A modest proposal for a Black Lysistrata

The Naomi Osaka French Open controversy has led me to think of an idea that albeit not original might well be constructive in this time of “racial reckoning.”

As America seems on the one hand resistant to fairness while some are willing to come to terms with its deeply flawed history of racist atrocity and enduring willingness to imbibe Black cultural achievements in the arts, athletics, and moral economic needs of the Nation, what would happen if there was a Black Lysistrata?

What would happen if LeBron and Kevin Durant chose to not play? Or if the poets of rap and hip-hop were suddenly silent; and Chappelle and Chris Rock walked off the stage?

Would America and Americans come to grips with the reality of their selective approach to democracy? Would voting rights be restored and policing be reformed? Would reparations be freely paid to the victims of Tulsa? Or Wilmington?

Would the Black Lysistrata at least be a time to pause and realize the reality of Martin King’s overlooked words: that we “are tied in a single garment of destiny?”

Perhaps, it will happen at a moment or a time no one expects when someone says simply: I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.

-Albert Turner Goins