Our American
Heroes
We can handle the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about our American history AND its relevance to our lives today. We are angry that we didn’t know, AND have been inspired to learn, about the many White men who have stood up and spoken out for justice throughout America’s history. These are the imperfect models of the good ancestors we aspire to be.
Black history is American history
Bryan Stevenson has successfully freed wrongfully convicted men from death row, and argued at the Supreme Court that mandatory sentencing of life-without-parole for children is unconstitutional. Yet, Stevenson’s most enduring legacy will be the Legacy Sites of the Equal Justice Initiative he founded. The Legacy Sites help us get proximate to American history – from enslavement to mass incarceration – and grapple with our discomfort that the systems that perpetuate racial injustice have evolved because the underlying belief in a racial hierarchy remains largely unchanged for most Americans.
When we erase our History,
We lose our Heroes
As a college student in 1961, Jim felt called to join the Freedom Rides. When their bus pulled into Montgomery, the mob of ~300 who were hiding in the warehouse across the street from the terminal poured out with bricks and pipes and savagely beat the 21 non-violent Freedom Riders, who were roughly half White and half Black, including Jim and future Congressman John Lewis. Their courage, the Rides, and the movement continued.
When we ignore Injustice,
We lose our Humanity
Christina Osornio, 35 year old mother and lawful permanent Benton County resident living in the U.S. since she was 3 months old, is stopped while running an errand for her job and ends up spending several days in a detention center before being released. Benton County is considered a ‘model’ of local law enforcement’s voluntary cooperation with federal ICE deployments to harass, intimidate, and terrorize immigrant communities. More than 70% of ICE detainees have no criminal convictions.
We honor our troops Who defend
liberty and justice for all
The elite 101st Airborne Division was deployed by President Eisenhower into Arkansas to ensure the safety of the "Little Rock Nine" and that the 1954 Brown vs Board of Education Supreme Court decision was upheld. In support of angry racist mobs who threw rocks and threatened to kill the “Little Rock Nine,” Governor Faubus had ordered the Arkansas National Guard to surround Central High School to prevent the Black students from entering the school.
There is a connection
Three White women were killed while standing up for the dignity of people of color. Renee Good was shot dead by an ICE officer in Minneapolis in 2026 while protecting immigrants. Heather Heyer was run over deliberately while marching to counter white supremacists in Charlottesville in 2017. Viola Liuzzo was shot dead by the Klan in Alabama in 1965 while driving fellow activists to support voter registration. We continue to value some human beings more than others.
There is a connection
Three White men were killed while standing up for the dignity of people of color. Alex Pretti was shot dead by two ICE officers in Minneapolis in 2026, while protecting immigrants and all of our constitutional rights. William Moore was murdered in 1965 while on his one-man march from Tennessee to Mississippi to deliver a letter to the Governor to accept integration. Rev. James Reeb was beaten to death while other freedom fighters crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge. What ‘way of life’ are some people defending?