have this type of business by 30. We are all guilty of this and don’t realize that we are in some ways rushing the process and our development in whatever goals that we have set for ourselves. What I mean by this…
I remember riding around in the car with my great-grandparents or my grandmother as a kid. I would always ask them to turn the radio to the hip-hop and R&B station. They reluctantly did and were immediately irritated by what they had heard. They couldn’t understand what was being said and expressed that the music didn’t have any substance. This music was just flat out something that they couldn’t identify with.
I grew up in the '90s, so we’re probably talking about music from The Notorious B.I.G., 112, Jodeci, Tupac, Brandy, and whoever else was hot at the time. All…
On August 1, 2020, I was pulled over by the police while leaving a Target parking lot in my wife’s SUV. For a black man in America today, this experience can change your life or take it. When the police officer pulled me over I had no clue as to why, all I could do was stay calm, be respectful, and not make any sudden movements. He came to the window and told me that he pulled me over for two reasons. The first reason was that my registration was expired. This was fair, but I explained to him that…
There are all types of insecurities that we as humans deal with daily. Some of these are external and some are internal. Some of the external insecurities that we experience are things such as weight issues, a scar from an accident, a limp, or some other cosmetic characteristic that doesn’t fit the notion of what “normal” should look like. The internal insecurities are feelings of depression, lack of relationships, and absence of material things that everyone seems to have except for you. Take a minute right now and reflect on your biggest insecurities that you have experienced in your life…
I am in no way an expert on dismantling racism. All I can do is state facts, give my point of view, share experiences, and offer suggestions.
Have you ever had a challenging day? I’m talking about the type of day when it seems like there is one bad thing happening after another. You wake up in the morning, then trip and fall as you get out of bed. Then, when you make your coffee, you drop it on the floor. After that, you get to work and it’s the busiest day of the year. Damn, you forgot your lunch…
On the evening of September 2nd, 2019 there was a loud knock on my door. This was weird because if you know me, then you know that I really don’t appreciate visitors showing up to my house unannounced. My wife looked through the peephole with confusion and discovered that it was Big Tony. The problem with him knocking on my door is that we don’t talk, so you can imagine the anger that came out of me when I found out that he was there. Also, he thought that this was perfectly fine to do. He thought that regardless if…
Tony Jones, M.A.
Tony Jones is a freelance writer that covers race, culture, music, and sports across multiple platforms.
