I wonder where the Lumbee as a people would be in 2020 had we cowered to the fear and discomfort that came with challenging racism and discrimination in: 1988 when Julian Pierce was murdered;

the mid-1970s when double voting was the law in Robeson County and we filed a legal challenge - and won - to have the practice overturned;

1972 when we marched with members of the American Indian Movement and other Native nations to take over and ransack BIA offices in Washington, DC; 1958 when the KKK came to Maxton to put Indians in their place and we ran them out of the county;

1952 when we chose “Lumbee” as our tribal name; 1887 when we petitioned to have the forerunner to UNC Pembroke established; 1865 when the Lowrie Gang used Spencer rifles to challenge White supremacy; 1773 when a mob of Lumbee ancestors riotously assembled;

and, 18th century when Lumbee ancestors coalesced along the Lumbee River to escape colonial encroachment? What will our Lumbee descendants say about how we as a people - individually and collectively - responded at this pivotal and transformative point in Lumbee and U.S. history?