We are all responsible for what happens next, as we reflect on the American experiment in democracy and the historical brutality and denial that has been woven into it.  Are we willing to redeem the promises of our founding vision, even at the cost of comfort, in this moment of critical opportunity?  Rev. Kendyl Gibbons, minister of All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church in Kansas City, MO considers some classic texts from black writers reflecting on being American.