While Jamaica mourns the loss of one of her most impactful, non-political figures in the history of our people (Gordon Butch Stewart), we are also observing and grappling with a disquiet in America and a President who reminds African Americans of the darkest days of our history. The fight for racial equity, as black people, came rushing back into the forefront of our minds. A wooden noose was captured in a video as part of the siege that took place in Washington DC two days ago. It is a statement that this was not only a DC based politics, but an indication that racial inequalities continue to extend a deep divide among our great political leaders.

Racial blockades are not unfamiliar to African Americans and have recurred consistently throughout our history. There are significant times in history that remind us of these atrocities:

" Hiram Rhodes Revels arrived on Capitol Hill to take his seat as the first black member of the U.S. Congress in 1870"; he was blocked.

Brown vs Board of Education (1954}, milestone Supreme Court decision ruled that separating children in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional.

"The Little Rock Nine was a group of nine African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. Their enrollment was followed by the Little Rock Crisis, in which they were initially prevented from entering the racially segregated school by Orval…