Since the generation of the U.S. Founding Fathers, the identifying qualities of a Patriot have evolved. At the time of the American Revolution, a Patriot was generally considered anyone who …
America’s ‘Peculiar Institution’: Slavery and the Making of a Nation
Slavery, in all its hideous iterations throughout history, was, paradoxically, the outgrowth of “civilization.” In more primitive groupings of human beings such as hunters/gatherers or subsistence farmers, slaves would have …
Do You Know America’s First Muslims?
Estevanico (Stephen the Moor) Estevanico, also known as Stephen the Moor, was born in Morocco around 1503 and raised as a Muslim. He was sold into slavery and in …
Slavery and the Prison Industrial Complex
Chattel slavery existed in continental North America, including the United States, for over three centuries. Prior to the 1830s, the Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, was basically the …
“Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” or “Pants Up, Don’t Loot”
It seems like only yesterday that the collective eyes and hearts of the nation were fixated on the vigilante murder of 17-year-old teenager Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman, a community …
Whistling Past the Graveyard
April 4, 1968 is deeply embedded into the collective conscience of this nation as a watershed moment — the assassination date of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. While demonized by …
The Tea Party’s Dangerous Agenda
From 1831 until 1840, French political philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville traveled throughout the United States recording his observations of the religious, social, and political life of the American people. His …