Tellthetruthonthem.com’s choice for Progressive of the Year hasn’t always been conventional or straightforward. 2021 is no exception.

One of my concerns has always been inequity. What could be a greater example of inequity than being the victim of an extrajudicial killing at the hands of the police? To this day it goes largely unpunished but the advent and proliferation of the cell phone camera is changing that at least to some degree.

On the afternoon of May 20, 2020, in broad daylight, then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd by kneeling on his neck, in front of a crowd held at bay by fellow police officers, for nearly 10 minutes. On April 20, 2021 a jury of Chauvin’s peers found him guilty of murder largely due to a video recording of the incident. On that date teenager Darnella Frazier witnessed the murder and recorded most of the incident on her cell phone. I think it is safe to say that sans that recording Chauvin would never have even been brought to trial.

I don’t know anything about Ms. Frazier’s politics. Perhaps she isn’t even a progressive. However, she did as much as anyone in America to fight racism and for equal treatment under the law in 2021. We are a long, long way from all races and economic classes being treated equally by law enforcement and the courts but her actions (she also testified in court) put us one giant step closer to achieving that goal.

She is far from a household name (and probably never will be) and the cause is still a work in progress. That all said, tellthetruthonthem.com is proud to name Darnella Frazier the 2021 Progressive of the Year.

This article was written well ahead of publishing in order to accommodate my year end hiatus and is the property of tellthetruthonthem.com. Its content may not be used without citing the source. It may not be reproduced without the permission of Larry Marciniak.