23
Dr. Amara Okafor had spent eight years developing a treatment for sickle cell anemia. When she submitted her results, they were“ re-examined.” A few months later, a different laboratory published similar findings. Her name did not appear anywhere. She tried to protest. She was told that she had“ misunderstood the protocols.” That it was a“ coincidence.” She knew it was theft. But who would believe her? History was repeating itself: like Garrett Morgan, Lewis Latimer, and so many Black inventors of the past, a new generation was seeing its genius plundered and its name erased. The resistance that refuses to die But on the margins, the resistance continued. Destiny— Marcus Chen’ s student— was now 25 years old. She had become a teacher. In clandestine classes, she told the true story. Sarah Washington, 77 years old and dying of cancer, still received visitors in her hospital room. Mostly young people. To whom she entrusted documents and testimonies.“ Memory is a weapon. As long as you remember, they haven’ t won everything.” Marcus Chen taught classes at his home in the evenings to small groups whose parents refused to accept the organized amnesia. One student asked him,“ Do you think we can still change things?” Marcus looked at these young faces— Black, White, Latino, Asian— united in their refusal to forget.— I don’ t know if we can change things. But I do know that we can refuse to accept them. And sometimes, that’ s enough to turn history on its head.
Flashmag! Edition 167 Decembre 2025
Epilogue: The Choice That Remains
This chronicle is not a prophecy. It is a warning. The America of 2040 that we have described does not yet exist. But all the elements are there, in motion. Project 2025 is not fiction. The rewriting of history is documented. The erasure of minority contributions is real. The question is not whether this future is possible. History has taught us that anything is possible. The question is whether we will allow it to happen.
Hubert Marlin Elingui Jr. Journaliste
23