“This is the type of story that should start journalists salivating: a brutal murder; an unsolved mystery begging for investigation; evidence destruction by corrupt government officials; villains begging for righteous condemnation; and the sick irony of a black teenager shot in the back by people who had allegedly gathered in defense of black life.” Thus writes Jonathan Ireland of the 2020 slaying of Antonio Mays, Jr. in Seattle’s Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone. But like so much criminality that summer, it went effectively unreported. This total failure of American institutions should not be forgotten, and Ireland wrote the definitive account for the latest issue of the magazine.

In 2006, Kevin Roberts, now president of the Heritage Foundation, founded John Paul the Great Academy in Lafayette, Louisiana. Roberts recently returned to his thriving brainchild to deliver the 16th annual Veritas Lecture. He was kind enough to share his remarks with TAC. They are a stirring meditation on localism, patriotism, and Christian faithfulness, leavened with Eliot, Lewis, Senior, and Buchanan. “So it is precisely these patrimonies—Acadian, Catholic, and American—that John Paul the Great Academy nurtures … pulling into the present-day timeless principles of long-ago ages, and forging a path for the future, with its formation and cultivation of the young people in its care.”

The coronation of King Charles III is tomorrow. We got rid of the monarchy long ago, but Americans remain fascinated by the crown over the pond. Managing Editor Jude Russo is generally disposed against caring about what other countries get up to, but even he admits the kingdom that gave us our law and language stands somewhat apart. “We Americans are in some way lucky that our reges are still living and ruling elsewhere, so we can appreciate both the continuous foundations they gave us and the libertatem we currently enjoy, decaying as it is. So let the British have their kings.”

Best,
Micah Meadowcroft
Web Editor

Desmond Tutu: Truth and Reconciliation

Bradley Devlin