July 4, 2019

July 4, 2019, the 243^rdbirthday of the United States of America      

Born of revolution against the mightiest superpower of the 18^thcentury;

Borne by steely revolutionary men whose beliefs in liberty,

Produced a victory in a fraught war of independence;

Fought in the hills and battlegrounds and cities of Concord, Lexington, Princeton, Yorktown, New York, Delaware, New Jersey, and Virginia;

A people nurtured by a will to live without unjust taxation and with a paucity of representation; and by great statesmen.

A nation blessed with a statesman-first president who refused to be addressed “Your excellency” and stepped down voluntarily even having been offered a Kingship.

A nation blessed with statesmen who assembled in the heat of a Philadelphia summer to birth a constitution, a compromise among the different states, who, despite their inherent differences and efforts, almost a hundred years later, gave rise to a sanguinary war, a war of brother against brother, father against son, state against state;

Tearing the imperfect Union asunder, saturating the land with corpses and mangled bodies so numerous and throughout the battlegrounds of Vicksburg, Chattanooga, Gettysburg, Manassas, Fredericksburg, Cold Harbor.

A war that, although originally not so intended, eventually eradicated the sin of slavery,

And resulted in the martyrdom of our greatest President,

Who had given a race of people a new birth of freedom;

Only to suffer the indignities of continued and unbridled racism and economic servitude;

A nation that perpetuated second class citizenry to its former slaves, and upon whose backs our nation grew;

A nation that owes much of its existence to the backbreaking servitude of slaves.

A nation that fought two great world wars to kill authoritarianism, while still many of its citizens use racial animus, segregation and hate to assuage their fears;

And a president who thrives upon such fears; 

A nation that turned away immigrants who, as a result were condemned to their deaths in the flames of Europe.

A nation that dispossessed and stole the native inhabitants of their land, sending them on a trail of tears.

A nation that separates child from parent, mother from son, father from daughter, and sees, yet cannot control its malevolent leaders and cries in anguish in its own imprisonment.

A nation with the generosity of spirit and independence that still stands as a testament to liberty, with its flaws in full sight and under the scrutiny of a free press;

A nation upon which the world depends for its economic security;

A nation with an independent judiciary, guarding  against the misfeasance of politicians.

Yet a nation with entrenched minority rule;

A nation that has suffered and is still suffering through incompetents and demagogues;

A nation that will surely expose such bkaggards after being victimized by them;

A nation still imperfect, of immigrants, both recent and past, of people fleeing from the injustice of their native lands, bringing children, bringing their hearts and souls, seeking to enter the golden door.

A nation increasingly diversified, traversing the challenges of a new technological era, of change of climate, of new frontiers of medicine, energy production and the will to meet the challenge.

A nation still striving to perfect its union and make it more perfect.  A more perfect union,

Still seeking liberty and justice for all.