The new dawn blooms as we free it
For there is always light
if only we’re brave enough to see it
if only we’re brave enough to be it
Amanda Gorman, Inaugural Poet Laureate
I imagine what I will tell my grandchildren about the beginning of 2021 when the nation held its breath for nearly two weeks while the forces of who we are battled with those of who we want to be. How would I explain to them how thousands of little lies repeated thousands of times over became the Big Lie spread in the name of democracy and our Constitution, by those who understood neither and trampled both? What would I say about our country where truth had been so readily discarded and truth bearers were the enemy of the people because embracing their truth meant accepting the unacceptable?
What would I say this moment in history meant to me? And what side of history was I on?
Whose History?
Children of my children,
How much do you know about our American history that led to the events of early January 2021? What have you been taught and from whose perspective? What do you know about our nation’s forefathers? Were you taught that they were among the most unlikely and extraordinary group of men to become nation-builders, and that they were nearly all white supremacists and slaveholders? That they constructed a novel democratic form of government that placed power with its citizens while vesting that power with white men only? And that they used this power granted them in our Constitution to build the nation on the ideals of liberty, freedom and equality, on the Big Lie of white supremacy, on the backs of 4 million slaves; and to steal over 80% of the land we now call America from its Indigenous People?
Were you taught by teachers who were dedicated to teaching you the true history of how this nation was built? Were you taught from the point of view of the victors, the vanquished, or both? Were they like my Black American History teacher who as required, had her classes read chapter and verse from the standard issue American history book, then with a sense of purpose and delight, would say, “That’s what they want you to know; here is what you need to know. Let’s talk about the truth.”
Did your study of American history lay bare for you, as mine had, its consistent through-line? Was it made plain to you that white male supremacy, power and privilege — starting unquestioned as a matter of fact, evolving as a matter of law, and persisting as a way of life — was not just the architect of our national aspiration for equality and democracy, but also its determined arsonist?
Let me tell you of history as I saw it, as one who lived through it then and lives with it now.
The early days of January 2021 were the most uncivil time since our 19th century Civil War. It was a moment when many were fearlessly moving our nation forward, others feared we as a nation had lost our way, and still others were determined that the way forward was back — to a nation that was no more, but at all cost must be restored. It was a moment when our sacred democracy itself came face-to-face with white supremacy and was shaken by violent insurrection to its core.
It was an example of history repeating itself. Like our first civil war, ostensibly fought over the role Black people would have in this country, this most recent uncivil time was broadly characterized as a struggle over the status of people of color in our future. But in reality, both battles were between the resurgent forces of WHITE supremacists taking a stand for one version of the American Dream and the forces of WHITE abolitionists taking a stand for another. Once again the battle lines were drawn to decide how big or small our tent of freedom, social equality and economic equity should and would be. And white folks stood eyeball-to-eyeball, ready to draw blood if necessary to defend their divergent versions of the soul of the nation. One side committed to preserving and propagating the Big Lie of white supremacy — white lives matter most — and the other determined to extinguish it with the Truth — to preserve our Union, non-white lives must matter just as much.
Historians have debated how to characterize this turning point in our history. I chose to call it Part 2 of the Third Reconstruction. Each of the three eras of Reconstruction was an extraordinary period during which our nation made a concerted effort to become a Union truer to its ideals. Our First Reconstruction began almost immediately after our nation was founded, due to the hypocrisy of white supremacy and its manifestation in institutional slavery. It resulted in the 19th century Civil War, and physical freedom and citizenship for 4 million slaves and their children, but no social equality, no reparations and no economic equity.
100 years after Emancipation, the Second Reconstruction, known also as the era of the Civil Rights Movement, ended apartheid at the ballot box and advanced social equity for people of color. Yet it still steered clear of addressing economic inequity, the fundamental tool used for maintaining white supremacy.
The Reckoning
The Third Reconstruction began building soon after the turn of the 21st century, with Part 1 taking form under the banner of Black Lives Matter, in the wake of countless killings of unarmed black men by police officers around the country. The horrendous public killing by strangulation of George Floyd by a white police officer in 2020 sparked disgust and worldwide interracial protests for months, catalyzing a national Racial Reckoning squarely focused on racial economic equity.
Part 2 began on November 3, 2020, Election Day, when the nation chose its President, the incumbent President rejected the results and then called on his followers and election officials to disqualify the votes of the citizens of color who dared to cost him his re-election. After all, he reasoned, the majority of white people had voted for him. His indignation that this was not enough knew no bounds and he summoned his followers to come to the nation’s Capitol, pay tribute to their wanna-be king, stop the so-called stealing of the election and put the nation on notice that this great experiment in democracy had gone far enough. So on the infamous day of January 6, 2021, they came. Gathered around their President, they listened to his baseless conspiracy theories, heard him incite them to march on the US Capitol where both houses of Congress were in full session to finalize the election results, and heeded his call to stop them.
The insurrection that followed was unprecedented in American history. Domestic terrorists who had long awaited the opportunity to implement their own aligned agenda seized the moment to overrun the Capitol police, seize and ransack the Capitol itself, and search for lawmakers in session with the intent of kidnapping and possibly killing some. To them their order from their commander was clear: “buy me more time so I can make America White again.”
You may well wonder, “Grandpa were you afraid?”
I was not.
Furious, yes. Outraged, more so. But mostly I was hopeful. You see, I knew this day of reckoning would come, must come. I knew that for the Third Reconstruction to fulfill its promise, Part 1 — a Racial Reckoning that would bring about economic equity — would need to have Part 2 — a Truth Reckoning that freed us from the delusions of the Big Lie and let our healing begin anew. The Big Lie would need to reveal in no uncertain terms its destructive power and danger to not just folks of color but to white folks as well. Only then would the paramount importance and power of the Truth be embraced to root out white supremacy in the name of welfare and prosperity for us all.
Hopeful because despite those dreadful chaotic days of early January 2021, I could clearly see the Truth beginning to get the upper hand. While the Big Lie made its cathartic stand to freeze time, undeniable signs of change were abundant. Our outgoing President was impeached for incitement of insurrection against the US Government. A Black and a Jew were elected Senators from Georgia, and a Black woman of South Asian descent was sworn in as our next Vice President by a Supreme Court Justice of Hispanic descent. She in turn swore in her replacement in the Senate, a Latino man. A Black four star general was confirmed by the Senate as Secretary of Defense, second in command only to our new President for all of our Armed Forces and the defense of our nation. And at the President’s Inauguration, a 22 year old Black woman took command as our poet laureate and offered a national vision in verse.
If we are to live up to our own time
Then victory won’t live in the blade
But in all the bridges we’ve made
That is the promised glade
The hill we climb
If only we dare
It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit,
it’s the past we step into
and how we repair it
We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation
rather than share it
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy
And this effort very nearly succeeded
But while democracy can be periodically delayed
it can never be permanently defeated
In this truth
in this faith we trust
For while we have our eyes on the future
history has its eyes on us
This is the era of just redemption
We feared at its inception
We did not feel prepared to be the heirs
of such a terrifying hour
but within it we found the power
to author a new chapter
To offer hope and laughter to ourselves
So while once we asked,
how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?
Now we assert
How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?
We will not march back to what was
but move to what we shall be
A country that is bruised but whole,
benevolent but bold,
fierce and free
We will not be turned around
or interrupted by intimidation
because we know our inaction and inertia
will be the inheritance of the next generation
Our blunders become their burdens
But one thing is certain:
If we merge mercy with might,
and might with right,
then love becomes our legacy
and change our children’s birthright
And so you may ask, “Grandpa, what were you doing in January 2021?”
I was following my life long passion, my calling if you will. Drawing on over a generation of venture capital experience investing exclusively in founders of color and the instruments of finance at my disposal, I had recommitted myself to working with others to make the advancement of economic equity the hallmark of the Third Reconstruction. Just in time for the our national reckonings of truth and race, my team and I had launched Reinventure Capital to invest for the benefit of a nation that works for all of us. We were pioneers, but not alone. We sought to create and build a new model of a private investment practice that did not concentrate wealth, but shared it; was not elitist but equitable; not exclusive, but inclusive. Profitable and purposeful. I had done it before; I believed we could do it again, bigger, bolder and better.”
“So grandpa, how did that work out?”, you no doubt want to know.
My friends, the rest of this story is yet to be written; time will tell. Let’s join forces to write it together. Part 2 of the Third Reconstruction needs you now. It is calling you. Answer that call today.
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