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Jamal H. Bryant’s Speech Is Yet Another Example of African Americans Saving Democracy..

Adebayo Adeniran
4 min readNov 2, 2022

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James Barr via Unsplash

African-Americans are America’s conscience; its beating heart.

Their presence in the world’s biggest economy is a reminder of America’s fraught history and the constant need to fight to preserve the hard won gains of the past. If it weren’t for the immense and extraordinary sacrifice of African-Americans, African, Indian, Chinese and other immigrants of colour would not have been able to take full advantage of the citizen rights that they take for granted today.

From Crispus Attucks who was the very first casualty in the war of independence through to Benjamin Banneker, who dared to call out Thomas Jefferson for his grotesque hypocrisy to Martin Delany and Frederick Douglass who paved the way for the likes of William Edward Dubois and the titans of the late twentieth century, it is no exaggeration to state that America has always called upon Black folk to rescue it from the abyss.

It was especially true in November 2020 when it seemed that America had all but embraced fascism.

And yet again, we find ourselves staring into the abyss in November 2022, with women’s reproductive rights, climate destruction and voting rights on the ballot.

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Adebayo Adeniran
Adebayo Adeniran

Written by Adebayo Adeniran

A lifelong bibliophile, who seeks to unleash his energy on as many subjects as possible

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