Requiem for a Black American Soldier

By Sam Heys The young man’s dignity and strength still shine through. His calm and confident manner, his kind smile, his flawless features. In his prime, he stares at us from out of the past—his past, our past—with eyes that are confident, yet warm, comfortable with...

Book Review: ‘A Uniquely American Story’

By Jim Barber (Barber is author of the 2019 novel Plowed Fields, a story of life in the rural South in the 1960s.) December 31, 2020 It’s been a hard, harsh year in America. Seems like literally everyone has found a reason to feel put upon and the idea of sacrificing...

Roscoe Nance integrated southern press boxes

I have written often about brave young black Americans I never knew who integrated southern college athletics and made us all better. Today, I write about a brave young black American I knew well who helped integrate southern press boxes. His name was Roscoe Nance. I...

Retire jersey of Ronnie Hogue, hero of integration

Ronnie Hogue’s death this month reminds us of both how far we have come and how much we’d rather not look back on where we’ve been. A half-century ago, Hogue was playing basketball as the first African American on a full athletic scholarship at the University of...

Harvard Club Book Review: Few Willing To Face Down Evil

The following book review of Remember Henry Harris was published this month in “Veritas in Alabama,” a newsletter of the Harvard Club of Birmingham. It is written by Charlie Marlin, Harvard Class of 1972. By Charlie Marlin, AB 1972 People who were late adolescents or...

Alabama Public Radio Commentary

Alabama Public Radio aired a poignant commentary today on the life and sacrifice of Henry Harris — and how he has been forgotten in his home state of Alabama. Written by program director Brittany Young and with audio by Dr. Robin Boylorn, the commentary concludes that...