simple fact. this is the problem. lawrence, this is the whole problem from start to finish whether we re talking about blm or crazy things that are plaguing us right now. we have a whole slate a whole slew of politicians a political class who have never had to answer for themselves. they ve never been held to account by the media that are their allies. they ve never had to answer a difficult question. they ve never had to justify smflt ridiculous decisions they ve made and when covid keam along and able to shut us down and all up, then that just they just doubled down on that attitude that they don t owe us anything and that is what the black community in america has gotten from the political class for decades, lawrence. no one has given us answers that give us platitudes they give us black squares and avatars. they wear shirts that say black lives matter but they don t come to where we live and dig in, they don t bleated for us. and they don t answer to us that s the worst part an
Justus Williams (center) leads the courses for Black Squares training sessions.
When Justus Williams was about 8 years old, his mom signed him up for a chess program on a whim. Luckily for him, he was a natural. By age 12, the Bronx native became the youngest African American National Master. He’s traveled the world to compete in tournaments and received a full-ride scholarship to Webster University to play chess.
Lara Hamdan
Black Squares hosts free training weekend sessions at the Cortex Innovation Community center.
Now Williams wants to funnel that knowledge to children in St. Louis. He partnered with the Dream Builders 4 Equity nonprofit to create Black Squares. Its mission is to bring Black culture to chess by introducing the game to more Black children. Its initiatives are not limited to Black players, though; anyone with limited access to the game is welcome to participate.