Monthly Archives: February 2009

Howard Witt’s story on the open display of hangman’s nooses and confederate flags at a prominent workplace in Paris, Texas stirs memories of the proliferation of noose incidents following on the heels of Jena 6 publicity.  Perhaps it is just … Continue reading →

Folks in Tulia, Texas breathed a collective sigh of relief when the trophy for “most racist town in America” passed to Jena, Louisiana.  The hardware is back in Texas. Paris, a community of 25,000 in Deep East Texas, now bears the distinction of … Continue reading →

This important essay appears in the current issue of Sojourners magazine.  Lydia Bean is my daughter.  She is also about to graduate with a PhD in sociology from Harvard University.  Most significantly, Lydia is on the board of Friends of Justice … Continue reading →

Marshall Ganz is a lecturer at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.  He played an instrumental, and largely anonymous, role in shaping Barack Obama’s recent campaign.  Most importantly, Dr. Ganz has served as mentor to my daughter (and Friends of Justice board member) … Continue reading →

This guest blog post appears on the God’s Politics Blog sponsored by Sojourners.  You may want to join the discussion there or share your thoughts below. Alan Bean   Tulia and Jena: America in Miniature I moved to Tulia, Texas, … Continue reading →

If you still believe poor defendants get a fair shake give this column from the New Orleansw Times-Picayune a guick glance.  I realize it’s a few months old, but it was just forwarded to me by a reader from Arkansas.  … Continue reading →

James C. McKinley Jr. covers the state of Texas for The New York Times.  His recent piece on the racial tension in Paris, Texas is partially a re-write of Howard Witt’s reporting for the Chicago Tribune, but he has uncovered a few … Continue reading →

The documentary “Tulia, Texas” has been garnering media coverage across the nation.  This review from the Chicago Tribune is typical.  Charles Kiker and Freddie Brookins, Sr., both founding members of Friends of Justice, are featured in the hour-long piece that … Continue reading →

Another comment from our anonymous friend in Paris.   I am willing to post any responsible commentary; so if you have something to add please contact me. Alan Bean More happy news from Paris  Because of my profession and circumstance, I probably … Continue reading →

The email from Paris [this refers to the initial post from a Paris resident criticizing the Chicago Tribune's reporting] is a good example of whats wrong in Paris. Its full of lies. And those lies came straight for the D.A.s … Continue reading →