Yesterday, I returned as a guest to The Jesse Lee Peterson Show. We resumed our discussion on race, gender, sexism, and why Black people are targets by the police. Take a listen.
LeRon Barton returns to The Jesse Lee Peterson Show
Category: Featured
Interview on The Jesse Lee Peterson show
On Thursday May 18, 2017, I was given a chance to appear on The Jesse Lee Peterson show. Peterson, a Black conservative preacher who thinks Black people don’t know how to act and white people having the right to be afraid of us, and I spoke about my latest essay, “Gaslighting: Don’t Do It.” While I knew the conversation would be challenging, I didn’t know it would be ridiculous. Peterson denied that Gaslighting exists and said men should not be weak. Overall, a very interesting exchange. Check out the interview.
Pushing The Boundaries of Creativity
In 2017, technology is making a permanent place in our lives. What was once optional, tech has now become almost as important to our everyday lives as water, food, and sleep. Leaving house without your smart phone is unthinkable. Airport check-in kiosks have replaced clerks, Email and text messaging are the preferred mode of communication, and instead of purchasing a physical magazine or newspaper, a periodical can simply be downloaded. In other words, technology has changed our lives forever. With tech being nearly irreplaceable, it is only logical that…
The dark turn of the immigration fight…
In light of the current immigration raids, I thought of a conversation I had with a good friend of mine. When he was a child, his parents smuggled him into the United States in a trunk of car. Growing up, he and I did the same things as any other young man – went to school, played video games, read comic books, and talked about girls. It wasn’t until the Immigration Customs and Enforcement raids started to happen around our city that he told me how he arrived here….
Bay Area Voices on Racial Injustice: “Heads I live, tails I don’t”
This originally appeared at Kalw As the Bay Area marks the two-year anniversary of Michael Brown’s death, demands for police accountability continue in the aftermath of major scandals that rocked the Oakland and San Francisco police departments. When the East Bay Express invited Bay Area residents to submit personal reflections on racial injustice, dozens wrote in. Among them was writer LeRon Barton, who’s struggled with staying true to himself as a black man. LERON BARTON: If I come in contact with a police officer, it’s a flip of a coin. You…
The Grind
This originally appeared on The Good Men Project My days and nights are consumed by one thing: how to make it pop. There is not a moment that goes by that I am not thinking about how to get my writing and myself in front of people. It is a constant cycle of ideas, triumphs, failures, out-of-the-box thoughts, and strategies. There is another word for it: The Grind. The Grind requires anyone who is an entrepreneur or has an idea and wants to see it come to fruition to work…
Why I am voting yes on Prop 57
This originally appeared on Glide.org When I learned that the California Parole for Non-Violent Criminals and Juvenile Court Trial Requirements Initiative, otherwise known as Prop 57, would be on the ballot this November, my curiosity was immediately piqued. I am a writer who has published essays on the destruction of mass incarceration. I am a co-chair of the Glide Memorial Church Racial Justice Group, a team devoted to fighting racism/white supremacy. Most importantly, I am a Black man in America. I see the importance of Prop 57. In a report…
Why I don’t say white privilege
This originally appeared on The Good Men Project Recently I was invited to participate in an online forum about race in America. Three other guests and I were discussing the murder of Mario Woods by the San Francisco Police Department, the Bundy Oregon occupation, and the lack of African Americans in Silicon Valley. As we talked about the issues and the reasoning behind them, one of the guests said, “The reason why the Bundy family has not been arrested, more Blacks are not working at dotcom’s, and Woods was murdered…
How My Friend Came Out To Me
This article originally appeared on The Good Men Project As long as I’ve known him, TJ has been a good friend. He was understanding, thoughtful, and had a maturity about him that I admired. When TJ and I would hang out, the conversations and activities would range from the silly—getting our faces stuffed with cheap cheeseburgers and rummaging through X-Men back issues at Clint Comics, to the serious—having deep discussions on race, politics, and science. Our friendship started over being from around the same neighborhood and loving hip-hop, but our…
Our reality: 10 truths about being Black in America
This originally appeared on The Good Men Project I talk and write about race, a lot. It permeates every facet of my life. I cannot escape being Black, even if I wanted to. I have always been race conscious, known who I am, and where I stand in the world. However, everything changed for me during the Trayvon Martin trial. I saw not only how much vocal support George Zimmerman received from people, but also how much money was donated to protect a child killer. From that moment on, my…