David West: Warrior for knowledge of an uncomfortable history

How did we get here?

It is a question many people ask, but one that few seem to have the inner fortitude to answer. It takes grit and guts to not only face the brutal truth of this country’s founding, but to seek this knowledge out.

David West, an off-the-bench forward for the Golden State Warriors, is a self-educated expert on the African diaspora. For decades, he has been asking important questions about the history of people from African descent — those whose ancestry traces back to the continent of Africa. Through research and reading, he has sought answers independently and critically examined his findings.

West has not recoiled in fear or cowardice from the questions how and why — the…