July Fourth rolled around again. The time when veterans and pets cower from the indiscriminate overuse of fireworks. Our celebration of “freedom” is reduced to a celebration of war. Our current telling of history leaves out the tactical actions of people who refused to be enslaved by unjust taxes, imposed curfews, restricted speech and more. History omits the effort to garner the support of the majority, and forgets the internal struggles with loyalists to the King. And while we praise the Constitution as a significant milestone in human history, we allow politicians attempt to dismantle it, much the way we allowed the dismantling of Reconstruction – refusing Black peoples’ rights to the very same freedoms we claim.
And then there is our ongoing history of crushing “freedom” for people the world over. The most current is our funding of the slaughter of Palestinians who also seek “freedom.”
We’ve used war and our stories of “freedom” to keep us in a cycle of violence. We’ve never shrugged off the dominance of the wealthy class and we are suffering greatly for it. We are divided and ignorant of the calamities before us. We accept lies as truths and we have lost sight of the power of “We the People”, as we clamor for another King.
But wait! The story of the United States may yet again resound with hope. The stepping aside of Biden – should it happen – could signal the possibility of transformation.
Could it be too much to ask that the majority of our citizens rally to this moment and not simply choose a president, but demand a new way of life and the beginning of a new history?
Let’s bring to an end the exploitation of people and resources. Let cooperation and compassion lead. Let’s demand peace.
let kindness win 