Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:41
I LOVE THIS COUNTRY BUT : How Complex this Independence Day is For Me!! What about you?
But wishing everybody sort of peace in their hearts. And I would love to hear from you about how you're feeling around the justice system in this moment as a reflection of Independence Day. What's your heart telling you?
The first part of my reply probably has very little to do with feelings. But a long time ago I separated what we're told each holiday is about and then what we actually make of it
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:01
So it's good to deconstruct it, to look at really the beginnings of these and these holidays and this one in particular. So I really I really appreciate this. Thank you. Bye
So it's like 4 July is just another one of those where it's become like this algorithm. We're looking for more sales than actually celebrating independence, liberty, and I think we think we know why. We're not feeling very liberated. We're not feeling very free right now. We're actually, on the contrary, feeling the opposite with gas prices going up
Mtwadamela Ijogo
@Mtwadamela · 3:24
And I don't even understand why we keep celebrating it because they're celebrating America breaking away from Britain and gaining its independence while still holding us as slaves. So that would be a slap in the face to all my ancestors who were held during that time for me to turn around right now and just spit in their face and celebrate. So I couldn't do that. But you brought up an interesting point
Lance Watson
@lwatsonjr · 4:49
It's like we all, for the most part, have some awareness of the history we all have, or at least the people on this swell, most of the folks who have contributed on this swell. We all know what these holidays are about. And yet in this country, we collectively, in majority watch, year after year, the selling of Easter eggs, the selling of Santa suits, the selling of fireworks, the selling of four leaf clovers
So wherever you're going to be, you got to be independent somehow. And I don't know, sometimes I think it's a whole personal thing. You have to if you're going to be free yourself and then you can be free. So it starts right here with you. I don't know. There are men who will do terrible things to a woman. She becomes pregnant and then that same man will tell her she's got to have that baby
L.A. Randle
@larandle · 1:16
I used to use holidays as a way to celebrate life and family. You know, like, for instance, Valentine's Day is one day out of the year, and that is the day where wives expect for husbands to buy them flowers and candies and gifts and take them to dinner and all of that. Your husband should be doing that all year round, right? And I am a firm believer in that, and I get that, and my husband understands that, right?
Jai Staton
@SistahSoul · 5:00
So I think one of the big challenges is that there are a few people in power and this is a consistent theme here with us that have decided that their opinions about the human experience hold more weight and value than your opinion about your human experience. Somebody else's opinions about my human experience hold more weight and sway over what I do or do not participate or engage in, and that is egregious injustice to me. That is egregious injustice
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:44
And this conversation really sheds light on a collective desire to hold space for our frustration or fear or anger, our sense of injustice, our shock that's not really shock, but also this wanting and this willingness to find a path forward. And I could only say if we can continue these conversations. I don't think conversations are just words moving around in space
phil spade
@Phil · 2:34
This is a really great thread. I really enjoy listening to everybody's perspectives. And Christina mentioned that you have the holiday itself and what it stands for, and then you have how you celebrate it. And I want to bring up an event that happened yesterday that I witnessed that just like, this is where we're at. Because I'm not a big celebrator of July 4, and I think that has to do with what Christina was saying, how I grew up
Ophelia Johnson
@LadyO · 4:53
Where it's my way or no way, it's my way of thinking or no way of thinking. But that doesn't take away from the one tradition that we have. I mean, we could talk about Labor Day, Veterans Day, christmas, Halloween, Easter, all these other holidays, but they don't mean the same for every single person. The one day that we all celebrate together is Independence Day. Why? Because we are all Americans. And to be an American means something
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:29
This thread is definitely a symbol of America for sure. A and and so far as our ability to have open conversation, have critical thinking, be sort of confounded together and wonder and have emotions
Jai Staton
@SistahSoul · 2:20
Like, I definitely want to talk to folks about this because it's something that I'm working through, something that I feel like I've worked through in a lot of ways, and being able to establish my own sense of identity and agency in this country in spite of anyway, just things to think on. I hope you guys are having a great, great day. Take care. Bye
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:38
But from your perspective and what you're saying, in spite of all the feelings of anger and rage around injustice and the feeling of being outside of a system that's closed and oppressive, trying to find identity with that system in spite of your feelings I don't even know if it's worth the gymnastics. I mean, that's one of our questions here in this thread. Like, is identity some kind of south to help us feel connected, or is that a false concept?
Ophelia Johnson
@LadyO · 4:41
And there are some who I cannot identify with because we don't have the same experiences. Right. There are some white people who I can't identify with because we have different experiences. And what I'm saying about keeping this on, the whole idea of the 4 July Independence Day celebration is that on this one day in all of a whole year, the tradition of being American is what it's all about. I'm not talking about racism. I'm not talking about the institutionalized racism