Apex Ascend Episode 7 - The Knife Is Still There

Apex Ascend

Subtitle: From Medical Exploitation to Historical Revisionism, Why America Still Resists Equity

In this episode, Rodney LaBruce continues building the case for reparations for African American descendants of slaves.
Through stories of unconsented medical experimentation, historic backlash against Black advancement, and the slow, stubborn pace of cultural change, Rodney exposes a pattern: America’s deepest wounds have not healed — because many refuse to even admit the knife is still there.

We confront the painful legacy of figures like J. Marion Sims, the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, and the medical abuse of children in the 1990s.
We unpack how progress for Black Americans has historically been met with fierce resistance — from the Black Codes to mass incarceration.
And we challenge the whitewashed myths we learned as children, from the Alamo to the Civil War.

This isn’t just about the past.
It’s about the living systems that still demand truth, accountability, and real repair.

If change takes three to five generations, we are the third.
This is our shot.

Topics Covered:

• The exploitation of Black bodies in American medical history
• Fear-driven backlash against minority progress
• The long cultural delay between legal change and real justice
• The hidden truth behind the Texas Revolution and "Remember the Alamo"
• Why reparations are about more than money — they’re about dignity and healing

Quote to Carry With You:

“The progress is healing the wound that the blow made. And they haven't even pulled the knife out, much less healed the wound. They won't even admit the knife is there.” — Malcolm X