apparently, i wasn’t loud enough last year .. cuz *gestures wildly at everything* it has gotten embarrassing up in here. if uncle sam weren’t already morally questionable, he’d sure be ashamed! (i’m sure he’s pointing a finger at us, either way ..)
i hope this movement will gain more momentum this year! i said it before, and i’ll say it again: “america needs a rebrand. the old way isn’t working. this is reclamation day. we are reclaiming our independence!”
last year, i asked: what does patriotism mean to you? this year, i’m going to answer my own question.
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
me? i grew up in a stars-and-stripes type household. even though the propaganda was hardcore pushed onto me from without & from within my home, i remember being fed up with the way things were from a young age. (in other words, the propaganda didn’t quite stick.)
each year, i became angrier & angrier at the injustices all around me. each year, i felt more & more isolated from those around me … yeaaaahh, my opinions were def too extreme to fit in.
one year, for 4th if july, my parents bought my lil family matching patriotic attire. i was a preteen and i protested wearing such “tacky” (yes, that was the exact word i used. no, my active duty father did not appreciate that word choice) red, white, & blue clothing.
to me, these clothes gave me the ick, because at this point i had already begun to realize the american dream was dead, though i couldn’t quite put into words how or why. mostly, i was having big feelings about it … feelings that i soon learned to repress to be a good lil girl, to fit in.
that year, my dad gave me the biggest lecture about how he fought hard to protect this country & how disrespectful i was being by calling the stars & stripes tacky. blah blah … how dare i! the shame. 🙄
yes, my opinion was too extreme to fit in, so i kept it to myself more & more. but as i did that, i got into the pesky habit of shoving my feelings down, distracting, disassociating .. and hiding my truth. so, here i am reclaiming it— one post, one conversation at a time.
it is my hope to inspire others to reclaim their truth, their independence.
.. ah, independence .. i wanted so hard to believe the lie.. the american dream was one i desperately wanted to believe in, but it was hard not to see through the bullshit.
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
there’s a memory from when i was a little girl, that somehow glued itself to my brain … a disney channel commercial of all things. in it, there were children talking about what it meant to them to be an american.
“america the beautiful” was playing, while children (namely, immigrants) spoke on how important this country was to them, because you could be anything you wanted to be. it focused on the “melting pot” aspect that makes this country great ..
it painted a scene of the beauty across the country, playing on the descriptive verse throughout the song. & yes, it is quite beautiful.
O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness.
but, of course, it left out the racism, the injustice, the inequity. it left out the fact that the rich get richer, the poor get poorer—that capitalist, rich, white men control the country, all while benefiting from the common folk being pit against each other.
it left out that—while our forefathers tried to separate themselves from the tyranny of england—the apple does not fall far from the tree. it left out the fact that this country was built on the backs of slaves, on stolen land. it was a beautiful piece of propaganda.
America! America!
God mend thine ev'ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.
what does patriotism mean to me? it means opening your heart & seeing through the propaganda.
it means dismantling an empire in order to save a people — all people. it means striving for justice and equality for ALL.
O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life.
i believe a true american accepts their neighbors, whether black or white or hispanic or asian or whatever; whether gay or straight or transgender or whatever; whether christian or muslim or atheist or WHATEVER!
it means valuing people more than capital, deconstructing the lie that one must earn their existence. it means ensuring our neighbors are taken care of (instead of being taken).
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev'ry gain divine.
i believe a true american helps those less fortunate, upholds the values that should make this country great.
we have a long way to go, sure. it will be an uphill battle. there will be tears (& tear gas).
O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears.
there is obviously a lot of bad blood (duh). & we’ve been stuck in the same loop for hundreds of years.
the foundation is cracked. it needs to crumble down, so that from the ashes, we can build something better.
that doesn’t mean erasing history. but it does mean letting go of resentment, healing ingrained racism & prejudice, taking accountability, & moving forward in a new way.
we can’t build something great from the same shit we’ve been working with. we are not our ancestors. it is time to stop acting like them (yes, especially white people).
but i have faith we can heal the world, together.
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.
join me, as we dive deeper into this subject over the next couple weeks. the next post will drop next saturday.
xoxo willow
-Katniss Everdeen, Mockingjay
want more content like this? check out more from the redefining patriotism series!
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