It took two attempts.
A combined hour and forty-five minute wait.
Two different polling locations.
Waiting in the cold.
Getting out today in the rain.
But it's done. I've voted. And thankfully I didn't have to wait as long as I've heard some of my colleagues did. Indianapolis had sites with 8 hour waits. For early voting.
And still they waited.
This year is truly unprecedented. I firmly believe this election is the most important one of my lifetime. It will have more impact on the trajectory of our nation than any in recent history. That is why it is vital that you vote.
Make a plan to vote - Determine what form of voting works best for you. Should you use a mail in absentee ballot that you place in a ballot box. Should you vote early at an early voting polling location. Should you vote on Election Day. Make a plan that will be best for you and resolve to see it through. Be warned that each has their potential pitfalls. Lines on Election Day could greatly exceed even what we are seeing in early voting. Due to recent maneuvering by the Supreme Court, I cannot recommend mail in ballots in this period leading up to Election Day unless you put it in an official ballot box. If you place your mail in ballot in the mail at this time, it is likely it will not be counted (despite our history of doing so in the past). If you plan to place your ballot in an official ballot box and are in Texas, be aware that thanks to recent moves by the government, there may only be one in your entire county. If you plan to vote early, be sure you know the location of your ballot box or the location and hours of early voting locations. There are six in our county with a variety of open hours, allowing everyone to find the most convenient voting location for their situation.
Vote Early - With the record voter turnout that we are already seeing, it is my recommendation to vote early if at all possible. To ensure your vote is cast, to hopefully lessen your wait, to help make this an election that could be affirmed on election night, it benefits us all to vote early.
Be Informed - There are so many tools at our disposal to get informed regarding the issues on our ballots that it is inexcusable not to do so. Vote411 (http://www.vote411.org), Ballotpedia (http://ballotpedia.org/Sample_Ballot_Lookup), Ballot Ready (http://www.ballotready.org), and HeadCount (http://www.headcount.org/your-ballot) are just a few. Many states even have their own My Ballot sites. We live in an age of a wealth of information at our finger tips. Please take advantage of it to learn what the candidates stand for, where you truly align (and not just the party you've always been affiliated with), and vote accordingly.
VOTE - The most important thing is just to vote. Even if you make no plan and just show up on Election Day, vote. Your voice matters, your vote counts. Make it be heard.
That stark reality comes from a quote from Trump's secret service. They expressed their anger and frustration to the Washington Post on Friday, as the realities of Trump's infection were coming to light, revealing the pattern of behavior that has continued to put them at risk.
Their words seem to echo a truth regarding Trump's view of the rest of America - he doesn't care about us.
Beyond the extent to which he can use us.
This isn't really the topic I would like to be writing about, but it seems necessary, if for no other reason than to update and correct inaccuracies in Friday's blog post. Over the past couple of days, several new pieces of information have come to light regarding the timeline of Trump's Covid-19 infection and the impact that it has had.
First, it seems that Trump was infected a lot earlier than we thought. Trump's doctors revealed yesterday that he was 72 hours into his diagnosis. This means he would have tested positive on Wednesday morning at the latest. This means he would have knowingly traveled to his campaign rally Wednesday night and to his fundraising roundtable on Thursday while being positive for the virus. He did not wear a mask or social distance at these events.
And again, this is the latest that the president would have shown to be positive. There are indications he may have been positive before or at least believed he could test positive before.
Second, Trump was not tested before the first presidential debate by the event site. Under the guidelines for the event, all other people in the hall had to be tested on site, but the candidates and their traveling parties could either be tested on site or could relay a test from their campaign. The Trump family arrived too late to be tested on site from the Cleveland Clinic. The Trump team instead relayed that they had their own negative test results obtained from their campaign.
This is important, as it plays to the credibility of the Trump campaign. Did they provide truthful information regarding the president's status? This shouldn't be a question that is needed to be raised, but given the president's track record, it is one that we are left with.
Further, this is especially important in light of the Trump family's refusal to wear masks at the presidential debate. While everyone was expected to be on an honor code to wear masks and social distance, the Trump family refused. Did their actions potentially expose many more to the virus?
Again, this matters because the likely root of the infections in the Trump team seem to stem from the Rose Garden announcement of Amy Coney Barrett as nominee for the Supreme Court on Saturday, September 26, 2020. This event seems to be a super-spreader, with at least eight reported cases stemming from the event, including likely Hope Hicks, whose announcement started this process, and the president himself. There were 180 people at the event; only 50 of whom were social distancing or wearing masks. The others were packed into the event, with handshakes, hugs, and close chatting.
To put this in perspective, with Trump's announcement, twelve members of his team have also revealed their positive diagnosis for the virus. Eight were at this event. And this would put the president's potential infection much further back than revealed.
It is part of a continued pattern of misinformation, that is still occurring to date, with details on the president's current health status being particularly obscured. Saturday's briefing left a lot of people confused. It contained references to 72 hours and 48 hours instead of Day 3 and Day 2 of treatment respectively. The briefing reported that Trump was doing very well, but later was updated to say the next 48 hours would be critical for Trump's recovery. Today's briefing revealed that Trump's temperature was high, that his lung scans show unexpected findings, Trump is on a steroid recommended for severe and critical cases only, and his oxygen levels had dropped on Friday and again on Saturday. There are still no updates on fever or oxygen level and has been a refusal for additional information on his status, a refusal to answer questions.
It makes it very hard to know what to believe, as we truly enter into the unknown. Will the president be quarantined or under intense care up to the election? What happens if the president is incapacitated and the 25th amendment must be invoked during this time? If the worst happens, what happens if he dies?
At such a critical time it would seem to be imperative we had a trustworthy presence. A leader to emerge to remind us the process is under control. A reassuring hand that reminds us that he cares. A president who shows us the way to move forward.
Instead, we've seen the cavalier attitude that he had up to this point and we are reminded of one singular thought -
"He never cared about us."
Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020
President Trump and First Lady Melania have tested positive for Covid-19. Just two hours after posting that advisor Hope Hicks had tested positive, Trump revealed the news on Twitter at 1:30 am ET this morning.
If the timeline is to be understood correctly, the implications are a little troubling. Apparently, Hicks had tested negative on Wednesday, September 30, 2020, before she boarded Air Force 1 with the president and most of his closest advisers, but had developed symptoms during the day. A second test on Thursday morning, October 1, 2020, was positive. This indicates that she was likely infected on Wednesday, though at a low enough rate to test negative. Nonetheless, the president and his team flew to New Jersey on Thursday, where he attended a fundraiser, gave a speech, and attended a roundtable with supporters, all, of course, without a mask.
This raises several questions. We know Trump was tested Tuesday night before the debate and tested negative. Could he have been in a similar situation as Hicks, where he was infected, though at a low enough rate to test negative? Did Trump catch the virus from Hicks or vice versa?
How many of his team are likewise infected? There were eighteen others from his team aboard Air Force One on Wednesday, including all his children and their spouses, with the exception of Barron. At the debate on Tuesday, this entourage, including Hicks and four older Trump children, refused to wear masks despite the mandate that they do so. What are the transmission implications of their actions?
This is all extremely frustrating from an administration that has refused to take this virus seriously. From a President who has refused to be seen wearing a mask in public, who admitted to underplaying the severity of the virus in order to prevent a panic, who even as recent as the debate on Tuesday stated that "It affects virtually nobody."
It is this background that creates a bit of concern as to whether this is a "boy who cried wolf" scenario. This president lies so frequently and so readily, that it is hard to trust that he actually means what he says, especially on serious issues like this. Twitter users in particular noted that someone had suggested this very scenario back in September as a way for Trump to steal headlines with an "October surprise." This would allow him to take the spotlight away from Biden, to avoid further potential embarrassment and damage at the next debate, to emerge victorious over the virus as a show of strength, and then to claim credit for a new treatment that had cured him, likely hydroxychloroquine, in which he is over-invested.
Because of his record, it's not hard to imagine Trump doing exactly that. Cornell University studied more than 38 million articles regarding the coronavirus pandemic between January 1 and May 26 that were published in English and showed that Trump was "likely the largest driver of...Covid-19 misinformation." 37.9% of misinformation regarding the virus mentioned Trump.
So we have a president, in the at risk categories for the severe form of the virus, who has not taken it seriously to date, infected with just weeks to go before the election.
"Surprise"
Although, I guess not really.
This should serve as a reminder to everyone:
and most importantly,
VOTE
VOTE
We often say vote as if your life depended on it. This time, it might actually be literally true.
I wish the president and all a speedy recovery. I pray they do not suffer the major infections that have been seen with this virus. They will have the best medical care possible.
Hopefully, this time, they will heed that advice.
Those seven words should be all that anyone needs to know.
They should send a chill down the spine of every American.
They should represent the end of a political career. There have been campaigns lost because of an over-enthusiastic "Yeehaw," an over-exaggerated sigh, excessive eye rolling. Those pale in comparison to the statement made above.
And yet, I have no delusions.
This won't be the end of President Trump. It's another tick in a long list of offenses that would have ended the careers of any other politician.
Instead it merely represents the lowest point in the worst debate in presidential history.
The debate in and of itself was an awful reflection of modern America society. It was not a debate. There was no reasoned discourse. There wasn't even an opportunity for either side to present their vision for America. Instead, it was a night of potshots and interruptions, of distortions and outright lies. - Please don't mistake this for me "both-siding" the debate. This was an hour and a half of one side repeatedly haranguing the other forcing an outright fight just to keep up.
In what was the worst offense, the President was given an opportunity to knock a softball question out of the fence. He was given the opportunity to outright denounce alt-right and white supremacist groups. And he started to indicate that he would. "Sure" he said, then asking for more clarification in the question. When Wallace offered the Proud Boys as an example, Trump's response was staggering.
"Proud Boys, Stand Back and Stand By."
That's not a denouncement, that's a call to arms.
And the Proud Boys are certainly taking it as one. Leadership for the Proud Boys has responded that they are proud of the President's mention and have seen a surge of interest in joining. Social media was ablaze in mentions, with the Proud Boys enthusiastically joining in. They've even adopted "Stand Back and Stand By" as a slogan, to the point that Amazon has halted sales of merchandise with the phrases.
If you are unfamiliar, the Proud Boys are a right-wing, neo-fascist group with a dozen chapters in Idaho, Washington, and Oregon, where they are particularly known for a readiness to fight Antifa. They claim to be "Western Civilization Chauvinists," not white supremacists, pointing to their inclusion of some Asian American, African America, and Hispanic members. "Western Civilization Chauvinists" should be looked at as "Western Civilization Supremacists" - read "White Civilization Supremacists." And while they may not outwardly proclaim white supremacist beliefs, their ties to white supremacy are hard to ignore. White supremacists are inextricably lined at their events. Their de facto uniform, the black and yellow Fred Perry polo shirt, is historically linked to the white supremacists movement in England in the 1970s. They have been designated as a general hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
If it walks like a duck.
The sad thing is Trump's language is not as shocking as it should be. It's part of a pattern of discourse, part of saying there are "very fine people on both sides." A pattern of repeatedly refusing to call out alt-right groups because they make up a part of his base. Lincoln appealed to the better angels of our nature. Trump is appeasing our worst demons.
Trump has attempted to distance himself from his comments at the debate. Yesterday, he lied and said he did not know who the Proud Boys are, but they should stand down. This might be more convincing if he did not have Proud Boys leadership at his rallies. They appear in his official campaign videos. They are the leaders of local Trump groups.
We should all take this as the call to action it should be. VOTE. Vote them out of power. Vote early, raise your voice. Let them know this is not acceptable.
It's sadly going to be a long 34 days.
Thankfully.
We're back home from a flying trip to Texas for the wedding. It was great to see family and to spend time with them. To see friends at the wedding and take a part. The only downside there is that everything moved too quickly.
The part that I do not miss is the drive. I am so glad that is behind us and that we will not be making a substantial drive again for a while. We did both legs straight: 14 hours going, 13.5 coming back. Add in losing an hour yesterday coming back home and we're a family of just plain worn out people.
I've told Jamie I think I'm getting too old for that long in a car. Especially, as I'm not one who gets to sprawl out in the back seat anymore. We were near loaded to the brim both ways, so everyone stayed in their seat. I only got to swap back and forth from driver to passenger seat, and neither really allows one to stretch out at all.
My back can't take it and I'm definitely looking forward to the chiropractor this week.
The next trip back I think we are flying. And then Christmas, I think I've convinced her to break up the return trip at least.
It's funny how we change. I'm one who has made more 4-5 hour trips in the car than I can count. Went home from Austin to Buna a lot. Went from Baylor to Buna a lot. Went from Wills Point to Buna and to Austin. And while those could start wearing on you, I could generally keep up.
I loved long road trips as well. We generally could spread out, just the three kids. Taking turns as to who got the back row all to themselves to lay down and spread out.
I understand now why those were not as fun for Mom and Dad. Driving or just being a passenger in the front seat does not carry near the fascination.
At any rate, we're back home for a while. Next month, family is coming our direction, so we'll look forward to having them here and showing them around.
Posts should pick up a bit more regularly, including one this week about why it is so hard to write in 2020.
Hope you are all having a great start to the week.
As always, thank you for reading.
Yesterday marked a personal first - I performed my first wedding ceremony. One of Jamie's students, and the daughter of her best friend, had requested that I officiate her wedding. She made the request over a year ago, while we still lived in Texas. I was to officiate, Avalyn was to be the flower girl, and Jude was to carry a sign. Much has changed over this past year, but this request remained, only Jude got upgraded to ring bearer.
It is for this reason I recently got ordained by the Universal Life Church. Non-denominational online church primarily designed for ordaining wedding officiants. Ideally, I would have found a way to be ordained through our denomination. I have been ordained as a deacon a couple of churches ago, and have filled in giving a message a couple of times, but am not ordained as a minister. This at least got me legal as an officiant.
Last night was a beautiful ceremony. For my part, I was short and sweet, keeping my thoughts/message very brief, and moving right into the vital parts of the ceremony. Having Jude and Avalyn a part of the ceremony made it an even more special night for our family.
I don't know when I'll ever put this to use again. I don't see when I'll be asked, especially with the now near 12 hour distance between us and most family and friends. But for a once in a lifetime opportunity, it was pretty special.
Congratulations John and Ashlyn! Many blessings on you as you continue forward in your marriage!
In honor of National Talk Like a Pirate Day, a bit of poetry, from Robert Louis Stevenson.
Three of us afloat in the meadow by the swing,
Three of us aboard in the basket on the lea.
Winds are in the air, they are blowing in the spring,
And waves are on the meadow like the waves there are at sea.
Where shall we adventure, to-day that we're afloat,
Wary of the weather and steering by a star?
Shall it be to Africa, a-steering of the boat,
To Providence, or Babylon, or off to Malabar?
Hi! but here's a squadron a-rowing on the sea—
Cattle on the meadow a-charging with a roar!
Quick, and we'll escape them, they're as mad as they can be,
The wicket is the harbour and the garden is the shore.
Pirate Story, Robert Louis Stevenson
A fun and silly holiday to divert our attention from the doom and gloom that seems to be this year. Hope you get to enjoy today however you talk, and drink up me hearties yo-ho!
"Women belong in all the places where decisions are being made. ... It shouldn't be that women are the exception."
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away today at the age of 87. An iconoclast, she remained a vital advocate for gender equality and women's rights right up to her passing. It is not a stretch to say her advocacy and legal career created the framework for modern gender discrimination law. Her tireless work as an attorney for the ACLU and as a judge and Supreme Court justice, only the second woman nominated to the Supreme Court, remain a bedrock foundation in this area.
“The work is really what saved me, because I had to concentrate on reading the briefs, doing a draft of an opinion, and I knew it had to get done. So I had to get past whatever my aches and pains were just to do the job.”“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.”
I’ve been reading through the Psalms with Avalyn each time it’s my night to get her to sleep. This evening we got to Psalm 51, which has become one of my favorites over the years. This dates back to undergraduate where I was part of the choir at First Baptist Georgetown and we would sing a beautiful choral arrangement of this piece. When I read it, I still go through the vocal arrangement of the song, not necessarily the written words in the Bible.
There are so many portions of this passage that get referenced and rightly so. What keeps jumping out to me now, though, is less taught. Less focused on, at least from my reflection.
Verse 16 seems to perfectly encapsulate one of the great struggles that we have in our lives. “For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;”. A recognition of that pattern where we have tried to bargain with God to let us feel right with him, but still keep doing what we want. “All I have to do is just bring a sacrifice to the altar and then I can do what I want. I don’t have to change anything else.” David recognizes this pattern we can get into of wanting to do something for our salvation, wanting to do something to feel better about our lives, but not being willing to make the change that God really wants. Because the truth is that a physical sacrifice could be less costly. But rather, “You do not delight in burnt offering.”
That is not what God wants from us. What God wants is much more costly. It costs us everything. For us to recognize how broken we are, to admit how broken we are, and to ask him, to allow him to fix it. That is subsequently the sacrifice of least physical value and most taxing cost.
We get this reminder throughout scripture. “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” This verse quoted by Jesus is another of my favorites. Part of that idea that while we are to be working out our salvation and participating in good works, that is not ultimately what God desires of us. He desires our humility, he desires us to be loving, he desires us to be merciful. For these are the qualities that He has displayed to us.
It’s a good reminder both for when I get too overwhelmed I’m doing things for God and for when I get too caught up in myself, trying to keep doing things my own way.
Purge me, wash me, restore my joy.
"A day there was of monumental villainy. A day when a great nation lost its innocence and naked evil stood revealed before a stunned and shattered world.
A day there was when a serpent struck a sleeping giant, a giant who will sleep no more. Soon shall the serpent know the wrath of the might, the vengeance of the the just.
A day there was when Liberty lost her heart - and found the strength within her soul."
Stan Lee
" 'And There Came a Day, A Day Unlike Any Other...'
'when Earth's mightiest heroes found themselves united against a common threat.'
Those words were originally written about the Avengers, a band of fictional heroes battling fictional foes. But they apply as well to the harrowing events of September 11, 2001, and to the men and women who responded to those events.
The firefighters, police, and emergency workers who plunged into danger to aid the trapped and injured.
The rescue personnel of other cities, other states, who came without being called - some who drove all night to come to New York and do what they could.
The ordinary citizens who dropped everything to walk to the site and offer their help. So great was the turnout that in the end, volunteers were turned away. There were too many - too many men and women lining up to risk their lives to aid their fellow man.
New York journalist Katie Roiphe may have put it best when she wrote, simply, 'We also have men who are wiling to die for an idea.'
To those who came, those who helped, those who died trying to save others: We thank you. We honor you. We will never forget your heroism."
Kurt Busiek
Have we finally reached it? Are we finally at bottom? The last straw?
There has been a great downward spiral of news regarding the President over the past couple of weeks. There were reports from Michael Cohen’s tell-all book. Beyond revealing information entirely consistent with Trump’s past record on misogyny and sexual proclivities (commenting on Cohen’s 15 year old daughter) and revealing the secret of the infamous comb-over, Cohen revealed Trump’s apparent true feelings toward the evangelical movement. “Can you believe that bullshit? Can you believe people believe that bullshit?” This was after a laying on of hands for prayer before he was elected. This might be one main reason why you don’t turn on your fixer. This shouldn’t be surprising to those paying attention as he has consistently misrepresented the Christian faith when he tries to affect it. If we know the followers of Christ by their fruit, he has never demonstrated any.
Then there was the article in The Atlantic that was independently corroborated by even Fox News revealing Trump’s comments behind not attending an American cemetery in France. Calling wounded veterans and dead American soldiers “losers” and “suckers”. Again, not surprising as we have seen how he similarly disparaged John McCain for being a prisoner of war.
Now we have one of the largest bombshells of them all - that he told Bob Woodward over a series interviews that he knew how deadly the COVID-19 virus was but he deliberately downplayed it. In a February 7 interview he relayed, “This is deadly stuff.” “You just breathe the air and that’s how it’s passed.” Then later, on March 19, he revealed “I always wanted to play it down. I still like to play it down because I don’t want to create a panic.” Trump knew how deadly and serious this virus should be treated and he deliberately mislead the American people. We are still feeling the impact from that decision from having the virus still raging on to having his most ardent supporters still convinced it’s all a hoax. Not to mention knowing there could have been around 59,999 lives saved at least had we acted sooner and treated this as severely as he knew it should have been.
The bottom is out of the tub.
I have to believe people are finally starting to realize the con man that this president is. I know there will be ardent supporters who believe he is the second coming. I can’t wrap my brain around how they can believe it, but I can acknowledge the fact that they are out there. I do see him losing supporters from these revelations. From the veterans who cannot support him based on his complete lack of understanding of the purpose of sacrifice, to evangelicals who see that he is not one of them, there are cracks in his base.
This does not mean we must not be vigilant. This election still requires us in record numbers rejecting his presidency. It requires citizens of this country putting country over party, particularly as their elected officials are so loathe to do so. It requires us holding our president to the ideals that we have founded this country on.
Someone who recognizes sacrifice.
Someone who has beliefs in something bigger than they are.
And someone who conveys the truth, especially when it’s hard and leads us through.
I can’t tell you who to vote for in November. I can’t tell you which other candidate to chose. But I can tell you that Trump does not fit any of those descriptions.
That man is not Trump.
Today we honor American labor and the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, laws, and well-being of this country. To the blood, sweat, and tears that have gone into the construction of our country, to the infrastructure that makes its backbone, and to the role that labor plays in our society today.
To those who have the day off, enjoy it. To those that must continue to labor, we thank you.
To all, remember, it's more than just grilling or time off. It's a recognition of the work it took to get here. It's for the dream of a better work life in our future and for our posterity.
This year, perhaps Labor Day takes on a particular significance, as we are all longing for the ability to go back to normal. To be back at work in offices. To be back at work period. A greater recognition of the purpose of labor in our lives.
To that end, may we celebrate all the more.
Happy Labor Day!
Yesterday, we took the opportunity to visit Newfields and the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Our bank offers free visits to certain museums on the first of the month and Newfields and its grounds was one of the largest to visit in the Indianapolis area.
It was our first museum that we have been able to visit in Indy, and it was great to be able to explore. African, Asian, and Mediterranean art, Fashion and Design. A special exhibit on Edward Hopper and his artwork of hotels in particular.
The piece that jumped out to us, though, the one that had the greatest impact was the piece of art shown above. A representation of the flag by Thornton Dial. Entitled Don't Matter How Raggly the Flag, It Still Got to Tie Us Together, Dial created the piece in 2003 out of mattress coils, chicken wire, clothing, can lids, found metal, plastic twine, wire, Splash Zone compound, enamel, and spray pain on canvas on wood.
It's still unmistakably the flag.
The piece was set off in a separate room, used to highlight the purpose of art. It was placed on the back wall of the room, and viewers were asked a prompt to start their evaluation of the art.
How does it make you feel?
There was a table with pencils and card stock for visitors to write and submit their responses. The museum evaluated responses and the placed them on the side walls of the room. The responses ranged from anger and disappointment with the country, to pride, to conflicted emotion.
Jamie submitted, as did Avalyn. I did not, it took a little longer to come together. My response is below.
--------------------------------------------------
This is us.
This piece of art is wholly symbolic of us. Of U.S.(A.). Of these United States of America. Our history, our reality, and our future.
This isn't the version that we like to present of ourselves. It's not the shining, exceptional, "Greatest Country in the World." This isn't the perfect flag marking our national religion.
This is our reality. A flag closer in relation to the war torn, battle scarred flag at Fort McHenry that inspired Francis Scott Key, than any we fly today.
This is a flag soaked in blood, born in blood, overpowering the white innocence of our ideals and blue perseverance of our character. It reminds us of our struggles. Of the conflicts of our past and the conflicts of our present. How they pervade all aspects of our history and heritage.
A flag cobbled together from the common, from junk, hanging together by a thread. In which there is still beauty, so long as it holds.
This is a flag that reveals why people both stand in reverence to the ideals of the nation and kneel in protest when we fail to uphold them. A flag we would all do well to consider.
This piece does what art is supposed to do. It moves us. It makes us think.
It grows us by forcing us to reckon with it. To wrestle with it. To be uncomfortable.
To hold a mirror to ourselves and say:
This is us.
"But I'd like to use a subject from which to speak this afternoon, the Other America.
And I use this subject because there are literally two Americas. One America is beautiful for situation. And, in a sense, this America is overflowing with the milk of prosperity and the honey of opportunity. This America is the habitat of millions of people who have food and material necessities for their bodies; and culture and education for their minds; and freedom and human dignity for their spirits. In this America, millions of people experience every day the opportunity of having life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in all of their dimensions. And in this America millions of young people grow up in the sunlight of opportunity.
But tragically and unfortunately, there is another America. This other America has a daily ugliness about it that constantly transforms the ebulliency of hope into the fatigue of despair. In this America millions of work-starved men walk the streets daily in search for jobs that do not exist. In this America millions of people find themselves living in rat-infested, vermin-filled slums. In this America people are poor by the millions. They find themselves perishing on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.
In a sense, the greatest tragedy of this other America is what it does to little children. Little children in this other America are forced to grow up with clouds of inferiority forming every day in their little mental skies. As we look at this other America, we see it as an arena of blasted hopes and shattered dreams. Many people of various backgrounds live in this other America. Some are Mexican Americans, some are Puerto Ricans, some are Indians, some happen to be from other groups. Millions of them are Appalachian whites. But probably the largest group in this other America in proportion to its size in the Population is the American Negro."
"And I say that if the inexpressible cruelties of slavery couldn't stop us, the opposition that we now face, including the so-called white backlash, will surely fail. We're gonna win our freedom because both the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of the Almighty God are embodied in our echoing demands.
And so I can still sing "We Shall Overcome." We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward Justice. We shall overcome because Carlyle is right, "No lie can live forever." We shall overcome because William Cullen Bryant is right, "Truth crushed to earth will rise again." We shall overcome because James Russell Lowell is right, "Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne — Yet that scaffold sways the future." With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.
With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discourse of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to speed up the day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and live together as brothers and sisters, all over this great nation. That will be a great day, that will be a great tomorrow. In the words of the Scripture, to speak symbolically, that will be the day when the morning stars will sing together and the sons of God will shout for joy."
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - 1967
