The criminalization of Black hair starts early, and sadly the sports arena is no exception.

Juneteenth can no longer stand in the shadows of America’s celebration of independence, but highlights how it is inextricably linked to America’s core values of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all.

Over the weekend, the second annual Trans Resistance March and Rally took place. Noticeably missing, guiding and participating in the march from Nubian Square in Roxbury to the Franklin Park Playstead was the presence of police and law enforcement.

The struggle for Black Tulsan survivors and their descendants to receive reparations has been a century-old controversy, one that is a pox on this country’s unwillingness to redress the human rights violation and generational loss of accumulated wealth.

Recent demonstrations by some white women in Portland, Oregon – hypothetically done in the name of protesting for racial justice – have made clear that they are not listening or collaborating with their Black women neighbors. 

Civil rights icon U.S. Rep. John Lewis, who died Friday of pancreatic cancer, spent his life advocating for equal access to the ballot for all Americans. To honor him, we must guarantee – and take part in – a participatory democracy.

What does this year’s Fourth of July mean to Black America? The same question was asked July 5, 1852, by Frederick Douglass in his speech, “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” He referred to an “immeasurable distance” between black and white America still revealed in every metric in society.

Boston Pride just included two programs aimed at LGBTQ people of color – Black Pride and Latinx Pride. But more must be done. These communities will not hold their breath, though, especially the black trans community.

Trans activism, though not addressed enough, has taken place in both Catholic and Protestant churches and synagogues statewide, and one message they can share is that there are trans-affirming stories in the Bible.

Our devouring of dystopian books such as “The Handmaid’s Tale” is a search for answers to a frightening new normal – and so is the steady stream of queries about the afterlife coming ministers’ way in the era of President Donald Trump.