Freedom!!!

It seems only right that I would wind up thinking about freedom. I mean, isn’t this the day we grew up loving and anticipating. Looking forward to that firework stand in Spencer, OK. to get some black cats and roman candles, all in the name of the “Good ‘Ole Red, White and Blue” and what this country means to us.

But… as we’ve grown up we have begun to realize that a lot of the things we were taught to believe are lies, and that we are now trying to compete in a game where we barely know the rules and how to get ahead. 

As I have grown, I have become more and more torn at the thought of the 4th of July, I wonder how a holiday I grew up loving as a child, can be the same day that brings me pain in the next. Look, I know that I’m an American, but I also know that I would not have the freedoms I do today without the ancestors that came before me. 

I think about how my parents were not supposed to be dating in a newly de-segregated Oklahoma City. I think about how Badass my mom and Dad had to be hat they were willing to be ‘Rebels and have a love that some coined as “Jungle Fever”. (Yeah, my pops was a smooth talking, blonde haired blue eyed motorcycle riding white boy). And how because of their bravery and love, me and my brother are here today. Free to live the way we see fit, and free to date whoever we want and be protected by the law. 

But… I have also grown to realize that not everyone is treated equally under the law. That even though we have come this far as a country, that we still have a mighty long way to go. 

But still, I have hope, that as we begin to change we will also change the world around us. To realize that even though we may not be able to change the world at once, that we too can change our future, as those that came before us once did. That we can take a stand and let our voices be heard, our melodies bring songs, and our spirits bring peace. 

So if you want to celebrate the 4th of July, pop fireworks and wave the American Flag, have at it, you have my support. Be proud of this country, because your ancestors had a hand in building it, their blood sweat and tears went into this countries soil and yielded a crop of beautiful people. 

And we are those people, this is our time, and this is our country. 

Yes.. We too, are Americans!!!