Wendell Pierce Profile picture
Sep 17, 2020 5 tweets 2 min read Read on X
Irascible, brilliant, challenging, uncompromising,culturally astute,humorous, purposeful, superior intellect, unorthodox sweetness, mentor, griot, an American poet, music, & cultural critic; syndicated columnist, novelist, and biographer, and beloved friend Stanley Crouch is dead
As a young man new to New York, he was a cultural pied piper who challenged my commitment to my art, my understanding of the legacy of the Black experience handed to me for stewardship, and the obligation I had to defining my unique path & contribution to civilization
He was a mythical guru that shepherded me from jazz club to club of NY taking care of a poor student with drink, education in the music, & uplifting my spirit.“What are you working on, Motherfucker?” was his clarion call to step up to an intellectual altar with a point of view
He was a raconteur of the highest order. Obnoxious, cantankerous, and rude with some regularity, but with an intellect that impressed and charmed him back in your good grace. He was loving kind, loyal and devoted in his way.
And what a wordsmith... these posts are my feeble attempt to honor that. He had a way with his writing that was completely authentic to his personality & spirit. For those of you who never met him, read him and you will. He’s Mouse to Easy Rawlins, Monk if he could write. Beloved

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More from @WendellPierce

Jun 13
Anne Pasternak, has been a friend of mine for almost 20 years. This attack on her home is a violent attack of ANTI SEMITISM on par with a burning cross warning from the KKK that your life is in danger. As a Black man from the South, I understand that is a terror attack and not a protest.
The irony is that as long as I’ve known her she has been pro- Palestinian and supportive of justice for marginalized people worldwide. We met when she produced our production of WAITING FOR GODOT in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans destroyed by Katrina, killing hundreds, a commentary on the loss of humanity and ineffective bureaucracy that contributed to it.
We must condemn those who have sabotaged a just cause of a pro Palestinian movement with acts of antisemitism. They aren’t more zealous. They are purposely destroying the movement when they so clearly attack someone like Anne Pasternak, who demonstrates in her work the support that you seek.
Read 5 tweets
Jun 3
In my industry, 33% tax credits are given to Hollywood studios to bring production to Louisiana, Georgia, and many other states. Oil companies are given subsidies to develop and drill for oil. TAX DOLLARS GIVEN AS CORPORATE WELFARE.
Yet a private investor wants to invest in Black women investors with private equity and the racist agenda of the right wing seeks to destroy any economic development in the Black community. As a businessman, that’s a violent personal attack. Venture capital denied by the court.
The MAGA agenda is to reward white supremacy socially and economically. This is a violent attack on Black women entrepreneurs. These white supremacists see everything through a zero sum lens. Opportunity only for them, education only for them, economic development only for them.
Read 5 tweets
Jun 3
A private investment firm the Fearless Fund, has been blocked from investing in businesses owned by Black women. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 ruling, sided with a challenge to the grant program, arguing it violated a Reconstruction-era civil-rights law, known as Section 1981, that prohibits discrimination in contracts.
The law was put in place to protect former slaves from discrimination. Edward Blum, an opponent of affirmative action, has argued its text means that race can’t be considered at all in contractual relationships. Private funding blocked by the courts. NOT TAX DOLLARS.
Private investment into Black businesses being blocked with laws in place to prevent discrimination against Black businesses. The racist irony. Racist, bigoted, fascist Americans who burned down Black Wall Street in Tulsa 100 years ago are still alive and well.
Read 6 tweets
Dec 19, 2023
Eulogy for Amos E. Pierce, Jr.

This is the most profound, difficult, challenging, sacred, ethereal, painful and spiritual moment of my life. I had years to prepare but nothing prepares you for the loss of a father……… Image
I loved him deeply but over the last 11 years the love grew as I heeded my mother’s death bed wish, “Wendell I’m dying. Hold my hand. Stay close to your brother, and take care of your Daddy.” Tee I did my best and now I deliver him back to you and God.
Our father was blessed with a long life of quiet &profound dignity. He was a man that taught us by example. Honoring a sacred oath,he promised that he’d never ever abandon us. And he never did.Estranged from his a sacred commitment, if I ever have children I will never leave them
Read 22 tweets
Nov 21, 2023
A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that an individual or group (like the NAACP) are NOT allowed to sue states for violating the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. This ruling destroys almost 60 years of precedent in U.S. federal law. THERE IS BLOOD ON THAT BALLOT BOX.
From the emancipation to the passage of this landmark bill 100 years later thousands of Americans were murdered, lynched, tortured, abused and violated by fellow Americans as they try to exercise their constitutional right just to vote. THERE IS BLOOD ON THAT BALLOT BOX.
There are those we know: Medgar Evers, Goodman, Chaney, and Swerner. And thousands of others we don’t know who died in the mud of Mississippi, the Smokey mountains of Tennessee, buried in bayous of Louisiana. Black folks who sacrificed their lives because they dared to try & vote
Read 6 tweets
Aug 27, 2023
This is not an isolated incident. This is the result of a culture of fascism that gives white nationalists and Nazis room to thrive. Political leaders who say “ there are good people on both sides”. Officials who downgrade the horrors of slavery with miseducation of Black history
We are expected to enter into a state of denial that these murders are NOT a part of the racist rhetoric spoken as policy in this country. It is not coincidence that Black judges, District Attorneys, and prosecutors are receiving death threats without any condemnation.
The murders of Black peoples by racists in a AME church, Buffalo grocery, and today in a Florida store is the evidence of the rise of white nationalism and neo nazism. Our leaders will not disarm them or disavow them. Silence is contrition.
Read 4 tweets

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