Mychal Denzel Smith
Mychal Denzel Smith is a freelance writer and social commentator. His work on race, politics, social justice, pop culture, hip hop, mental health, feminism and black male identity has appeared in various publications, including The Guardian, Ebony, theGrio, the Root, Huffington Post and GOOD.
Articles by this author
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Views Tuesday, December 16, 2014 In the Struggle Against Police Violence, the Youth Shall Lead More than 50,000 people marched on the streets of New York City this past Saturday, December 13, to protest the two recent grand jury decisions—in Ferguson, Missouri, and in New York City—not to indict the police officers responsible for the deaths of 18-year-old Michael Brown and 43-year-old Eric... Read more |
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Views Tuesday, November 25, 2014 No Indictment for Darren Wilson, No Justice for Black Lives It has now been announced that Officer Darren Wilson will not be indicted on criminal charges for the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown. But the writing has been on wall as well, and on the bodies of protesters who have demanded justice. No one I talked to while in Ferguson believed there would... Read more |
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Views Wednesday, August 14, 2013 Ending Stop-and-Frisk, Keeping the Racism Read more |
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Views Thursday, July 11, 2013 What Does #Justice4Trayvon Look Like? The murder trial of George Zimmerman for the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin is nearing its end, with the defense expected to rest its case today. It’s time to prepare for what happens if Zimmerman is acquitted. Read more |
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Views Saturday, February 09, 2013 President Obama Should Go to Chicago. And Yemen. And Pakistan. And... After the shooting death of Hadiya Pendleton, the 15-year-old honor student who had, just a week before her tragic death, performed along with her high school band in the president’s inauguration ceremonies, the Black Youth Project started a Change.org petition asking President Obama to come to Chicago and address the gun violence plaguing the city. Read more |
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Views Wednesday, January 30, 2013 Let's End All Gun Deaths, Not Just Mass Killings In 1995, Chicago resident Shirley Chambers lost her first child to gun violence. Her 18-year-old son, Carlos, was shot and killed by a 16-year-old high school classmate. Five years later, her 15-year-old daughter, Latoya, was killed by a 13-year-old boy. Only two months after his sister was gunned down, Shirley Chambers’s son Jerome was shot and killed outside of the Cabrini-Green housing projects in which they lived. He was 23-years-old. Jerome’s death left Shirley with one surviving child, Ronnie. Read more |
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Views Tuesday, October 09, 2012 Why America Needs White History Month The Republican presidential campaign has persuaded me. Not to vote for Mitt Romney , God no. They have, however, convinced me of something else I previously considered unthinkable. Read more |
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Views Monday, March 19, 2012 Justice for Trayvon Martin Here’s what we know: Trayvon Martin is dead. On February 26, during halftime of the NBA All-Star game, the 17-year-old high school junior went to a nearby store in the Orlando suburb where he was visiting his father and stepmother in order to buy some candy for his younger brother. He returned to his family a six-foot, three-inch, 140-pound corpse. Read more |