This country wants us to pledge allegiance to it, but it does not pledge allegiance to us, as people of color
I previously wrote an article about why I vowed never to say the Pledge of Allegiance again. It is because of the words “liberty and justice for all,” that are only true in this country so long as you are of the right skin color, sex, gender, income bracket, sexual identity, religion, ability, national origin, and political affiliation.
After writing that article I decided to recount the time when I was teaching at a predominantly Black and Latinx middle school, and two White teachers kept forcing the students to recite the Pledge. This is an issue that is much bigger…
America has blood on her hands
America oftentimes creates a distorted reality regarding its heinous actions of the past, especially those committed against Africans and African Americans as this country was being founded. Racism and white supremacy were, and are, practiced so fervently, and are entrenched in American idealism so thoroughly, that they not only became a way of being in America, they also became a means by which to either overlook or to justify, the dark past of American history.
Too many choose to believe that America’s founding was based solely on the American Revolution in 1776 while ignoring the way in which prior criminal…
The music remains indelibly etched deep within my soul
A fresh anointing falls from heaven and covers me mind, body, and soul.
I am completely enveloped in a cascading whirlwind of love.
It brings an abundance of joy, peace, kindness, and gentleness.
Out of this powerful whirlwind comes the most peaceful presence I’ve ever known.
It glides past me, spins around me, soars above me, and passes through me.
It intertwines itself within me, intercalating every fiber of my being.
I experience the totality of its righteousness and sacredness.
I hear its soft whispers, as it beckons me nearer.
It knows me by name, and calls me its sweet…
Learning to function within the dysfunction
One of the worst and most violent memories I have of my parents occurred when I was about eleven or twelve years old. My sister and I were quietly doing our homework at the dining room table one day. My mother was in the kitchen and my father was in the living room, so we were situated right between them. They got into an argument because one of my aunts told my father that my mother was an alcoholic. Mind you, both my parents were horrible alcoholics (that’s a story for another day), so I truly do not understand what…
A constructed reality based on a fallacy
Our self-proclaimed “great” nation feels as if it has been slowly imploding, violently collapsing in on itself, causing chaos and destruction in its wake. The previous four years of Donald Trump’s politics of hate have exacerbated the civil unrest at an exponential rate, fueled by his racist alt-right MAGA rhetoric, steeped in white supremacy and white nationalism.
White Supremacy and White Nationalism
While white supremacy is an ideology that created the racial superiority/inferiority dichotomy, falsely claiming the superiority of whiteness above all others, white nationalism is an ideology that believes that American identity should be centered around white people.
Race, racism, and white supremacy give intrinsic value to humanity based on extrinsic properties
Race, racism, and white supremacy work in tandem to have very real and very detrimental effects on Black lives. The heinous murder of George Floyd caused many in this nation to mourn not only his death, but also the fact that Black lives are still in just as much danger of being brought to a violent end as they were when Emmett Till was kidnapped, tortured, and murdered because of the lie of one white woman.
The recent deaths of numerous other victims of racial terrorism and police brutality, the violent attack on the State Capitol, the Jim Crow tactics…
The unspeakable pain of broken backs, broken hearts, and broken spirits
The horrific, gut-wrenching screams of agony as villages are plundered and Africans are massacred, abducted, and chained like animals
The incessant weeping of tortured souls forced to travel on slave ships down the Middle Passage and into the New World
The tight, enclosed spaces saturated with the revolting odors of blood, urine, feces, filth, disease, and rotting corpses
The surging blue waters teeming with Black bodies ruthlessly tossed overboard like discarded waste
The sheer terror of those who chose to jump to their death rather than be enslaved
The crack of the whip as soft, tender skin is violently ripped…
It has to do with holding this country accountable for its actions so that it makes the words of the Pledge true for everyone
I made a vow to myself some years ago never to say the Pledge of Allegiance again, until the words “with liberty and justice for all” are true in this country. The United States has founding documents, patriotic songs, and a Pledge that all have beautifully written words with sentiments that promise freedom, equality, justice, and the inalienable right to life. However, these words reek of hypocrisy when we consider this country’s racist history of oppression and marginalization of its Black and Brown citizens, not to mention the myriad number of cases of police brutality.
“Liberty and justice for all,”…
We are women, black women, beautiful women, women of God
Who are we?
We are women, black women, beautiful women, women of God.
In our eyes you will see wisdom and determination.
From our lips you will hear kindness and truth.
In our minds reside intellect and wit.
Within our arms you will feel tenderness and strength.
Our hearts are filled with love, peace, and joy.
Our souls are imbued with faith, honor, and integrity.
From our essence radiates the light and righteousness of God.
We are wives, mothers, sisters, daughters, and friends.
We are women of purpose, commissioned by God and destined for greatness.
We are Harriet Tubman, Ida…
Congress could have—and should have—used this moment as an opportunity to redeem America from its past sins
The Senate vote
On February 13, the U.S. Senate voted 57–43 to acquit former President Donald Trump of inciting the terrifying and violent attack on the Capitol that occurred on January 6. Although 57 votes were “guilty,” and 43 votes were “not guilty,” a total of 67 votes, or a two-thirds majority, was required to convict. This means that 10 additional GOP senators would have had to cross party lines and vote “guilty.” This, we know, was not going to happen.
This could have been the first step toward healing the racial divide that exists within this country.
According to MSN, President Joe…
L.A. Justice
Theologian | Author | Activist | Educator | Previously a Biochemist | Member of #WEOC | A Top Writer in Racism and BlackLivesMatter
