Dear Dean Magazine: September 2023

F E A T U R E D S P O T L I G H T
AMERICA NEEDS
THERAPY
by Myron J. Clifton
America is perpetually stuck with ourselves. A nation
treading water unable to move forward with baggage filled
with old battles, contested victories, and enough doubt to
keep the nation mired in its self-made hell for many more
generations.
be satisfied, and women are waiting for the right to
control their bodies and to have access to safe
abortions.
A nation that has never allowed itself to self-interrogate its
role in the near genocide of the millions of indigenous
habitants or the centuries long multigenerational chattel
slavery is a nation mired in denial and draped in unresolved
issues.
America needs therapy, and fast.
Therapy that starts with America listening. And then
listening some more. America has spoken and said too much
of nothing while refusing to listen to learn, listen to
understand, and listen to empathize.
Black people are still waiting for equal access to vote.
Children are still waiting for free lunches, heat and air
conditioning in schools, and current books in school
libraries.
We are still fighting for safe and effective maternal care
for Black women, and we are waiting for the city of
Washington, D.C., and island nation of Puerto Rico to
have equal status under all laws that govern all other
states.
And of course listen to make real and lasting change.
The nation refuses to listen and that contributes to the same
issues being fought generation after generation.
We’re still fighting for the nation to acknowledge the lasting
impact of chattel enslavement and to make any amends. We
are waiting for restitution to Black farmers and reparations
for Black people. Indigenous folk are waiting for treaties to
We are still fighting book bans, rampant Nazism, and
against uncontrolled and unregulated corporations and
robber barons. We are fighting for union membership,
equal pay between men and women, and especially
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2023 | p.26