By Vincent L. Hall
Photo: Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Republican icon Liz Cheney cast her lot with VP Kamala Harris as she runs against Donald J. Trump, and people began to question her. It was a Sankofa moment for me though.
When I went to get a Google definition of the famed African Sankofa bird AI spat this one out. Here is what Sankofa looks like to AI technology.
“The Sankofa bird is a mythical bird that symbolizes the Akan people’s belief that the past guides the future. The Bono Adinkra symbol depicts the bird as having its head turned backward while its feet face forward and carrying an egg in its mouth.
The word Sankofa comes from the Twi language of Ghana and literally means “to retrieve” or “to go back and get it”. The symbol is associated with the proverb, “Se wo were fi na wosankofa a yenkyi,” which translates to, “It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten”.”
From time to time, I revisit television classics to spur thought and to draw parallels. Unfortunately, we are about as backward and awkward as “one nation under god” could be. And for the record, I only capitalize God when referencing my God. I don’t know the “god” of MAGA, Trump, or the White Evangelical churchgoers that support Trump’s movement.
During a recent binge of Perry Mason, the 1950s classic, I found the last words in an episode called “The Case of the Impatient Partner.” Perry quotes Judge Learned Hand. Judge Hand well known among jurists and legal experts.
President Franklin Roosevelt snubbed Judge Hand as he sought to be appointed to the Supreme Court. There are many theories as to why Roosevelt didn’t appreciate Hand’s take on the law, but a few of Hand’s quotes could make any president leery. If you look back to the Great Depression and what Roosevelt was facing, there are two quotes he could have found troubling. Judge Hand once said, “Anyone may arrange his affairs so that his taxes shall be as low as possible.” Not something you want to hear from a federal judge during The Great Depression.
He irked scores of members in Congress with a quote in his opinion written to vindicate a taxpayer. “In America, there are two tax systems: one for the informed and one for the uninformed. Both are legal.” He wasn’t lying, but lawmakers don’t want everyone to know it!
Hand was as judge by day and philosopher by night. He was unhinged, unpredictable, and, in many cases, downright esoteric. However, anyone who studies his opinions concludes that he was a justifiably unorthodox thinker and sophist.
Hand offered an opinion in one case that caught the eye of writers from the Perry Mason show. Mason used Hand’s analogy during that patented legal briefing that came at the end of every episode.
“I have faith in the eventual supremacy of reason.” Damn!
As we gaze over the American landscape that has re- sorted to reliving some of its most vile forms of hatred and discrimination, we must keep faith in the eventual supremacy of reason.
As we remain mired in the worst political climate since those of the mid-1800s that produced the Civil War, Americans must cling to the notion that faith in the eventual supremacy in reason is not far-fetched.
As we watch “bombs bursting in air” and the lives of the most oppressed people in the Middle East being salvaged to assuage the fears of the most powerful in the region, we must believe that the eventual supremacy of reason will prevail.
Real talk. Serious business. What we see now in America and globally makes no sense. But if we look at the social and military uprisings of the past, we have no option other than to believe in the eventual supremacy of reason.
The possibility of re-electing Trump, the most damaging chaos agent in American history, makes no sense. But thank God that Liz Cheney and a few real patriots like her are willing to sacrifice power and position to manifest the eventual supremacy of reason. Her Sankofa Bird moment produced a decision based on reason!
A long-time Texas Metro News columnist, Dallas native Vincent L. Hall is an author, writer, award-winning writer, and a lifelong Drapetomaniac.
