Skip to content
Project 2025
Search

Latest Stories

Follow Us:
Top Stories
Supreme Court

The Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act Decision Will Fuel the “Disuniting” of the United States and the Unraveling of American Democracy

Trump’s Denaturalization Push and the Erosion of Legal Immigration

Trump’s Denaturalization Push and the Erosion of Legal Immigration

Some MAGA loyalists have turned on Trump. Why the rest haven’t

Some MAGA loyalists have turned on Trump. Why the rest haven’t

Judicial Courage?

Judicial Courage?

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell sitting with his hands folded in front of him.

Why the Decision Not to Prosecute Jerome Powell Damages Democracy

What is an American Hero?

What is an American Hero?

Statue of Liberty


Grant Faint/Getty Images
The Fulcrum
By The FulcrumSep 20, 2021
The Fulcrum
The Fulcrum staff.
See More Writings by author

What is an American Hero? Sometimes American Heroes are famous people. However, not all famous people are heroes.

As we recently honored the 20th anniversary of 9/11, let us celebrate American heroes. These American heroes are ones that we may not know the names of; the first responders, victims, and their families.

September 11th is forever etched in the souls of those of us who witnessed the event.

Ten days after September 11th, Enrique Iglesias performed 'Hero' for the 'America: A Tribute to Heroes'telecast on Sept. 21, 2001. It is a profoundly moving rendition of a beautiful song.

The Fulcrum will be exploring American Heroes in greater depth in the coming months. Who is your American hero? What does the term American hero mean to you? What are the characteristics of a hero that you admire and aspire to? We would love to hear from you.

Please feel free to share your thoughts via email to: pop-culture@fulcrum.us

.


Latest news

Our Nation’s Teachers: Appreciated in Name, Dishonored in Practice
Education

Our Nation’s Teachers: Appreciated in Name, Dishonored in Practice

Audience members listen as U.S. President Donald Trump.
Ethics & Leadership

Heil Trump!

Oregon Pioneered Vote-by-Mail. Its Ballot Access Laws Are Still in the Covered Wagon Era.
Elections

Oregon Pioneered Vote-by-Mail. Its Ballot Access Laws Are Still in the Covered Wagon Era.

Read More

​Wind farm construction.

Wind farm construction means jobs and locally produced power.

AP Photo/Michael Dwyer

Why Trump’s $2 Billion Buyoff To Cancel Offshore Wind Farms Is a Bad Deal for American Taxpayers and the US Energy Supply

The U.S. is in a bizarre situation in 2026: It’s facing a looming energy shortage, yet the Trump administration is making deals to pay offshore wind developers nearly US$2 billion in taxpayer money to walk away from energy projects.

These politically motivated moves are costing Americans far more than just the buyouts.

Keep ReadingShow less
I’m Not Optimistic About America at 250. I’m Still Hopeful.
closeup photo of United States of America flag
Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash

I’m Not Optimistic About America at 250. I’m Still Hopeful.

I grew up in a place called Freedom.

Freedom, Pennsylvania, to be exact. In the borough of Economy. My high school is in a town named after the American Bridge Company. The son of an Army veteran and a nurse. A literal white picket fence. Family of five. A dog. The American Dream by many measures.

Keep ReadingShow less
Trump Is Protecting Insurrectionists But Not Your Kids

An analysis of gun violence, political extremism, Islamophobia, and community resilience in America after the San Diego Islamic Center shooting.

GemaIbarra / Getty Images

Trump Is Protecting Insurrectionists But Not Your Kids

Last Monday, two teenage gunmen opened fire outside the Islamic Center of San Diego, murdering three Muslim men. Unfortunately, this is the type of horror Americans have been conditioned to expect. After years of political stagnation on gun safety and ongoing hateful acts of violence, our president has signaled once again to children, to the Muslim community, and to everyone else: he does not care if you get shot.

Gun violence has been on the rise in the United States for too long. Perhaps the most harrowing consequence is that gun violence is now the leading cause of death among children. Whether from school shootings, homicides, suicides, or accidents, the gun-death rate for children is nearly five in every 100,000. In fact, the number of domestic deaths due to gun violence is about as many as U.S. military deaths in every war since World War I combined. More children have been lost to gun violence since 2020 than troops lost since 9/11. Yet even with such a striking death toll—and one affecting children no less—happening on our own soil, Vice President J.D. Vance calls it a “fact of life.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Focused athlete performing lateral raises with dumbbells, building shoulder muscles in a modern fitness center

This Mental Health Awareness Month essay explores Black masculinity, emotional wellness, HYROX training, therapy, and healing through movement.

zamrznutitonovi / Getty Images

Mental Strength Is More Than Toughness

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, but awareness alone cannot save us. Men of color are already painfully aware that something is wrong. We feel it in our sleeplessness. In our blood pressure. In the marriages that strain under emotional distance. In the fathers who never learned how to say “I’m not okay.” In the sons trying to inherit manhood from men who never permitted tenderness.

The crisis is not merely psychological. It is cultural, historical, spiritual, and physiological all at once. African Americans, particularly men, occupy one of the most paradoxical spaces in American life. We are hyper-visible in sports and entertainment. We are present in politics and public discourse. Yet we are emotionally invisible in matters of vulnerability, grief, anxiety, and depression. We are celebrated for resilience, but denied rest. Our toughness is admirable, while we are punished for transparency.

Keep ReadingShow less
© Copyright 2026