About Michael Skolnik

Dear Jay-Z and Beyonce,     I hope the United States government investigates your trip and threatens to fine you, under the “Helms-Burton Act of 1996 (Trading With The Enemy),” which prohibits any sort of financial exchange with the Cuban government.  Since the Cuban government holds a controlling interest in every business in Cuba, the food […]

There’s no more soldiers left in the battlefield.  The flags have been burned.  The wounded have been carried away. The terrain has been decimated. The war has been lost.  But, oddly someone still thinks they won. Forty two years of a war. Forty two years of a war that America waged against its own people.  […]

Louisville shooting guard, Kevin Ware’s injury last night was gruesome. It was unlike anything most of us had ever seen before on live television (most of us aren’t old enough to remember 1985 when Lawrence Taylor laid a devastating blow on Joe Theismann that snapped his leg in half).  Last night, we just wanted to […]

I struggle greatly with the words to write. I get stuck on the opening and the ending.  The middle I see clearly. It’s almost like slow motion. I envision those last minutes. 7:17PM when the breathing stopped. Where it began is murky.  Where it will end is confusing. But, I see the part where the […]

The Onion got my eyes red last night when they posted a tweet about nine-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis, the incredible young actress who blew us away as “Hushpuppy” in Beast Of The Southern Wild. As the Oscars went on longer than it took the Sanford Police Department to arrest George Zimmerman, I didn’t think it could deteriorate any further. […]

When I look at my two-year-old nephew, I wonder what he will think about us when he is older. His father is white and his mother is black, so that makes him half white and half black. He was born in an era of this country where a man who looks like him is his […]

The morning after the President gave his State of the Union address, a young mother prepared for one of the most difficult moments of her life. She has spent many days over the past three years not wanting to get out of bed, today was especially hard. Justice was never a word she thought a […]

  Rosa Parks would have been one hundred years old yesterday.  A woman whose small action would change the entire course of America’s history.  With no intention of causing trouble, Rosa Parks was just tired and took a seat in the front of the bus. A Montgomery bus that segregated white passengers from black passengers. […]

For a moment, imagine her paying tribute to the President of the United States on the day he would be inaugurated for his second term. Marching proudly as a majorette of her high school’s band and drill team. Marching for peace, justice and righteousness. She had auditioned with one hundred other students for one of […]

We were made for this moment. When Run-DMC walked this way with Aerosmith, we knew this moment would come. When the Beastie Boys got their license to ill, we knew this moment would come. When Jay-Z laid down the blueprint, one, two and three, we knew this moment would come. When Kanye turned on all […]

I remember driving away from the New Orleans airport and seeing cars on the highway. Thousands of cars. But, the strange thing was there was no one on the road. Cars were packed on top of each other, upside down, on their side, standing straight on their head. It almost looked like a weird art […]

She had just moved into town six months ago.  A new start. A new beginning at a new school. Her first grade class embraced her like one of their own. Her hair was braided for a planned trip to Disney World that her mother promised would take place in one month’s time.  She knew exactly […]