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• 1 media/Ari.jpg 2024-02-26T16:30:09+00:00 Activism for Black Veterans and Reparations 34 Ari Sesu Merretazon part 4 image_header 139 2025-08-09T16:59:40+00:00

  Part 4

  In the final interview of the four-part interview series with Ari Susu Merretazon, he and Jason A. Higgins talk about Ari's work and advocacy in the modern day. In the full interview there are extended conservations about a failed lawsuit against the City of Philadelphia about the lack of a productive veterans services center, on the lack of acknowledgement of service for many veterans, and how Ari feels about contemporary issues like statue removal and COVID-19, among others. On this page are five excerpts from the full-length interview, which can be viewed in it's entirety at the bottom of this page.

  Advocacy for Incarcerated Veterans

  During Merretazon's incarceration, people from President Jimmy Carter's administration got in contact with him, which eventually led to him meeting Jimmy Carter in the White House. This clip explores how Merretazon organized incarcerated veterans at Lorton Reformatory, a federal penitentiary outside of Washington D.C. and the legacies of that advocacy in the criminal justice system today.
   
  

  "And the individual veterans themselves who happened to be in prison now and they finally got some resources they can do something with once they returned. And so I think it was Bill Lawson outta President Carter's office that really understood the moment, and that's what happened."

  Acknowledgement 50 Years Later

  Ari was part of a recognition for his service in Vietnam, 50 years after the fact. However he still has some qualms about how American society treats veterans after they come home. This clip explores the difference in how dead veterans and alive veterans are commemorated and what should done to give the veterans the proper credit and respect for their service.
  

  "You got to maybe acknowledge your veterans and you acknowledge them just because they survived and they fought this war."

  
  When Ari arrived back in the United States from his time in Vietnam in 1968, the services he had available to him were exteremlely limited. I this clip, he speaks on what he felt should have been available to him at the time, and how veterans should not be forced to advocate for social services in order to get them.
  

  "They need a very strong outreach program that acknowledge veterans and their families and dependents, and they, they need to acknowledge them without having a veteran, having an advocate."

  Commemorating Veterans - Not Wars

  When it comes to how public officials treat Vietnam war veterans specifically, Ari is quick to mention how while parades and celebrations and commemorations are fun, they don't really solve the issue. To him, those events showcase a bare minimum on the public officials to acknowledge the existence of veterans without actually helping them through social services.
  

  "I support those types of ceremonial things, but I do not initiate any of that because that's not the most important thing for me. That's for the elected officials who want to put a field and must show public they're doing something."

  10 Year Fight for Veterans in Philadelphia

  "I want to go back to the 10-year struggle we had with veterans here in the city of Philadelphia. When I was looking for my war buddy Bobby Williams, who's in the same squad with me from Philadelphia, I couldn't find him. According to the law, the county of Philadelphia was required to have a veteran grave registration record where you find the names of veterans who had died and the funeral home and church where they may have funeralized at. Come to find out, Philadelphia never had one, and law was on books since 1939. Well, it's a major piece, man. We engaged them. When I say we, I'm talking about Pointmans Soldiers Heart Ministry, where James Abraham was the founding president, and I served as his Chief of Staff. We engage the city of Philadelphia based on the history we became aware of, that's Philadelphia is the only county out of 67 counties without, never had a Office of Veterans Affairs or a Director of Veterans Affairs.
  
  The politics of the city, they fought it as opposed instead of just say okay. Predecessor didn't do anything with the law. We go and do some now that you brought it to our attention, and it was able to get a public hearing on that. We testified to the fact that the city was not practicing the law as required in respect to Veterans Affairs. First thing, having a Veterans Affairs office, having a Director of Veterans Affairs, they never was one of those types. We had a Veterans Advisory Commission. Nothing but politics because at some point during the Veteran's holiday, the city would be very embarrassed not to have anything in place for veterans. So they set up, the president Daryl Clark, set up this thing called the Veterans Advisory Commission under his office. He's not a veteran. It's under his office. He kept everything very tight in his office, and we found out about it, and we just shook it loose.
  
  We filed a lawsuit. We went on appeal, and they had to establish an office of Veterans Affairs with a Director of Veterans Affairs. They did so shortly after we won the lawsuit. But since that time, now there's no longer a Director of Veterans Affairs in the city of Philadelphia. Right now, the Veterans Affairs is only identified by the name on the front of the door. As it stands now that since the last military veteran left, there's no one in their office that's been trained in terms of veterans affairs. I decided to look at what I'm going to do. I can't live my life chasing these folks. I don't have the resources to do that. Let me make that part of my book. That's what I'm doing now. I had to tell the story. I got all the facts, I got to receipts, I got the court case. I’m going to tell it."

  
  The Black Veterans Project and Reparations

  Around the time this interview was conducted, the Black Veterans Project was in the midst of a legal battle to obtain reparations and have the federal government acknowledge what they had done in the past against people of color. Ari Sesu Merretazon and Jason Higgins discuss this legal fight and speak on why it's still relevant in the modern day.

  "Reparations for Black veterans is clear to me the level of sacrifice that we made. I would join any organization who will put forth Black veterans as part of their reparation process."

  Thoughts on American War

  "I don’t support war period today. I was 19 when I participate in it. Pretty much forced to go, you know? That ordeal, unlike Muhammad Ali, because I got a big picture on my wall of him, I didn't have the resources to do that, and as many many others of us didn't have the resources. We had do is accept the draft or go to jail. Most of us did probably the right thing at that time for us. Go into your term of military service, and I did honorably and with distinction and decorations.
  
  Jason Higgins: In the past, particularly before Vietnam, Black people saw the military service as a path toward equality racial equality in the United States today. Has that changed in your mind? 
  
  Ari Sesu Merretazon: No, it's still there, the avenue. Parents want the best for their children. They see a great opportunity to get a child experienced in life and go out and make them do something for themselves, and it seems that the military is a good way to go. I agree because we don't have those types of structures in our communities per se, in our specific community. If you live in a country, you pay in taxes, you have some obligations as a citizen, and one for any man or woman now, over 18, is the military you have option to do it. If you call upon, you must go, and you must report as the letter will say."

  
  Full Interview Part 4