For the past year, Austin has deployed a group of community folks and city staff to analyze the curriculum at the police academy and suggest reforms: It’s not going well. The community reviews material, makes recommendations, but little gets implemented. It seems at this point like the goal is toContinue Reading
From the Civil War to this year’s election, popular sovereignty has been used to suppress the will of the people., Read MoreContinue Reading
A panel of activists and experts weigh in., Read MoreContinue Reading
Behind the disinformation around the border, there’s a reason so many immigrants come to the United States from Mexico., Read MoreContinue Reading
While I’ve been away from the blog recently, much of my time has been spent on a side project researching negro-league baseball in Texas, exhuming the Austin Black Senators’ history from the fog of segregation and media bias. But in Texas, everything comes back to the justice system, and baseballContinue Reading
On Saturday, per his request, I spoke at Jeff Blackburn’s memorial service about our work together in the aftermath of the Tulia drug stings and at the Innocence Project of Texas; here’s what I said. Below my comments, I’ve compiled links to a guest post by Jeff and various interviewsContinue Reading
Tech companies are leveraging the misery of Palestinian war victims for their own profit., Read MoreContinue Reading
The former President has a disastrous record when it comes to food safeguards, toxic chemicals, and the environment. Kamala Harris will do a better job protecting our health., Read MoreContinue Reading
I.C. Lord was the City Marshal in Houston following the Civil War who is credited with turning the Houston Police Department into a modern police agency, with uniforms, ranks, and patrol beats. I’d seen references to him being shot in 1868 in an episode of civil unrest by Houston freedmen,Continue Reading
Climate disasters are forcing Central Americans—many of them Indigenous—to flee their homes., Read MoreContinue Reading
Throughout U.S. history we have conjured up bogus reasons to hate and fear new arrivals., Read MoreContinue Reading
The economy ranks as the most important issue in this election. What does Kamala Harris’s plan offer?, Read MoreContinue Reading
With the paltry rate of posting on Grits, you might have thought I was no longer writing. But I’m pleased to announce a new zine I’ve been working on over the past couple of years: A micro-history of a small, 100-year-old neighborhood grocery store 2 blocks from my home, inContinue Reading