The recent federal indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center has sent shockwaves through the legal community, civil rights organizations, and advocates for democracy across the country. The Department of Justice under the second Trump administration has accused the SPLC of fraud, money laundering conspiracy, and making false statements related to an informant program the organization used to monitor violent extremist groups.

There are pivotal moments in history when an individual’s life transcends the ordinary, igniting a spark for transformation and inspiring generations that follow. One such figure is Crispus Attucks, a courageous man of African and Native American heritage, who stood resolutely at the epicenter of a confrontation between colonists yearning for independence and British soldiers on that fateful evening of March 5, 1770, in Boston.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a preacher turned movement-builder, whose life’s work consistently challenged America to confront the pervasive injustices that existed within its borders. While simultaneously calling upon Black America to recognize and harness its own power, in the struggle against systemic oppression.