Captain America Sam Wilson Sides With Black Lives Matter

It's no secret that turmoil has been building up across the country over the past few years, even more so within the past few months. Even though many people decide to shy away when it comes to discussing the often uncomfortable troubles we face in society every day. Several creators at Marvel have taken the chance to address the issues we facing each and every day whether tackling a water crisis on Native American lands or coming to the aid of women trying to further their studies in the Middle East in the face of oppression from their male counterparts.

That all took a step up when writer Nick Spencer and artist Daniel Acuna came out with Captain America: Sam Wilson #18. Hitting store shelves last week, the issue starts off with Rage, an African-American superhero, getting arrested and brutally beaten by the local police force for allegedly robbing a pawn shop.

When Sam approaches Rage in his jail cell, he finds the latter severely beaten and bruised by the Americops, a private contractor hired to police cities. Although Rage let anger get the best of him previously in issue #11 after getting into a fistfight as he witnessed Americops getting violent with peaceful protestors, Rage tells a story about how he was walking home and saw two powered humans had broken into the pawn shop and were in the process of robbing it. One of the powered people was a speedster and the other was one much stronger so much he was able to overpower and knock Rage out. Rage didn't awake until the police arrived — Sam believed the story and insisted on helping prove his innocence.

After an extremely experimental scientific procedure that let Sam, formerly known as The Falcon, psychically connect with the birds of New York City, he was able to go back and see evidence of who broke into the pawn shop. While the video evidence matches the story Rage laid out before him at the jail, Sam is hesitant to release the footage to the public due to the recourse he'd face as the already-unpopular replacement of Steve Rogers.

Through his detective work and consulting with various friends, including Rogers himself, Sam ultimately decides to release the video by broadcasting it on the web for the world to see.

When I was younger, a person once told me that the definition of integrity was doing the right thing when nobody was watching and Sam Wilson did just that. Although his superhero ratings were in the toilet as much of the country already thought of him as an imitation of the real Captain America, Sam Wilson looked adversity in the face and ended up doing the right thing.

Captain America: Sam Wilson #18 is currently available at your local comic store and the story will continue as we find out the ramifications of in Captain America: Sam Wilson #19 available next month.