Category: View from the Battlefield

What we see is an unrecognizable movement around us. How did we get here? Who have we become? How do we get on track?

The fact that the last two assaults on woman’s constitutional right to choose has come from Southern states dredges up an ugly past for Black woman who were subjected to rape, unwanted pregnancies and forced sterilizations.

One of the concerns of the racial justice movement has become the commandeering of protest spaces by white radicalized youth and white anarchists.

Top union officials have indulged in lavish getaways in the millions of dollars while workers toiled on assembly lines. Equally as disgusting, they have taken bribes from auto companies, totally compromising their ability to boldly represent their members.

Forced nudity is a form of psychological torture. It is used by prison guards and by militaries. Capturing images of that compromised state must be incredibly humiliating -- opening up feelings of vulnerability, shame and powerlessness.

Twenty years later, we still don’t know the whole truth about that fateful day, but we have learned a lot about the U.S. government.

We can't overlook the racial bias and decisions made by Olympic officials this time or any other time. Like the banning of track legend Sha'Carri Richardson from the Olympic competition when she tested positive for marijuana. Many saw it as a double standard. And those specially-designed swim caps for nappy heads? They were banned too.

We are in awe of their talents yet we know that they - in the words of Simone Biles - have targets on their backs.

The history of slavery is a history of the United States. It was not peripheral to our founding; it was central to it. It is not irrelevant to our contemporary society; it created it.”

Funds from the American Rescue Plan are coming to a city or county near you. We need to have something to show for it after this $2 trillion is spent.