Happy Fourth of July! Today is an excellent day to reflect on what it means to be patriotic. what it means to love and serve your country. I think somewhere along the line our national conversation about patriotism has us thinking it’s just waving a flag and a “Support the troops!” bumper sticker. But the founding fathers’ patriotism didn’t stem from blind boosterism; they were revolutionaries, they were radicals. When the British government was unjust they fought back. They resisted, and took action TOWARD a more perfect union (the Constitution/Declaration of Independance are not finished documents). They recognized that we can be better. The Civil War was fought (in part) because individuals resisted injustice. Some of the greatest patriots earned that distinction because they protested the government; John Brown, Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Susan B Anthony, Harvey Milk, Wendy Davis, Jill Stein, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. All of these freedom fighters demonstrated (and continue to demonstrate) their love for their country by asking us for more, for us to be better. And this kind of patriotism is not gone. Movements like Occupy, like Anonymous, like Southside Together Organizing for Power, like the Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign, like (my favorite!) Fearless Leading by the Youth are refusing to comply; refusing to accept the way things are. The most patriotic thing I’ve ever had the privilege of participating in was civil disobedience (and ultimately going to jail) with the Mental Health Movement—resisting the racist closures of mental health clinics. So yes, let’s wave our flags, let’s support the troops, but all the while thinking about what that means, and how we can effect change towards a *more* perfect union. Thank to ALL who serve this country, through volunteer work, through organizing, through civil disobedience. Let’s never be satisfied, let’s never stop fighting.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Jul 2013 13:11:16 +0000
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