413Hope

Some honors feel bigger than the moment. (businesswest.com/blog/spring…) I am deeply humbled to have been selected as the 2026 recipient of the Springfield Museums’ prestigious Ubora Award. Ubora is the Swahili word for “excellence,” and this award has been presented annually since 1992 to recognize extraordinary commitment to the Greater Springfield community through service, education, the humanities, the arts, and other fields. BusinessWest described me as a faith leader, civil rights advocate, and community activist whose decades of service have advanced justice, equity, and spiritual leadership throughout Massachusetts and beyond. I receive those words with tremendous gratitude, because the work has never been about recognition, it has always been about the people, the struggle, and the responsibility to leave our community better than we found it. This honor carries even deeper meaning because I now follow in the footsteps of my beloved uncle, Benjamin Swan, who received the Ubora Award in 2017. Uncle Ben was a giant in the civil rights movement of Western Massachusetts, a former president of the Greater Springfield NAACP, a state representative, and a lifelong servant of our community. To walk behind him in civil rights leadership, public service, and now as an Ubora recipient is profoundly humbling. I am grateful for my parents, Fred and DeLois Swan, who planted the seeds of faith, service, dignity, and justice in me; for my wife, Cynthia, my children, siblings, family, church family, colleagues, and the countless people who have stood with me through the years. I also congratulate Solara Abdelrahman, recipient of the 2026 Ahadi Youth Award. The Springfield Museums will formally present the awards on September 19. I accept this honor with gratitude, but also with the understanding that excellence is not a destination. It is a responsibility. The work continues. #UboraAward #SpringfieldMA #CivilRights #FaithAndJustice #BlackExcellence

We’re still falling for Willie Lynch tactics! xitter.cf/i/spaces/1DxLdvVWvjzxm

The federal arrest of journalist Don Lemon, despite a judge previously rejecting charges, is a chilling assault on the First Amendment and press freedom. This administration, and the criminal, racist, rapist, President driving it, are weaponizing law enforcement to silence dissent and punish journalists who hold power accountable. America has devolved into complete authoritarianism when speaking or reporting the truth becomes a crime.

A white man murdered a white man at one of the whitest colleges in America in one of the whitest states in the nation, but y’all mad at Black people? Make it make sense.

Y’all demonized, denigrated, disparaged, ridiculed, celebrated, and justified the murders of… Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Botham Jean, Philando Castile, Sandra Bland, Jordan Neely, Atatiana Jefferson, Stephon Clark, Freddie Gray, Alton Sterling, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Walter Scott, and hundreds of other Black people …under the guise of ‘free speech.’ But are threatening to fire, prosecute, harm, and even kill those who speak the truth about Charlie Kirk’s hatred and bigotry. Make it make sense. sayevery.name

The only thing #CharlieKirk and #MLK have in common is that they were both killed by a white man.

Stop telling Black people that we’re taking it ‘out of context’ when white people like Charlie Kirk call us unintelligent, inherently criminal, violent, lazy, and irresponsible. We know a racist when we hear one.

The bitter irony is staggering. Clarence Thomas, the Black man who replaced Thurgood Marshall — the civil rights giant whose legal brilliance helped lay the groundwork for the Voting Rights Act and who, as U.S. Solicitor General, argued for its constitutionality — could now be one of the deciding votes to dismantle it. Marshall fought to expand democracy; Thomas has spent his career shrinking it. To betray the legacy of the man whose seat you occupy, and the people whose struggle made your rise possible, is more than hypocrisy — it’s historical treason.