Independence Day

The 4th of July is upon us once again. For many years I didn’t take this holiday seriously. It was a day off from work and an excuse to crash barbeques. This year, as I read countless blogs containing mixed feelings about the fourth, I’ve come to a realization about this country and the celebration of independence. It has been a long hard continuous struggle for African Americans in this country. Sometimes we don’t feel independent, free, respected, or tolerated. We feel like second class citizens in a country we helped build against our will. We are bitter, frustrated and disgruntled about the view of independence, especially from our perspective. However, this year, this time around I feel something else, I feel HOPE. We have an African American of great intellect and leadership running for presidency. Not only is the man bad, but he stands for and exudes all of the things we want to celebrate in this country. He is unifying the country just by running. He’s unifying the world by giving EVERYONE something to believe in. YES HE CAN and he will and I see so many people getting excited that their contribution to democracy may actually evoke CHANGE this time around. So this 4th of July, I’m proud of America, I’m proud of Americans, and I have faith that with the independence this country grants us, we really do have the power to illicit change and that this is OUR country. All of us.