My son, Bear, posted this earlier.
He’s a much better man than I and that’s all any dad could hope.
We should all be able to celebrate Independence Day. Who doesn’t love grilled things and revelry. I’m Black, so you know cookouts are my jam.
But, it is damn near impossible to do so knowing that we live in a country with an abusive, racist, megalomaniac as our leader. A country where we are forcing human beings into concentration camps, again. A country where police are still killing indiscriminately. And, a world where climate change is rapidly careening our society toward oblivion, just to name a few.
We look at these macro-indications of our societal health and we despair. We must rail against the injustice of our nation. We rattle swords. We speak truth. We refuse to celebrate a nation so clearly in decline.
When I’ve, personally, done all of that, I’m still left with this hollow feeling: What can I do?
This is the most important question I ask myself every day. What can I do? After donating to campaigns and national organizations to fight these very real issues - What can I do? It is in these moments that I remember that it’s the smaller things, the less sexy, the more localized moments, the ones I can’t promote, where I can make a real difference.
Am I pushing myself to use my privilege to help those with less than me in my every day interactions? Am I respecting the mental health issues of those around me without judgement or stigma? Am I conscious of the types of people I give my time and talent to and am I intentional in those choices? Am I calling out the abuses I witness and amplifying the voices of those who see what I can not? Am I speaking out in my every day life when it would be easier to stay silent?
These are just some of the questions I try to ask myself every moment of every day. My personal fight to make this nation, this world, a better place. It’s not about recognition as an ally. It’s not about visibility within the movement. It’s about pushing myself to do what’s right every day.
I fail, often. This is not a linear path. There are peaks and valleys. But, in the end, if folks can say about me, “he was not a nice person, but a good person,” I will have done my job.
Happy Independence Day. We all have the agency to make a small difference and those differences add up. The collective fight is in the individual moments. Independence does not manifest solely by escaping the tyranny of our oppressors, it manifests through making the hard, personal, everyday decisions that push your corner of the world to be better.
Choose independence.