David A. Love's Blog

David A. Love

David A. Love
Location
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Birthday
June 18
Bio
David A. Love is a human rights advocate and journalist based in Philadelphia. He is a member of the editorial board of BlackCommentator.com, where his Color of Law column appears weekly. He is a contributor to the Huffington Post, the Progressive Media Project, McClatchy-Tribune News Service, theGrio, News One, In These Times and Philadelphia Independent Media Center. He contributed to the book, States of Confinement: Policing, Detention and Prisons (St. Martin's Press, 2000), and is a former producer of the radio news magazine Democracy Now! Love is also a former spokesperson for the Amnesty International UK National Speakers Tour, and organized the first national police brutality conference as a staff member with the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights. He served as a law clerk to two Black federal judges. Love is a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He also attended Harvard Business School, and completed the Joint Programme in International Human Rights Law at the University of Oxford.

JANUARY 15, 2010 10:08AM

A State of Perpetual War

 
In the George Orwell classic 1984, there is a state of perpetual war between the nations of Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia. The enemy in the conflict is ambiguous, and the battlefield exists in an elusive and distant land. The enemy could be Eurasia one day, and Eastasia the next… Read full post »
DECEMBER 31, 2009 10:15AM

Micah Love is here!

Micah Amir Katz Love 

Micah Amir Katz Love was born on December 30, 2009 at 5:28am, 6 lbs. 8 oz. Micah Amir is named for his older brother Ezra Malik, born sleeping August 30,2008, and his paternal grandfather Albert C. Love, who passed away June 28,2009. Micah means "who resembles God?" or "resembling God"… Read full post »

DECEMBER 18, 2009 12:07PM

New York's Juvenile Prisons Are a Crime

If you can judge a society by the way it treats its children, then New York fails in a big way. In fact, the Empire State should be found guilty of child abuse and neglect.

The New York Times recently reported on the deplorable state of New York's juvenile justice system. Gov./Read full post »

DECEMBER 13, 2009 8:47PM

Four ways Tiger trapped himself

The following is a recent appearance I made on MSNBC to discuss Tiger Woods' troubles.  The link to the article I wrote on the subject is here.

 

 

  Read full post »

DECEMBER 10, 2009 1:25PM

Jewish Voices of Color Must Be Heard

As we enter this holiday season, Jews around the world will celebrate Hanukah. And the global Jewish community is a diverse one, a multicultural and multiracial assemblage, by no means monolithic, representing millions of people throughout the world. Jews in China look like other Chinese, while JewsRead full post »

DECEMBER 5, 2009 12:12PM

The Surge We Need At Home

Sometimes, messes are so big that you just can’t fix them. The best thing to do is to leave it alone, and walk away, before you make things worse.

Afghanistan is one of those big messes. President Obama’s decision to claim ownership of the war in Afghanistan—by sending… Read full post »

NOVEMBER 20, 2009 12:00PM

Will Obama Help Change Asia’s Racism?

For the nations that were a part of President Obama’s recent Asian tour, surely this was a new experience for them. For the first time, they greeted and hosted the most powerful person in the world, one of the most brilliant people they’ve ever met. And for the first time, thatRead full post »

NOVEMBER 13, 2009 12:55PM

PTSD Creates Fort Hoods Everywhere

 
It is an understatement to say the recent massacre at Fort Hood, Texas is a horrible tragedy. Pundits have said much about the alleged shooter, Army psychiatrist Nidal M. Hasan. And they will likely say a great deal more about his motives, his state of mind, terrorism, and al-Qaeda.

 

wall street 

Often, people will look at a high-profile example of corruption, and conclude that the egregious act is an exception to the rule. In reality, it might be the tip of the iceberg.

On October 29, 2009, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania did a wonderful thing when it expunged theRead full post »

OCTOBER 30, 2009 11:47AM

The Lawyers Who Would Torture

abu ghraib

America’s current economic meltdown has crippled many professions, and the legal professional is no exception. As major law firms are engaging in the wholesale layoffs of lawyers, and freezing hiring for two years, newly minted lawyers must seek employment at department stores and fas… Read full post »

Rick Perry

When criminals are about to be caught, they try to hide their wrongdoing. When drug dealers hear the police sirens, they dump the stash in the alley or flush it down the toilet. When the Nazi officers in the concentration camps heard the allied forces approaching, they destroyed—and in… Read full post »

 

Robber barons 

Michael Moore’s new film Capitalism: A Love Story looked and sounded a lot like a huge conspiracy theory.  Too bad all of it was true.

Missing this time around were the legions of corporate shills employed to discredit this film, the way they tried to do wi

Read full post »
OCTOBER 9, 2009 3:54PM

A Fast For Human Rights In Gaza

There are many opinions on the Mideast conflict, but one thing is certain: the situation in Gaza is a humanitarian and human rights disaster, and it cannot continue. 

 

Under the Israeli blockade, the following items are not allowed into Gaza: cars, refrigerators, computers, cement, concretRead full post »

 

 

Tracy McGrady, shooting guard for the Houston Rockets, recently changed his jersey number from number 1 to number 3. 

The number 3 stands for a three-point program to stop the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan, which has already claimed 300,000 lives:

Read full post »
SEPTEMBER 25, 2009 4:29PM

America Needs A True Revolution Of Values

MLK 

As you probably heard, the Values Voters Summit was recently held in Washington, DC. What exactly is a values voter, and who exactly decides on the definition of a values voter?

In the Orwellian world of conservative-Republican-Christian-fringe doublespeak, the goal is to… Read full post »

SEPTEMBER 17, 2009 5:35PM

Secesh 3.0: Fear of A Black President

Obama joker 

When the Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) disrupted the President's healthcare address before a joint session of Congress, it was not the first time that a president from Illinois had trouble from a South Carolina lawmaker.

The first time, of course, was when the Palmetto State became the firRead full post »

Rx anti-theft

James Baldwin warned: “It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.”

These poignant words come to mind when I think about that freak show, that hot mess that has passed for a dialogue on healthcare reform this past… Read full post »

Vick and dog 
 
Much has been said about Michael Vick’s return to the NFL after serving 18 months in a federal prison for dog fighting.  And I don’t have too much more to add to the discussion.  As a pet owner, I cringe at the thought of someone torturing puppies.  At… Read full post »

Obama vs Darth Vader

If the ruckus over healthcare reform has taught us one thing, it is that bipartisanship is a dream that never will be fulfilled. And so what if it isn’t?  


We must admit, President Obama gave it his best. He went to Washington with an olive branch, with a…

Read full post »

 

Freedom of speech is a beautiful thing.  But inciting a riot with corporate underwriting and support of the mainstream media is a completely different thing.  Add to that the endorsement of a major political party, and what you have is a danger to our

Read full post »

recession 

I don’t have to tell you that it’s tough out there. I’m talking about the recession, of course. In the end, the bursting of America’s economic bubble is the worst financial news since the Great Depression. And ultimately, it is clear that the deleterious effects… Read full post »

I learned very little about nothing much in particular from the Sonia Sotomayor hearings.

I already knew that Sotomayor has impeccable credentials, and is far more intelligent than many of the senators, and all of the GOP senators, who were in judgment of her. I heard a great deal aboutRead full post »

JULY 16, 2009 11:40AM

Hey, Who Turned Off The Music?

jackson 5 

 

Did the music die? The recent passing of Michael Jackson made me ask that quesiton.  

Recently I started thinking about the songs of my childhood, actually the soundtrack of my youth growing up in Southeast Queens, New York. I have fond memories of listening to LPs

Read full post »
Roxroy Salmon 
 
 
 

 

On July 7, 2009, Roxroy Salmon- a Jamaican immigrant, activist and Brooklyn, New York resident- appeared before an immigration judge to determine his future in this country.  In a worst case scenario, Salmon, a longtime resident of the U.S. witRead full post »

JUNE 30, 2009 12:36PM

A Homegoing For My Father

Me and Dadme and dad 2

My father, Albert C. Love, Jr., died on Sunday, June 28, 2009.  I wrote this poem in his honor: 

 

Welcome to my father’s homegoing!

 

He was a simple man with an extraordinary life,

A Georgia boy, born and raised in a wooden shack in… Read full post »