A MESSAGE FROM THE PUBLISHER
“Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered.” – Proverbs 21:13
By Bobby R. Henry, Sr.
When history repeats itself, it is not by accident, it is by negligence. It is by willful ignorance dressed as patriotism, by fear disguised as policy, and by power wielded without justice. From the smoldering ashes of the 1965 Watts Rebellion to the global outcry following George Floyd’s murder in 2020, America’s refusal to confront its original sins has become its most destructive tradition. And today, as Donald Trump re-emerges as a central force in American politics, wielding rhetoric that inflames division and rewrites the past, we are watching history loop in real time—only this time, the stakes feel apocalyptic.
Do we hear the echoes of Watts riots and the cry of George Floyd?
In August 1965, the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles erupted. What began as an arrest over alleged drunk driving spiraled into a six-day uprising fueled by poverty, over-policing, and systemic racism. The response was predictable: military-style crackdowns, finger-pointing, and promises of reform that rarely materialized. Fast-forward 55 years to the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer who put his knee to George’s neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds all captured on video for the world to see. The response again was familiar: protests, outrage, a few political statements, and then… apathy.
The cycle is brutally consistent: a Black man killed by law enforcement, protests erupt, calls for reform echo through the chambers of government, and then America forgets. Or, more accurately, America chooses to forget. Injustice thrives where memory fails. And now, we have a political movement actively erasing that memory altogether.
So, are we witnessing ignorance at the helm, or a just don’t give damn?”
Former President Donald Trump, emboldened by a base fueled by grievance, nostalgia, and misinformation, is not just ignoring history he is whitewashing it with a power hose. His calls for “patriotic education” are thinly veiled attempts to sanitize the violent truths of American history. Slavery becomes a “necessary evil,” racism is dismissed as a liberal illusion, and books that challenge these distortions are banned from classrooms and libraries.
This is not education, it’s indoctrination. It’s intellectual vandalism. And in the long arc of history, it is how nations lose their moral compass.
At the same time, Trump’s immigration rhetoric and policies have reignited xenophobic flames with alarming efficiency. From Muslim bans and family separations to promises of mass deportations, his policies echo the darkest chapters of America’s past from the Chinese Exclusion Act to Japanese internment camps. The message is clear: America is only for some, and everyone else must either assimilate or disappear.
This is how a nation implodes not all at once, but piece by piece, as justice is sacrificed for political gain and history is gutted to protect fragile egos.
How much more do we have to pay the price of forgetting when they show us who they are believe the first time?
When ignorance holds the gavel, justice cannot preside. When leaders erase the past, the people are condemned to repeat it. Watts was a warning. George Floyd was a scream. Yet here we are, again teetering on the edge, because we refuse to listen and refuse to learn.
If we want to escape this endless loop, we must confront the truths that make us uncomfortable. We must teach our children the full, unvarnished history of this country, not because it is easy, but because it is essential. We must push back against leaders who traffic in fear and fiction. And we must stop electing those who would rather bury the past than build a future.
This is not about left or right. This is about right and wrong. The question before us is urgent: Do we continue letting ignorance lead, or do we reclaim the wheel and drive toward justice?
