Colin Powell & General Charles Brown Jr.

How did we get here?

The easy answer to the above question is — well, this is America, right?

But in 1995–96, the late General Colin Powell, one of the country’s most loyal and famous public servants, was considering a run for President. Powell had spent his life in the military and education and was well respected across the country. Republicans were salivating, and Powell, who began wearing a suit instead of a uniform on television appearances, looked like he was going to be the country’s first Black President.

Powell ultimately balked. He said he did not want to put his wife through it all. He would eventually become Secretary of State under George W. Bush, and his testimony famously justified the awful war in Iraq. Many Americans said they didn’t trust President Bush but trusted Colin Powell.

Powell had a storied career as the head of NSA and also served as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the first Black General to hold such a post. Powell was so famous and celebrated people forgot his job was the military part of America’s imperial domination and killing people by the thousands. He was loyal, intelligent, and confident. He was what America was about.

No matter what, if Powell were here today I am sure he would be outraged by the firing of…