Today, a personal essay. When I was little, my Ba would bring out fireworks for the Fourth of July. He acquired them in places like Maryland, where our family would go summer camping on the state beaches, and brought them across state lines to our little suburban enclave in upstate New York. As soon as it was dark enough out, many of our neighbors would gather, the area kids eager to see what Mr. Kuo had in store that year. Sparklers for sure. Sometimes big noisemakers. And always more than a few showstopper rockets with brilliant flourishes of color. He would hand them out to us to dole out to the other children without a thought to liability.
Thank you. I'm hoping for the day when we teach our full history, warts and all. We can never fix what is broken if we remain unaware. Here's to the promise of America.
Beautiful reflection. These lines are especially moving:
"Loving the promise of America isn’t the same as loving what it has done and still does to break that promise, over and over. But I’ve come to appreciate the high value of maintaining our gaze upon that North Star, the one that still shines for liberation, fairness and equality.
We inherited both a sacred promise and a big mess from those who came before, and we’re still working on both."
Somewhere in the past week, on one of the many Substacks I subscribe to - it may even have been Jay, himself, the writer stated that the United States was the only country with citizens from ALL of the world’s nationalities. I never thought about it that way. I’ve traveled widely and nowhere have I encountered populations as diverse as ours. We should be more than proud of this. We should promote our wonderful diversity instead of trying to shut down immigration. Happy Independence Day.
Thank you. I love this. Captures my sentiments exactly. When I created “Noteworthy American Women” these last few years, it was with all of this in mind. I, too, was spoonfed half truths. It was jarring to find out about internment, sterilization of Native American women by our government, etc. Thank you. If you are interested, www.NoteworthyAmericanWomen.com
It's always impressed me that those who some think of as the least "American" - immigrants, formerly enslaved, etc. - have such an ability to hold tight to the faith that despite actions that fall far short of the ideal words, those words are still so worth fighting to make more true.
When I was really young I remember I volunteered a few summers to help watch kids while their parents were taking classes - not sure if they were citizenship classes or ESL, but I do remember they were preparing to become Amierican citizens. The job of us kids was to help the adults supervise because they were busy with the really small children, but the older children just needed someone to play Legos or draw or read to them to keep them busy for a couple hours. I remember thinking even then that they had more reason than anyone born here to be proud, because the only reason I'm an American is that my parents happened to live here when I was born. I had no influence whatsoever on the decision. These were adults fully capable of looking at pros and cons and deciding, yes, I'm going to study and take an exam and become a citizen of this country even though I wasn't born here. If anything they were more American than I was because it wasn't an accident of birth but a deliberate choice. 🙂
Totally enjoyed your essay. It fits within the framework that I have fashioned for myself very well. I am a proud American, and when some people try to take us down a dark rabbit hole, we fight.
I wrote a response to a friend this morning along similar lines. The origial post said the USA doesn’t deserve a celebration. I maintained that we have survived and it is for the survivors. Another jumped in to say, look at everything that has been going wrong. And I said, but look at what is going right. We are not perfect, we fail, we flop, and we get up and try again. I too feel we will have the multi-national country someday, we get closer everyday, it is the one thing that makes the USA so unique. We have a mixing pot of cultures, of people and it is all okay.
The fight continues. Now if we could just get that other 30% of the populations to understand what it is we are fighting FOR, it may not be in vain. A happy 4th to all.
Thank you. You help us in the fight because you are one of the truth tellers. I weep at what is being wrought in our country by corrupt SCOTUS and Congressional GOP, local GOP legislatures, extremist groups like Moms of Liberty, GOP candidates, and more. Their Nazi ideology is not hidden anymore. But I pray that true Americans will stand up against these fascist oligarchs and that our Constitution will stand. Flawed folks working together can make something better than each of our own individual and fallible efforts can achieve. Hive mind, yoked energies, and a shared vision of better-I pray we will come out stronger and better because of these struggles. Thank you for your part in shedding light on the evils hurting so many.
I was a Park Ranger Historian on July 4, 1972 at Independence Hall. I am and was a feminist and a bit of a cynic. The white men in the Continental Congress had a lot to answer for. But, the more I learned of all the pieces that had to fall or be pushed into place, like the delegates with outdated instructions to vote against the Lee resolution who stayed home so it could be unanimous, the more I think miracles do happen. And I am so grateful I can eat my potato salad today without raising a glass to adulturous, flop-eared adenoidal Charles III. God bless America!
Thank you. This year more than others - because of the mounting inequities and the SCOTUS pronouncements - I am more reflective.
In my head, “1776” too rings year ‘round - the story of an ideal, the music (oh the turkey! Or words ending in “ly”, and yes, “Molasses and Rum”), and the reality.
Age too makes me more reflective. Will the country ever achieve some of what we promise many with words but not deeds?
Thank you for thoughtful reflections to add to my own.
Thank you. I'm hoping for the day when we teach our full history, warts and all. We can never fix what is broken if we remain unaware. Here's to the promise of America.
Beautiful reflection. These lines are especially moving:
"Loving the promise of America isn’t the same as loving what it has done and still does to break that promise, over and over. But I’ve come to appreciate the high value of maintaining our gaze upon that North Star, the one that still shines for liberation, fairness and equality.
We inherited both a sacred promise and a big mess from those who came before, and we’re still working on both."
Somewhere in the past week, on one of the many Substacks I subscribe to - it may even have been Jay, himself, the writer stated that the United States was the only country with citizens from ALL of the world’s nationalities. I never thought about it that way. I’ve traveled widely and nowhere have I encountered populations as diverse as ours. We should be more than proud of this. We should promote our wonderful diversity instead of trying to shut down immigration. Happy Independence Day.
Thank you. I love this. Captures my sentiments exactly. When I created “Noteworthy American Women” these last few years, it was with all of this in mind. I, too, was spoonfed half truths. It was jarring to find out about internment, sterilization of Native American women by our government, etc. Thank you. If you are interested, www.NoteworthyAmericanWomen.com
It's always impressed me that those who some think of as the least "American" - immigrants, formerly enslaved, etc. - have such an ability to hold tight to the faith that despite actions that fall far short of the ideal words, those words are still so worth fighting to make more true.
When I was really young I remember I volunteered a few summers to help watch kids while their parents were taking classes - not sure if they were citizenship classes or ESL, but I do remember they were preparing to become Amierican citizens. The job of us kids was to help the adults supervise because they were busy with the really small children, but the older children just needed someone to play Legos or draw or read to them to keep them busy for a couple hours. I remember thinking even then that they had more reason than anyone born here to be proud, because the only reason I'm an American is that my parents happened to live here when I was born. I had no influence whatsoever on the decision. These were adults fully capable of looking at pros and cons and deciding, yes, I'm going to study and take an exam and become a citizen of this country even though I wasn't born here. If anything they were more American than I was because it wasn't an accident of birth but a deliberate choice. 🙂
Totally enjoyed your essay. It fits within the framework that I have fashioned for myself very well. I am a proud American, and when some people try to take us down a dark rabbit hole, we fight.
I wrote a response to a friend this morning along similar lines. The origial post said the USA doesn’t deserve a celebration. I maintained that we have survived and it is for the survivors. Another jumped in to say, look at everything that has been going wrong. And I said, but look at what is going right. We are not perfect, we fail, we flop, and we get up and try again. I too feel we will have the multi-national country someday, we get closer everyday, it is the one thing that makes the USA so unique. We have a mixing pot of cultures, of people and it is all okay.
“If you are an American, your heritage is either Native American, slave, refugee or immigrant. That’s it!”
I think you just rescued July 4th for me.
The fight continues. Now if we could just get that other 30% of the populations to understand what it is we are fighting FOR, it may not be in vain. A happy 4th to all.
Thank you. You help us in the fight because you are one of the truth tellers. I weep at what is being wrought in our country by corrupt SCOTUS and Congressional GOP, local GOP legislatures, extremist groups like Moms of Liberty, GOP candidates, and more. Their Nazi ideology is not hidden anymore. But I pray that true Americans will stand up against these fascist oligarchs and that our Constitution will stand. Flawed folks working together can make something better than each of our own individual and fallible efforts can achieve. Hive mind, yoked energies, and a shared vision of better-I pray we will come out stronger and better because of these struggles. Thank you for your part in shedding light on the evils hurting so many.
https://fb.watch/lzWKFVfq0M/?mibextid=Nif5oz
I hope this link works. It showed up in my Facebook memories.
➡️ "Loving the promise of America isn’t the same as loving what it has done and still does to break that promise, over and over." ⬅️
I was a Park Ranger Historian on July 4, 1972 at Independence Hall. I am and was a feminist and a bit of a cynic. The white men in the Continental Congress had a lot to answer for. But, the more I learned of all the pieces that had to fall or be pushed into place, like the delegates with outdated instructions to vote against the Lee resolution who stayed home so it could be unanimous, the more I think miracles do happen. And I am so grateful I can eat my potato salad today without raising a glass to adulturous, flop-eared adenoidal Charles III. God bless America!
Thank you. This year more than others - because of the mounting inequities and the SCOTUS pronouncements - I am more reflective.
In my head, “1776” too rings year ‘round - the story of an ideal, the music (oh the turkey! Or words ending in “ly”, and yes, “Molasses and Rum”), and the reality.
Age too makes me more reflective. Will the country ever achieve some of what we promise many with words but not deeds?
Thank you for thoughtful reflections to add to my own.
Thank you for such a forgiving farsighted homage to America. May we keep working towards an inclusive, more perfect America!
Thank you. I needed this perspective after a depressing week of setbacks for fairness, equality and justice.