As we confront the news of Sean "Diddy" Combs' arrest on charges of sex trafficking by the US government last night, we cannot ignore the larger, dire systemic issue facing African Americans today. In the United States today, there are more African Americans in some phase of the penal system—whether incarcerated, on probation, or on parole—than were enslaved in that country 150 years ago (this does not include the millions more who were formerly in the system and still dealing with the collateral consequences, in some instances decades after “release”). This stark reality, we believe, must be addressed despite the temptation to get myopically focused on the details of each case that may be public fodder for the day. We wrestle not against personas and individuals, flesh and blood, but against systems and diabolical agendas at the highest levels of power.