Manifesto for the Establishment of a Department of American Freedmen Affairs

To Whom It May Concern: My name is Carnell Lamont Oliver. I write to initiate a national conversation on reparations for Black Americans, framed around the upcoming 14th Amendment case, expected in February or April 2026. The question before us is clear: what does justice and equity look like for descendants of enslaved Africans in the United States, and how […]

A Strategy for Fiscal Discipline: PBBA and Procedural Reform

To Whom It May Concern, My name is Carnell Lamont Oliver, a resident of Jacksonville, Florida, writing to urge serious consideration of a coordinated strategy to restore fiscal responsibility and functional governance at the federal level and to consider the Principles-Based Balanced Budget Amendment (PBBA). The Principles-Based Balanced Budget Amendment (PBBA) offers a constitutionally sound framework to address chronic deficits. Sponsored in the […]

Empire, Stability, and the Smokescreen of Morality

Let us be honest—brutally honest, the way history demands and empire resents. What is unfolding in Venezuela, and across the wider Caribbean basin, has little to do with democracy, human rights, or some sudden moral awakening in Washington. It has everything to do with power—raw, unapologetic, strategic power—and the anxiety that sets in when that power feels challenged. The United […]

LEFT IN THE STORM: Black River Residents Say Jamaica’s Relief Response Failed Them

When a hurricane tears through a country, the wind should not be the only thing roaring. The government’s emergency response should be loud, visible, coordinated — a symphony of tents rising, medical units mobilizing, food lines forming, and rescue teams sweeping every corner where fear still sits trembling. But in Black River, St. Elizabeth, residents say the silence was louder […]

Allegations of Racial Disparities and Neglect at Riverview Medical Center

A Black patient is raising serious concerns about his recent hospitalization at Hackensack Meridian Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, New Jersey, alleging that he experienced inadequate care, premature discharge, poor communication, and treatment that left him feeling marginalized and medically unsafe. The patient, admitted after collapsing on a tennis court, reports that in six days of hospitalization, he was […]

Fear Not 2.O — The Church When the Nation Become Idolatrous (part 2)

When someone talks about moving abroad to get away from Trump’s America, I think of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was studying at Union Seminary in New York City in 1930-31, and could have remained in the U.S. In fact, Union professors and other church leaders implored him to stay. But he knew he needed to return because of the gathering storm […]

Fear Not 2.0 — The Uplift of Fellow Travelers

Last Tuesday was a good day for those opposing this Administration – people who cannot stomach MAGA policies, actions and goals… neighbors who reject President Trump’s leadership team and methods. The election made something important visible: it turns out we are not alone (even though this stretch of political history often leave us feeling we are). In the face of […]

Abria Jackson: Acting in Faith, Storytelling in Truth By Rev. Renaldo C. McKenzie

When Abria Jackson walked into a London theater this summer to see Night of Violence—the opening film of the UK’s FrightFest—she wasn’t alone. Sitting next to her was her mother, beaming with pride. “It was very emotional,” Jackson recalled. “My father passed away a couple of years ago, and he was so supportive of my dream. Knowing that my mom […]

A Great America is Destroyed from Within Not Without

Dear Mr. President, Five years ago I blogged: A Great Civilization Is Not Conquered From Without Until It Has Destroyed Itself From Within (W. Durant). This was while watching Apocalypto. If Trump the GOP, and MAGA want “America to be Great Again”, 1st stop the bleeding within… https://renaldocmckenzie.blogspot.com/2020/09/a-great-civilization-is-not-conquered.html “A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed […]