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In August 2014 I lie for hours, motionless and bloodied on the ground in Center City Philadelphia before Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE statue, in silent protest of police brutality. It went viral. Overnight I became ‘the guy who always talks about race.’ Soon people wanted my opinion on every aspect of critical race theory imaginable. I had to educate myself, and quick, because what they didn’t understand is that my burning desire to react to this pressing issue didn’t come from readings in books. It came from a deep fear and disappointment in my lived experience as a Black person in this country, and I could no longer be silent. It was a long time before I found the beauty and value in my lived, Black experience. In October 2015 I was able to combine that experience with my artistic skill as an actor; writing and performing, THE BITTER GAME. This piece of theater effectively combined all that petrifies me as an actor and human; devised theater, solo performance, semi-autobiographical storytelling and yes… basketball. The sleepless nights and mounting anxiety I daily felt while sitting to put pen to paper, attempting in my own way to address such a polarizing topic as excessive police force, was paralyzing. My heart break daily for the families of the victims whom I used as source material. However, through it all, I was reminded of these two truths: for the artist, heartbreak is a rite of passage and that the thin line between art and activism must be traversed with courage.

During the summer of 1953, 168,000 acres of small grain were sprayed with 2.4-D by airplane in South Dakota. Of this amount 120,000 acres were wheat. Approximately the same number of acres were sprayed in the previous years. Several cases of damage to crops following serial application of 2.4-D have been reported. In most cases, the damage resulted from an application of an ester of 2.4-D in oil. Since very little research data concerning such applications were available, it seemed that present recommendations should be reviewed critically in order to determine if they are adapted to serial application. The purpose of this study is fourfold: first, to determine if wheat yields are lower when serial applications of 2.4-D are made than when applications are made with ground equipment; second, to compare oil and water as carriers in application of 2.4-D; third, to determine the effect of volume of carrier on spray retention by wheat and whether amount retained had any effects on the crop yield; fourth, to compare three ester formulations of 2.4-D as to effect on crops and weeds.