05/26/2025
This Memorial Day, I Remember—and I Challenge Us to Remember Differently.
Every year, my mother makes the sacred visit to my father’s gravesite in Fort Snelling National Memorial Cemetery in St. Paul, Minnesota—a place of quiet honor where my father, Major Harold “VN” Lance, is laid to rest. He was a man who served with distinction in Vietnam. His legacy reminds me that for many Black service members, wearing the uniform meant fighting for a country that didn’t always fight for them. And still—they served.
During the Vietnam War, Black soldiers created something powerful in the face of injustice: the dap handshake. Dap—short for “Dignity and Pride”—was more than a gesture. It was solidarity. It was protection. It was a cultural code born in war, now rooted in our communities and carried forward through generations.
At Lance Lucas & Associates, we believe in honoring legacy while building the future. Our work—rooted in strategy, cultural fluency, and operational excellence—stands on the shoulders of those who paved the way through service, sacrifice, and quiet strength.
So this Memorial Day, when you give dap, don’t let it be silent. Say a name.I give dap in honor and remembrance of my father, Major Harold “VN” Lance.
Who do you dap for?
