Stand for something or fall for anything. I'm hurt to say that's where @jaytatum0 has reached, robot. I got like 7 pairs of tatums 1-3's. And that's enough. 4s were trash. 5s are ass. Still #BleedGreen โ๏ธ
This may be the image that defines America's 250th birthday.
A woman sits calmly on a Washington Metro train as masked members of the white nationalist and domestic terrorist group Patriot Front surround her.
They covered their faces.
She didn't.
Earlier in the day, Patriot Front marched through the nation's capital carrying Confederate flags and chanting that America must be "reclaimed," the latest expression of a white nationalist movement that has grown increasingly visible, violent, emboldened, and politically influential in recent years.
Their ideology is explicit.
Their courage, apparently, is not.
Not one of them was willing to show his face.
And then there is her.
No mask. No uniform. No fear.
Just an American woman refusing to surrender an inch of her dignity to a group of men who appeared to be seeking exactly that.
The symbolism is almost too perfect.
250 years after the Declaration of Independence, and six decades after Americans marched and died to make its promises apply to everyone, a group of masked white nationalists rode the socialist Metro home in anonymity.
The woman they tried to intimidate is the one America will remember.
The people who hide their faces do not define this country.
The people who refuse to be afraid do.
A consistent theme from Jaylenโs comments tonight has been his connection to the city of Boston. It wasnโt just superficial. There are few players in the NBA who have invested so deeply into socioeconomic change in the way he has. He has gone way beyond giving money or even time. He took on the mission of evolving Boston and making it a more equitable place for minorities. So much of what he did in his new home served a bigger purpose. You could see it in how much time he dedicated to talking with kids when he put events together, or how he held meetings quietly behind closed doors with people in positions of power to advocate for policy change. Like, look at what he did with his extension signing at his Bridge program, or his sneaker unveiling at the museum of science that featured a panel on science education with Bill Nye. Him getting traded has a much bigger effect on the city than just losing a beloved player. Iโve been back in Boston this week and seeing so many people I know in the political and creative space be devastated by this trade because they valued him as much as a leader in the community as an athlete. And thatโs why the character assassination stuff he called out on his stream was so prescient. Iโve seen him constantly put himself in rooms where it was clear his intent was to grow and to share, not to be the smartest person there. I remember when he spoke on the education system at MIT when he first got to Boston, struggled to get his presentation out cleanly, then kept improving and growing as a thought leader from there. From the beginning, he put himself out there trying to implement change in the community and he built a legacy few athletes have. Itโs honestly the first thing I think of when I think about his time in Boston.