Author Bio

Medical Abuses of Black Americans
By Steven Malik Shelton

Harriet A. Washington takes the reader on a frightening yet illuminating journey in her ground breaking work, Medical Apartheid (Doubleday 2006) The book chronicles the abuse of African Americans in the American medical system, both in the past and in recent times....[More]

Monsters of the Heart
By Steven Malik Shelton

There are some crimes or offenses that defy words to adequately describe their horror and savagery. They are acts that convey all the signs and fingerprints of evil in its most base and awful forms. And there is nothing that so thoroughly pollutes our legacy of human beings and paints our society as a fraud and failure than the murder of our children.....[More]

A Love Supreme
By Steven Malik Shelton

It was a bright spring morning. The kind of morning when the air is soothingly cool, the fragrance of blossoming flowers invigorate the spirit, and golden memories seem to dance about, mingling with the present; one lives them fleetingly again and again.....[More]

The Dimming of Delray
By Steven Malik Shelton

It is early in the afternoon when I make my sojourn through the area of Detroit known as Delray. Sandwiched between Fort Street and the Detroit River and spanning the area from the Ambassador Bridge to Zug Island, it is the most polluted and blighted area in all of Detroit....[More]

The Nightmare Run of Tony Boles
By Steven Malik Shelton

There is an adage that declares that crack cocaine does not discriminate. That it is no respecter of a person's position, prestige or talent. Few have a better testimonial to the truth of this than Tony Boles....[More]

A Thousand Shades of Blackness
by Steven Malik Shelton

Malcolm X frequently said the skin of Black people comes in over a thousand shades and subtleties of color. Of a surety, the variations of complexion among Black Americans are diverse, ranging from the deepest blue-black hue to the highest yellow....[More]

The Black Pimp Mentality
by Steven Malik Shelton

With the release and subsequent award nominations for the movie 'Hustle and Flow' renewed attention has focused on the anti-hero personage of the Black pimp. The movie, which was written and directed by Craig Brewer (a White man) has the protagonist and pimp character, played by talented actor Terrance Howard, attempting to ply slick verbalism into a successful career as a rap artist....[More]

The Panther Walk
By Steven Malik Shelton

While driving west along Davison on Detroit's west side, I notice the supermarket that I and other Panthers used as a source of food and monetary contributions for the Free Breakfast for Children Program....[More]

Factors Worthy of Consideration
By Steven Malik Shelton

In general, Black people in America suffer with a form of psychosis when dealing with financial concerns. All too often we exhibit a tendency to want to spend the money before we have established a dependable and substantial source of income....[More]

The Black Family
By Steven Malik Shelton

The Black family is the primary institution in society and the foundation of human culture and civilization. It is unique because of the tremendous onslaught of destructive forces it has endured. And although there are many unfavorable statistics and negative statements from pundits and doomsayers, the Black family is alive and thriving...[More]

The Flooding of Black New Orleans
By Steven Malik Shelton

The tragedy in New Orleans that occurred in the wake of Hurricane Katrina is consistent with a pattern of malevolence against Black Americans that, sadly, has been an American tradition for centuries.....[More]

The Murder of Stanley 'Tookie' Williams
Steven Malik Shelton

On Tuesday morning shortly after midnight, C.R.I.P. gang founder and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Stanley 'Tookie' Williams was murdered by agents working at the behest of the State of California. I purposefully use the word 'murder' rather than execution to describe the action involved in his death. For although it was sanctioned with the veneer of legality, and carried out in the cold calculated and antiseptic surroundings of the death chamber at San Quentin Prison, it is still murder nevertheless.....[More]

Islam and the African American Prisoner
By Steven Malik Shelton

Many African American prison inmates are attracted to Al Islam because it provides the remedy to a host of problems and destructive influences that led them to a lifestyle, which provided the justification to incarcerate them.....[More]

Justifiable Murder
By Steven Malik Shelton

The recent killing of the defenseless and wounded man in the masjid in Fallujah brings to mind a similar incident in Chicago 35 years ago. In fact the circumstances are almost identical. Fred Hampton, the Chairman of the Black Panther Party, was asleep in his bed when paramilitary troops of the Chicago police department stormed their West side office.....[more]

The Homeless and The Hungry
By Steven Malik Shelton

The United States of America is the wealthiest nation in the history of the world. The food Americans throw away annually could feed many third world countries. Yet in the midst of this great abundance are millions of the homeless and the hungry.....[more]

Love, Mercy and Justice
By Steven Malik Shelton

God is a God of love and mercy. Yet, He is also a God of law and justice, for without justice there can be no love. Therefore when a parent loves a child he/she will admonish it.....[more]

America's Criminal Injustice System
By Steven Malik Shelton

There is a strange phenomenon occurring in America, and it serves to perpetuate a widening circle of debauchery, violence and mayhem. This strange practice is the glorification of criminals through media sensationalism.....[more]

Women and Islam
By Steven Malik Shelton

The position of women in the world today falls far short of the ideal. In nearly every corner of the globe and within almost every country, the physical, mental, and social abuse of women is all too apparent. This oppression and exploitation of women has many causes and forms.....[more]

Ancient Traditions of Euro-American Violence
By Steven Malik Shelton

In Athens in the year 621 BCE, a man named Draco was commissioned to draw up a legal code of penalties to be utilized by the state. Draco, from which is derived the term "draconian" was strict and unsympathetic toward those he deemed transgressors of the law and his proposed punishments reflected this:....[more]

Assault on a Five Year Old
By Steven Malik Shelton

There are tremendous psychosocial dynamics involved in the placing of handcuffs on a five-year Black girl in St. Petersburg, Florida. Most people are in agreement that it should not have happened. After all, what real danger can a five year old pose, apart from being a nuisance or throwing a temper tandem?.....[more]

Islamophobia
By Steven Malik Shelton

According to a recent national survey, 44 percent of Americans believe the US government should suspend civil rights and use surveillance techniques to spy on Muslim Americans. The poll was commissioned by the Media and Society Research Group through Cornell University's Department of Communication......[more]

Beauty Standards
By Steven Malik Shelton

It is revealing that the prestigious CBS news program "60 Minutes" recently published an article highlighting actress Aishwarya Rai as, perhaps, the "World's Most Beautiful Woman." Not surprising, Miss Rai is a very light-skinned woman from India with sharp Caucasian-like features. The article also makes reference to White women of the past who were (and are) projected as the epitome of beauty and refinement. Women like Grace Kelly, Ingrid Bergman and Elizabeth Taylor......[more]

Brian Nichols and the Hidden Face of America
By Steven Malik Shelton

"I feel like I'm a warrior-that people of my color have gone through a lot."
Brian Nichols

Outwardly, the Atlanta incident involving Brian Nichols is just another senseless act of violence, but if we delve deeper beneath the surface we discover that the circumstances surrounding this tragedy are multi-faceted and complicated......[more]

American Genocide
by Steven Malik Shelton

Sadly, the horrendous stain and stench of genocide did not begin or end with the demonic killing spree in 1994 Rwanda, and if we are to make an earnest effort to examine these tendencies, learn from them, and ensure that they are less likely to occur again, we must study the dynamics, the ideologies, and the practices of a land that has long posed behind a facade of liberty, democracy, and justice. We must remove the blinders and peer into its unique and sordid legacy of racism, sexism, flagrant greed, and genocidal policies and practices......[more]

Tribes

There are, reportedly, 600 to 1,000 different tribal groups in Africa. Among them are the Ashanti, Ibo, Masai, Zulu, Yoruba, Fulani, and Kikuyu.

One of the more noticeable characteristics of tribal identity is language. There are over a thousand different dialects spoken by tribal units on the continent of Africa. And language is the most effective method of communication and of establishing human relationships. Language is also used as a vehicle of isolation and closure......[more]

The Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
By Steven Malik Shelton

"Our nettlesome task is to discover how to organize our strength into compelling power.".... M. L. King Jr.

Born January 15 1929, Martin Luther King Jr. grew up in the south during a time of tremendous segregation and racism. The son of parents who were devout Christians and the recipient of generations of Black religious traditions, King developed into a man with a burning desire to overcome injustice and an admirable capacity to endure bigotry and violence without retaliating physically but by seeking to defeat evil with superior moral power and by wearing down his enemies with principles of universal love and human dignity......[more]

Legacy of Violence
By Steven Malik Shelton

From the time Christopher Columbus landed with his starved and weather-beaten crew on an island in the Caribbean, the lands we know as America have been racked by incredible violence and drenched in insatiable bloodshed. The terrible legacy of American bloodletting stretches long and deep, reaching back thousands of years before the United States of America was founded and borrowing flames from the conflagration Greek draconian codes while drawing inspiration from the terrors of ancient Roman......[more]

An Afternoon with Dr. Anderson
By Steven Malik Shelton

The Shrine of the Black Madonna Book Store seems a fitting place to host the controversial educator Dr. Claude Anderson. Located at 13535 Livernois on Detroit's West side, it serves as a beacon for knowledge and ideas from a Black perspective primarily for the benefit of a Black constituency; so too does Dr. Anderson...[more]

A Terrible New Year
By Steven Malik Shelton

As we contemplate the old year and embark upon the new, it is important for Black people to pause and remember the plight of our enslaved ancestors who suffered during this time a special cruelty, and endured a searing pain compounded by the constant burden of being a slave........[more]

Torture in America
By Steven Malik Shelton

In the light of the depraved acts of torture, sexual humiliation, and human degradation that took place in Abu Ghraib prison, President Bush and Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, have described these acts as "un -American" and as "a stain on the nation's honor."..........[more]

Lynching on Exhibit
By Steven Malik Shelton

10/05/04

On Sunday afternoon, I made a sojourn to Detroit's Charles H Wright Museum of African History. On the second floor, there's a photographic expose on lynching in America and the devastating toll it took on the bodies of the victims and on the collective psyche of African American people..........[more]

African Muslims in Spain
By Steven Malik Shelton

In the 8th century, Roderick, the tyrannical Spanish ruler, offended his Christian vassal Julian by dishonoring his daughter. Seeking justice, Julian had an audience with the Muslim amir of North Africa, Musa Ibn Nusayr.........[more]

The Puritans, and The Myth of Democracy
By Steven Malik Shelton

The history of American democracy is shrouded in fabrication and myth. In an almost Orwellian exclusion of the truth, books are written, documentaries are composed, and texts are presented to students in school, projecting an image of a country that was founded on the noble principles of justice and equal opportunity for all........[more]

Racism, Crime, and the Prison System
By Steven Malik Shelton

"The problems of crime in America are complex, combining social, economic, moral. and political factors. And no one factor should be indicated without placing due emphasis on the others.".......[more]

Brother Steven Malik Shelton will be keeping the Black community updated on the most current Black experiences effecting our lives. Visit regularly for new information that could help you overcome and make the best of your everyday experiences.

To subscribe to Malik's column join the Afromerica email list to receive new information as it is updated. Or E-mail Shelton at: stevmalikshelton@comcast.net

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