Author: Ernie McCray

by Ernie McCray

We as a country
should keep alive
the brief firing of Jimmy Kimmel,
remembering it for what it was:
a vicious attack
on his Freedom of Speech,
the most precious right
of citizens of a free society,
taken from him
on the whim
of a president
who lives in fear
of any negative words that are spoken about him
or spoken about anyone or anything
that represents him.

by Ernie McCray

Racism is showing itself
during these most worrisome times
in a form
I’ve never seen until now.
I mean it used to be
that white supremacists
would do harm every now and then
to some Black or Brown folks
and non-white immigrant folks
and then there would be a lull
in their racial shenanigans
and society would plug on.

by Ernie McCray

Oh I wonder if we will ever solve this gun problem
that hangs over our nation
like a vicious thundercloud,
the latest tragedy
involving Charlie Kirk’s life being taken,
an assassination
that apparently has triggered,
no pun intended,
a few celebrations
which kind of chills me to the bone.

by Ernie McCray

Today there’s a move,
spearheaded
by a dictator-like-president,
to hide truths
in our schools,
an idea beyond ridiculous
since truths
are basic
to learning,
something made clear to me
when I began teaching sixth grade
in the 60’s,
at a school
where many of the students
lived in naval housing,
their dads off fighting in Vietnam,
leaving them to wonder what was really going on,

by Ernie McCray

There’s a dear friend of mine,
Jacquenese A. Barnes Price,
Jacque for short,
who will soon be an inductee
in the Hall of Fame
at Tucson High,
an honor she comes by honestly
because she was prepared naturally
for such esteem
by a mother
who stands as an iconic
Black social and political activist
in Tucson’s history,
a woman we kids used to call
“Miss Freddie,”

by Ernie McCray

I met with some good folks
on a beautiful warm and sunny day
to just unify
with people of like minds.
And it was well worth my time
as we sang a few songs
and opened a mic
to prose and rhymes
after taking a little time
to burn sage
to purify our bodies and our minds,
giving reverence to the
ideals of the indigenous cultures,

by Ernie McCray

I just put a Carlos Fuentes novel down,
a book that will be nameless
because these words
aren’t to be interpreted
as a book review,
other than to say
it was a nice read to say the least,
a typical narrative
from a man whose imagination
can shape realities
into fantasies,
his characters routinely
traveling somewhat cosmically
back and forth
over the lines between
truths and myths,

by Ernie McCray

That shit ICE pulled in my old neighborhood
still sits with me,
all that rushing into town,
spraying gasses
and snatching people around,
ridiculously and literally laying siege on
a community,
fueled by a sick man’s
hatefulness and insanity.

And I can’t help but take it personally
because I spent 30 of the most wonderful years of my life
on the very block
this incredibly wicked abuse
took place –
a neighborhood as good as any to be found
any place.

by Ernie McCray

A “big beautiful bill”
it’s been called.
But that’s sure not what I’d call
a piece of legislation
wherein people
with more wealth
than some nations
are given tax breaks
while low-income families,
in need of any kind of break,
are facing changes in Affordable Care Act subsidies

by Ernie McCray

I came across a picture of me
rehearsing a scene
from August Wilson’s
“Joe Turner’s Come and Gone”
with two other actors,
back in the late 80’s,
if I remember correctly.

We were portraying characters
in a boarding house
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
in the early 1900’s,
grappling with their pasts
and who they are,
reaching for love
and promising futures,
up against a world

by Ernie McCray

I’m usually chill
but let me tell you,
it’s been a bitch
having to deal with
the shit
that went down
when ICE’s hoods
disturbed the peace
in my beloved old neighborhood.
Talking about people who are absolutely
up to no good.

But as I was going through
taped shows on my TV,
Bonnie Raitt, one of my all-time
Favorite musicians,
suddenly
came to my rescue

By Ernie McCray / June 11, 2025

So proud of my old neighbors,

Golden Hill/South Park folks,

standing up to Trump’s

Immigration and Customs Enforcement goons

who, out of the blue,

in a style much like a military platoon,

descended on workers

at Buona Forchetta,

one of the hood’s

fine eating places,