Unquiet Liberty

There’s power in what we allow ourselves and others to say—and not to say.

On to Liberty by Theodore Kaufmann, 1867 (public domain - Wikimedia Commons)

“I prefer liberty with unquiet to slavery with quiet.” — Sallust, c. 35 BC

When I was growing up, I never heard of Juneteenth. Odds are, you didn’t either.

In recent years it has become more commonly recognized — until it was finally named a federal holiday. The muted struggles of generations of enslaved people are being widely talked about.

It wasn’t until I saw Watchmen on HBO that I learned of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. The opening scene laid out the horrific events in such grisly detail that I wondered if it was pure fiction.