Thread by @HMAesq

Page Wallace, 1880.
Orion Anderson, 1889.
Charles Craven, 1902.

3 young black men lynched right here in Loudoun County, VA. A state that's both the birthplace of American democracy and the capital of the Confederacy.

We're having a town hall this Thursday in Sterling, VA:

Filmmaker @ava DuVernay's film @13THFilm sheds light on this shameful history: how slavery persisted after the end of the Civil War, creating a whirlpool of racial inequality that keeps communities downtrodden and defeated, to this day.

As death row attorney Bryan Stevenson notes, "It is the broken [who] understand the way justice really needs to work. It is the broken who understand why we need mercy. It is the broken [who] can show us how we make our commitment to justice actionable.”

wusa9.com/article/news/l…

Policy begins with people. We need to listen, and get uncomfortable. Entire narratives exist to comfortably insulate ourselves from injustices: "They're criminals. We have to protect ourselves. Some might be good people, but do we ever really know? Why can't they fix themselves?"

These narratives are a toxic smog that obfuscate even the best-intentioned efforts to make sure everybody has a chance to make it.

The best medicines are usually bitter. If we truly want to take our county, commonwealth, and country forward, we must heed the pleas from the past.

My job as a candidate is to provide a platform to have them. We must first know our history, and then correct how we think about it.

This isn't revisionist history: putting up Confederate statues is.

washingtonpost.com/news/postevery…

The crowds that showed up at Dulles Airport protesting the #MuslimBan 2 years ago said "No, we don't accept this."

We have the power - the duty - to not accept the status quo when our communities are hurting.

Imagine a headline years hence: "Virginia Recognized As Most Welcoming State, Sets Example for the Nation."

How do we get there?

Join President of Fairfax County @NAACP and Criminal Justice Committee Chair Kofi Annan and I this Thu as we try to start answering that question.

facebook.com/events/2931683…