The 4th of July

Oh, July 4th. What a loaded date for Americans of all kinds. As an American who is deeply enthralled by our country’s complicated and inspiring history, I have a lot of feelings about the Fourth of July.

I refer to our country’s history as inspiring because that’s what it is, to me. I am painfully aware of the terrible chapters in America’s history. The displacement (at best) and slaughter of Indigenous people, the use of slave labor to build a nation, the lack of equal rights for all to this day. I understand these things and have spent more time studying them than the average patriot.

And yet.

I still find the desire within me to celebrate the Fourth of July, to look forward to a better future for this country.

I look at our country’s failures, our complete and utter disregard for the lives of non-white, non-straight/cis, non-ablebodied Americans. And I feel inspired that we can and will do better.

Even in our country’s darkest chapters, there have always been those who had hope. And I consider myself amongst those.

I hope for a future for America where every American will enjoy those unalienable Rights of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. For me, exercising these rights looks like testosterone hormone therapy to transition my gender. It looks like protesting injustice to see change in an imperfect system. It looks like never being quiet about injustice, because I believe that the people of the United States of America are capable of great things and we cannot, will not, allow ourselves to continue to fall short of the expectation we set with the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

If the Fourth of July inspires any feelings in you, let them be a call to action.

Alright. I’ll climb off the soapbox and go watch 1776 now. *EAGLE SCREECH*