Every sentence I’ve ever read that began with “The first African American or the first black person to…” was historic and significant because it almost always preceded some true story — one where the names weren’t changed to protect the guilty — that I hadn’t known, or which simply needed to be retold to remind some folks.
Needless to say, there are more of those stories now than I could ever count. And this one, well, to quote my boys from Oaktown…
Because it’s the telling of the national story, the whole story, our stories, that spark (and, yes, sometimes ignite) the much-needed conversations America still needs to have that challenge the carefully crafted false narratives we wrongfully call American History.
But if we continue to tell them honestly and without condemnation, and if they’re received openly and without shame, we can replace fiction with truth and dispel the myths embraced by so many folks (black, white and other, but mostly… y’all know who you are) that one was the first to accomplish everything and the others are the last to do anything.
So, here’s to another first. Not one black quarterback vs another black quarterback, but the Chiefs vs the Eagles.
I’m not gonna’ go there. Today.
TOL
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