PRESIDENT'S PEN
I was born nine years after the signing of the Civil Rights Act. Six years before I was born the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that laws criminalizing interracial marriage were unconstitutional. Had I been born a decade earlier, my birth, while not necessarily a crime in itself, would have definitely been evidence that a crime had occurred.
Fifty years later, I have the privilege and the great honor of sitting at a table the second Saturday of every month with people that were born ten, twenty, even thirty years before me and have been through IT. I do mean IT in capital letters. Yet through their individual and collective struggles they have dedicated their lives to service. Either service to nation, a service to community, or a service to God and most cases various combinations of the three. But most importantly there is an overlying dedication to service to each other.
That dedication to service is the legacy and history of the Buffalo Soldier. Because it is the history of the Buffalo Soldier, it is the history of the African American, and because the history of the African American is so intertwined with this country it is the history of all America and her citizens. Even if there is not a shared struggle there is most definitely this shared history, which is why it is so important that this history is shared and remembered by every person and patriot, soldier and civilian, black and white, old and young, whoever can be reached and will take the time to listen.
It is with this sentiment that the Executive Board has decided that the theme for this year is ‘expansion’. We want to expand our relationships with other organizations. We want to expand the amount of donations and other finances we are able to take in. We want to expand our educational efforts and impact. We want to expand our communication and transparency. And, it must be said, that in order to accomplish these goals, we have to expand our membership and cooperation with volunteers. So, we have to expand our brand and our presence in the community. Along those lines I would implore all of those troopers that can make it to the Juneteenth Celebration on June 15 to do so.
The legacy of the Buffalo Soldier is a voice that is getting quieter with age, we know this to be true by the types of questions that we get even from those that are college educated. It is a voice that has been muffled by time, recent historical suppression and revisionism, or even a widespread systematic denial. We, however, have the ability, and moreover the obligation, to give volume to that voice so that it is heard and remembered.
Thank all of you for all you have done, all you are doing, and all you still have plans to do.
Lee O. Easter, III
President
Greater Southern Arizona Area Chapter