Afternoon Coffee Break with Darren Watts

Darren Watts
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Every day is racism for black people. Most people are not open-minded to understand racism, nor are most people open to believing in racism. Afternoon Coffee Break with Darren Watts serves two purposes. One, education in discrimination. Two, a platform to talk about racism. Dive in with me to learn the history and the hypocrisy of those who don't believe racism exists. We will look at current events involved with racism as well. Let's have an uncomfortable conversation.

  1. 11h ago ·  Bonus

    After The Brew: Burnt Out, Pain Tolerant & The Investigative Journey Into My Own Body

    Darren comes clean in this episode of After The Brew — he is completely burnt out, and he's done pretending otherwise. Brain fog, work exhaustion, a lengthy investigation on his desk, and a body that has physical energy trapped somewhere it can't get out. He talks about converting whatever he has left into mental energy just to read, record, and write. He reflects on growing up with Darrell — speech classes, failed tests, teachers who couldn't reach them — and how nobody in the 90s thought to look deeper at ADHD, autism, or dyslexia. The late diagnosis problem is real, and masking made it worse. He talks about what Columbo and Miles Davis mean to him — two different portraits of the same truth: I know what I'm doing, let me do it. He gets into pain tolerance, working through migraines, toothaches, earaches, and a fractured foot — and wonders out loud if that's an autism trait. And then he lands on the thing driving everything right now: the investigative journalism series he's building around his own body — COVID, diabetes, weight gain, long-haul symptoms — a 12-part Substack series he's outlining piece by piece. He went 25 minutes instead of 11. He noticed. He kept going anyway. After The Brew, Darren Watts, Afternoon Coffee Break, burnout, brain fog, ADHD, autism, dyslexia, late diagnosis, masking, pain tolerance, Columbo, Miles Davis, Darrell Watts, speech classes, learning disabilities, COVID, long COVID, diabetes, weight gain, obesity, Mounjaro, independent journalism, Substack, 12 part series, physical energy, mental energy, sleep deprivation, CPAP, real talk, Black podcast, June 2026, investigative journalism, nobody called it long COVID, "I know what I'm doing, let me do it" -Darren Watts

    24 min

  2. 2d ago ·  Bonus

    After The Brew: Brain Scan, Iran, Masking & Why the Cabinet Analogy Says Everything About My Health

    Darren covers a lot of ground in this episode of After The Brew. He's got a brain scan scheduled for June 18th to follow up on abnormal results and check the connection between brain and spine. He worked overtime for the first time in a while — and he's paying for it. He reacts in real time to breaking news about U.S. military strikes against Iran, and gets honest about why he doesn't talk about the war more — because he believes you shouldn't speak on what you don't fully know yet. He shares his long-term vision: accounting degree, Dr. Watts, independent journalism funded on his own terms. And then he gets into the thing that's been sitting with him — masking. ADHD, autism, chronic fatigue, diabetes, severe back pain — most people in his life have no idea. He draws on the Golden Girls episode where Susan Harris told her own chronic fatigue story through Dorothy, and lands on one of the most honest analogies he's ever used: an X-ray is the outside of the cabinet. It tells you if something is structurally wrong. But you have to open the cabinet to know what's actually broken inside. Nobody has opened his cabinet yet. And he's still waiting. After The Brew, Darren Watts, Afternoon Coffee Break, brain scan, MRI, abnormal brain scan, Iran war, U.S. military strikes, masking, ADHD, autism, chronic fatigue syndrome, diabetes, back pain, Golden Girls, Dorothy Zbornak, Susan Harris, chronic illness, medical gaslighting, cabinet analogy, neurodivergent, Dr. Watts, accounting degree, independent journalism, overtime, real talk, Black podcast, June 2026, patient advocacy, you don't look sick, masking neurodivergent,

    20 min

  3. 3d ago

    Hate Crimes Through 2024: Georgia

    Georgia's hate crime data tells two stories simultaneously. The first is a downward trend — 248 total incidents in 2021, 197 in 2022, 142 in 2023. Georgia is one of the few states in this series showing consistent decline. The second story is what lives inside those numbers. Anti-Black incidents leading the cumulative data at 268. A white supremacist sentenced to 20 years for shooting into two Clayton County convenience stores targeting Black and Arab people. A man charged for making racially motivated threats and shooting at his Black neighbor. And Ahmaud Arbery — whose killing on February 23rd, 2020 and the subsequent federal hate crime convictions of the three men responsible represent one of the most significant hate crime prosecutions in recent American history. A declining trend does not mean a solved problem. It means the environment changed enough to change some behavior. The cases tell you what that environment still produces. Let's have this conversation. 00:00 — Disclaimer01:01 — Introduction02:34 — Thesis: Georgia is trending down — and Ahmaud Arbery still does not get to go home. Both things are true and both things deserve to be named.05:03 — Opening: February 23rd, 2020 — Brunswick, Georgia — Ahmaud Arbery was jogging on a public road — and three men decided because of his race that he did not belong there08:03 — Background: The national baseline, Georgia's population and political context, SB 202, and what a 43 percent decline over two years does and does not mean11:55 — The Data: Anti-Black at 268, the convenience store shootings, the neighbor shooting, the Ahmaud Arbery federal convictions, and the convenience store location at 24 incidents17:57 — Personal Thoughts: Price Lomonte walked away. Ahmaud Arbery did not. The difference between those two stories is not that one involved police and one did not — it is the outcome.22:27 — Close: Know the numbers. Know Ahmaud Arbery's name. A declining trend is real — and it is not finished. Hawaii is next. DOJ Hate Crimes State Data — justice.gov/hatecrimes/state-data/georgia FBI Crime Data Explorer — cde.ucr.cjis.gov DOJ Ahmaud Arbery Press Release — justice.gov SPLC — splcenter.org Follow the show wherever you get your podcasts. Goodpods Podcast🏆 #2 in the Top 100 Personal Journals Monthly chart🏆 #2 Podcast of the Month — Personal Језику Journals Weekly chart🏆 #7 in the Top 100 Cult Monthly chart🏆 #8 in the Top 100 Business News Monthly chart🏆 #9 in the Top 100 Cult Weekly chart

    26 min

  4. 3d ago

    Terry Pitchford, the Supreme Court, and the Jury That Should Have Looked Different

    Terry Pitchford has been on Mississippi's death row for 20 years. He was convicted by a jury of 11 white jurors and 1 Black juror. The prosecutor who tried his case — Doug Evans — had a documented history of dismissing Black jurors. The same prosecutor. The same judge. The same pattern the Supreme Court already overturned in 2019 in the case of Curtis Flowers. This week the Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 for Terry Pitchford. Kavanaugh wrote the majority. Roberts and the three liberal justices joined him. Gorsuch, Alito, Barrett, and Thomas dissented. He is not free. Mississippi can still retry him. But the Supreme Court said what happened to him was wrong. And it said so by one vote. Today we talk about what the court ruled, what it means, and why the jury box and the voting booth are the same fight in two different rooms. Let's have this conversation. 00:00 — Disclaimer01:01 — Introduction02:34 — Thesis: The jury box and the voting booth are the same issue — who gets to participate in decisions that affect Black communities — and both just came before the Supreme Court in the same month04:06 — Opening: 20 years on death row, 11 white jurors and 1 Black juror, the same prosecutor the Supreme Court rebuked in 2019 — and a 5 to 4 ruling that says it was wrong06:20 — Background: Batson v. Kentucky, Curtis Flowers, Doug Evans, Judge Joseph Loper, and how the same pattern produced two different Black men on Mississippi's death row09:37 — The Data: The Batson framework, the Callais ruling, and why the standard of proving intentional discrimination is the same impossible bar in the jury box and the redistricting map13:33 — Personal Thoughts: 5 to 4. One vote. The same four justices who gutted the Voting Rights Act would have let this conviction stand. That is not a coincidence — it is a pattern.16:37 — Close: Know Terry Pitchford's name. Know Curtis Flowers's name. Know that Doug Evans spent a career stacking juries and the system allowed it for decades. The fight over the jury box and the map is the same fight. Miami Times Online — miamitimesonline.com SCOTUSblog — scotusblog.com Batson v. Kentucky — supremecourt.gov Democracy Docket — democracydocket.com Follow the show wherever you get your podcasts. Goodpods Podcast🏆 #2 in the Top 100 Personal Journals Monthly chart🏆 #2 Podcast of the Month — Personal Journals🏆 #6 in the Top 100 Personal Journals Weekly chart🏆 #7 in the Top 100 Cult Monthly chart🏆 #8 in the Top 100 Business News Monthly chart🏆 #9 in the Top 100 Cult Weekly chart

    20 min

  5. 3d ago

    Karson Hyder and Sherry Moore: What a Doorbell Camera Caught and Why Misdemeanor Is Not Enough

    A 22-year-old police officer in Shelby, North Carolina approached a 34-year-old unhoused Black woman with mental health issues to question her about a fire at an abandoned building. A nearby doorbell camera caught what happened next. He threw her to the ground. He punched her repeatedly. Even as other officers arrived — he kept punching until colleagues physically pulled him off. He was fired on Saturday. He was charged on Monday. With a misdemeanor. Her family's attorney says it should be a felony. The two charges against Sherry Moore — resisting an officer and assaulting a government official — have been dropped. Her breaking and entering charge remains. His misdemeanor bond was ten thousand dollars. Today we talk about what the camera caught, what the charge does and does not say about accountability, and what it means when the system moves fast but does not move far enough. Let's have this conversation. 00:00 — Disclaimer01:01 — Introduction02:34 — Thesis: A doorbell camera caught it — the charge should reflect what the camera saw03:59 — Opening: Karson Hyder threw Sherry Moore to the ground and punched her until colleagues physically pulled him off — fired Saturday, charged Monday, misdemeanor06:05 — Background: Who Sherry Moore is, what Hyder was sent to do, what the audio captured, what her injuries were, and why the officer's history with the victim matters09:03 — The Data: Misdemeanor versus felony in North Carolina, what Class A1 misdemeanor actually carries, why the charge level signals how much the system values what happened to Sherry Moore12:44 — Personal Thoughts: We sent a 22-year-old with a badge and a gun to question a mentally ill unhoused Black woman — and then acted surprised when it produced exactly this15:41 — Close: Watch the Cleveland County courtroom. Watch the breaking and entering charge against Moore. The camera caught it — what happens next will tell you how much that matters. NewsOne — newsone.comNew York Times — nytimes.comACLU — aclu.orgNorth Carolina Courts — nccourts.gov Follow the show wherever you get your podcasts. Goodpods Podcast🏆 #2 in the Top 100 Personal Journals Monthly chart🏆 #2 Podcast of the Month — Personal Journals🏆 #6 in the Top 100 Personal Journals Weekly chart🏆 #7 in the Top 100 Cult Monthly chart🏆 #8 in the Top 100 Business News Monthly chart🏆 #9 in the Top 100 Cult Weekly chart

    18 min

  6. 5d ago

    The Gun That Was Never in Evidence: Cyrus Carmack-Belton, Rick Chow, and the Verdict We Have Seen Before

    On May 28th, 2023, Cyrus Carmack-Belton was 14 years old. He walked into a convenience store in Columbia, South Carolina. He picked up four water bottles. He put them back. Surveillance footage confirmed it. The Richland County Sheriff said it directly — we have no evidence he stole anything whatsoever. Rick Chow chased him anyway. Chow and his son ran after that 14-year-old boy more than 100 yards. And Rick Chow shot Cyrus Carmack-Belton in the back. The defense said Cyrus had a gun. That gun was never entered into evidence. On June 1st, 2026 — after eight hours of deliberation — a jury found Rick Chow not guilty. Today we talk about the gun that was never in the courtroom, the verdict that has been seen before, and the pattern that connects this case to names that should never have been forgotten. Let's have this conversation. 00:00 — Disclaimer01:01 — Introduction02:53 — Thesis: The entire defense rested on a gun that was never entered into evidence — and a jury found Rick Chow not guilty anyway04:50 — Opening: May 28th, 2023 — Columbia, South Carolina — a 14-year-old boy put water bottles back on the shelf, was chased 100 yards, and was shot in the back08:05 — Background: The full case — the surveillance footage, the sheriff's statement, the Stand Your Ground denial, the five-day trial, the verdict, and the family's response13:53 — The Data: The gun that was never shown to the jury, the pattern — Emmett Till, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Michael Brown — and what connects all of them to Cyrus Carmack-Belton19:38 — Personal Thoughts: Defense attorneys do not forget to enter evidence — they make strategic decisions. And in this case that decision was to ask a jury to believe a story without the proof.22:45 — Close: Know his name. Know what happened. And know that the gun that was never in the courtroom is the question this verdict should never be allowed to escape. Atlanta Black Star — atlantablackstar.com NBC News — nbcnews.com Richland County Sheriff's Department — rcsd.net NewsOne — newsone.com Follow the show wherever you get your podcasts. Goodpods Podcast🏆 #2 in the Top 100 Personal Journals Monthly chart🏆 #2 Podcast of the Month — Personal Journals🏆 #6 in the Top 100 Personal Journals Weekly chart🏆 #7 in the Top 100 Cult Monthly chart🏆 #8 in the Top 100 Business News Monthly chart🏆 #9 in the Top 100 Cult Weekly chart

    25 min

  7. 5d ago

    Walking While Black: Price Lomonte, Grosse Pointe, and the Call That Should Never Have Been Made

    A Black man was walking down a public sidewalk in Grosse Pointe, Michigan — a wealthy white suburb of Detroit. A neighbor called the police. Several officers descended on him. They told him he was under investigation. Then they changed it — they were just checking on him because he looked lost. They ordered him off the sidewalk. They got in his face. One officer screamed at him. One officer called him an idiot. His name is Price Lomonte. He knew his rights. Michigan has no stop-and-identify law. The police had no choice but to let him go. Today we talk about what happened, what 39 million 911 calls across 14 cities tell us about calls like this one, and why knowing your rights is still the difference between walking home and something else entirely. Let's have this conversation. 00:00 — Disclaimer01:01 — Introduction02:34 — Thesis: Walking while Black is not a metaphor — it is a documented, data-supported reality with a measurable risk profile04:13 — Opening: Price Lomonte, Grosse Pointe, Michigan — a neighbor called, several officers came, and a Black man on a public sidewalk was told he was under investigation for walking08:01 — Background: What the research says — Carnegie Mellon and Duke's 39 million 911 calls, the Berkeley Possibility Lab findings, and why unfounded suspicion calls are not random12:21 — The Data: Black civilians 55% more likely to experience force, Michigan's no stop-and-identify law, and why the officer's claim that racial profiling cannot happen from a call is false16:54 — Personal Thoughts: The preparation Black men carry into every public space — the rehearsed rights, the calculated composure, the labor that white men walking in Grosse Pointe never have to do23:16 — Close/Action Step: Know your state's stop-and-identify laws — because knowing what Price Lomonte knew is the difference between a tense walk home and something else Atlanta Black Star — atlantablackstar.com American Economic Review — Hoekstra & Sloan 2022 Carnegie Mellon / Duke University Study — 39 million 911 calls Berkeley Possibility Lab — California Policy LabACLU Know Your Rights — aclu.org Follow the show wherever you get your podcasts. Goodpods Podcast🏆 #2 in the Top 100 Personal Journals Monthly chart🏆 #2 Podcast of the Month — Personal Journals🏆 #6 in the Top 100 Personal Journals Weekly chart🏆 #7 in the Top 100 Cult Monthly chart🏆 #8 in the Top 100 Business News Monthly chart🏆 #9 in the Top 100 Cult Weekly chart

    26 min

  8. Jun 4 ·  Bonus

    After The Brew: Blood Pressure Check, Picking a Pharmacist's Brain & Why an X-Ray Isn't the Full Picture

    In this episode of After The Brew, Darren keeps it relatively low key — a blood pressure follow-up with his clinical pharmacist that turned into something more. He picked her brain about Dr. Morlan's decision to override his suggestion for a lower back MRI in favor of a brain MRI. Darren gets it — the first brain scan came back abnormal, so following up there makes sense. But connecting brain and spine doesn't necessarily get to the root of what's happening in his lower back. And here's the thing: an X-ray showing nothing structurally wrong doesn't mean nothing is wrong. Soft tissue, nerves, inflammation — none of that shows up on an X-ray. Darren is still connecting the dots on his own health, the same way he always has. TAGSAfter The Brew, Darren Watts, Afternoon Coffee Break, clinical pharmacist, blood pressure, back pain, lower back MRI, brain MRI, X-ray, Dr. Morlan, abnormal brain scan, soft tissue, long COVID, post-viral syndrome, patient advocacy, connecting the dots, health update, medical follow up, neurodivergent, chronic illness, real talk, Black podcast, May 2026, healthcare, advocating for yourself,

    10 min
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Every day is racism for black people. Most people are not open-minded to understand racism, nor are most people open to believing in racism. Afternoon Coffee Break with Darren Watts serves two purposes. One, education in discrimination. Two, a platform to talk about racism. Dive in with me to learn the history and the hypocrisy of those who don't believe racism exists. We will look at current events involved with racism as well. Let's have an uncomfortable conversation.

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