Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence’s assertion that “all men are created equal” while enslaving hundreds of people at Monticello. The Constitution established democratic principles while permitting slavery. After the Civil War, formerly enslaved Americans were promised 40 acres and a mule as part of an effort to build economic independence, only to see those commitments abandoned.

I thought about that recently while listening to speeches celebrating the nation's 250th anniversary, watching politicians wrap themselves in flags and founders, and hearing Michelle Obama stand before thousands at the opening of the Obama Presidential Center and describe it as "a living testament to the power of choice" and "an urgent call to go out there and do it again."

Donald Trump’s second presidency is littered with the firing of Black leaders, the dismantling of civil rights protections, the gutting of federal jobs that helped build the Black middle class, attacks on Black history and diversity programs, and even the public circulation of racist imagery depicting America’s first Black president and first lady as apes.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump has helped drive nearly $2 million in sales to Black-owned bookstores through his best-selling novel, “Worse Than a Lie,” using his national platform to direct readers and attention to independent shops that serve as cultural and economic anchors in communities across the country.

Jackson’s life traced the arc of modern civil rights history. Born October 8, 1941, in Greenville, he would become founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and one of America’s most recognizable civil rights, religious, and political figures.