Are we forgetting and leaving out some of the sacred voices of all our ancestors? When you don’t know your history, you don’t know your ancestors fortitude, or their inspiring determination to get right back up when they failed, or their triumphs, or their powerful spirit that succeeded in overcoming the impossible in a flat world of boundaries and limitations. If we don’t know where we came from how can you possibly know who you are or where you are going? The intention of our nation as a democracy was for all people in our nation to live free, and have the right to pursue “those truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”.
The real truth is, from the beginning of this “great experiment” just staying alive, finding fresh water to drink, food to eat, shelter from the elements, and a spirit so strong to build a new nation it took an immeasurable amount of determination, courage and working together to accomplish their goals. All our ancestors together endured unspeakable hardships, no matter how they got here willingly or by force. These ordinary folks worked hard, and sacrificed much to build this nation and when greed and corruption set in, they set out to correct the greed of a few and abolish the evil institution of slavery that threatened the very foundation of the values this nation was built on. All our ancestors gave us our fundamental God given freedoms as human beings including our slave brothers and sisters, the abolitionists, the founding fathers, pilgrims, the Revolutionary War patriots, the Union Army soldiers, and yes even the Confederate soldiers who fought but lost a lifestyle of values that served only a few citizens not the values we set forth as a new nation.
Our ancestors built a nation where we value the ideals that no human beings are less or more than another, because we believe each person’s creative and inventive ideas and contribution will make the world a better place for all of us. Regardless of whether the immigrants who came to America willingly or by force they all gave their blood, sweat and tears to build a nation for, of and by the people. The American story is not a black story or a white story, it is a ‘WE THE PEOPLE’ story. They all built a country together because their lives depended on it. I don’t know about you but I believe today we have a lot more work to do. Slavery has turned into racism, not freedom’s song. There is no reason for any of us to be slaves to corporate greed and fear mongering that would choose to divide us as a nation and make the world unfit to live in. We all belong to one race: THE HUMAN RACE. We are better together as a united nation, knowing this country belongs to all of us and it is our diversity that gives us pride, strength and an innovative edge to breakdown the boundaries that challenge us today. We must honor all of our ancestors, not just some. We are following in the footsteps of extraordinary human beings who took a bold and courageous idea and chose to believe in the kindness and loving nature of the human spirit and that our Creators unalienable Rights belong to all of us together as Americans.
Leave a Reply