It’s hard to forget the Confederate General, Robert E. Lee. His name and likeness are ubiquitous, particularly in the South. Many recall the popular 1980s TV action-comedy where The Dukes of Hazzard tore up the Georgia countryside in a car called the General Lee. Lee has been honored with statues, monuments, busts, stamps and coins. Many parks, roads, schools, and universities bear the Lee name. Eight states have a Lee County. The Confederate Memorial Carving in Georgia depicts Lee, along with Jefferson Davis and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, as heroes of the Confederacy.

These Confederate symbols meant something quite different from ‘heroism’ for Zyahna Bryant, a young African American woman who, at age 15, organized a petition to remove the statue of Robert E. Lee on his horse in Charlottesville for its divisive, racist implications.

Learn more about Bryant’s quest in this TRUTH TELLERS preview, below.

We are as deeply divided as a nation today as we were in Lee’s time. But if there’s a silver lining in the coronavirus pandemic, it’s in reminding us of our common ground. Together, we are witnessing the collective challenge of remaining safe, solvent and sane in the face of isolation and joblessness. Together, we are calling for the truth about the pandemic as we build a more resilient society to end inequality, a threatening ecological disaster and to support freedom and justice for all .

Stay well, stay safe.