As a former British subject, I find this particular holiday somewhat problematic. I’m now a naturalized American citizen, but for obvious reasons I retain some nostalgia for my childhood. This country is unique in that respect, with just about everyone coming from somewhere else—many by choice but many brought unwillingly here. And now that my American-born daughter has given birth to her son, he will be third generation, if that’s how that works. We also manage to cover a broad spectrum of ethnicities too.
All of which leads me to what I originally thought should be the focus of my posting today: “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” by Frederick Douglass. I have the marvelous David W. Blight book from 2018 entitled “Frederick Douglass Prophet of Freedom.” And I knew quite a bit about his speech already. But then I went online to see what else was available, and I found what I thought was a great reference site called teachingamericanhistory.org. It appears to be a legitimate site for original source documents, but as I was beginning to tout its virtue, I thought I should do a little more research. I found that it is associated with Ashland University in Ohio. Then, of course, I had to dig deeper, and I found this headline: “How Trump Made a Tiny Christian College the Nation’s Biggest Prison Educator.” Betsy de Vos and Trump funneled $30 million to this school which was under water financially. They have created learning programs for incarcerated people conducted solely on tablets. Some critics say that it doesn't work. Many years ago I helped a young man who served time in upstate New York, and there was quite a robust educational component of what was known as Shock Incarceration. Now I read that the New York System may be using this Ashland program. I could spend the rest of my day researching, but today is supposed to be a holiday, right? So I’ll leave it to all of you to take any steps you feel necessary to figure out what the Fourth of July means to you.
Speaking of technology, by the way, I have to report that we had a bit of a kerfuffle when my phone was on Do Not Disturb and my daughter was unable to reach me for longer than she thought healthy. She managed to reach her father who called after I had turned my phone back on properly and the crisis was averted. It may lead to getting me one of those “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up buttons” though.
Meanwhile, I have to end with a plea to SAVE DEMOCRACY, particularly after the crushing blow dealt to the Constitution by the corrupt members of the Supreme Court. Do your own research and check multiple sources before taking anything as gospel.
Also, an Apple Watch will alert family and EMTs when you fall unless to tell it you are ok. My grandson takes it from her and falls down a lot, just for fun.
Very well said, Katherine. I dare to say that most of us who have lived on this earth for the last 50 years or more are aware of the fact that the events of the last 50 years have given us all pause and a chance to reflect on just what it is that we celebrate this day. I, personally, find very little to celebrate today, given the events of the last few days. How do I celebrate that SCOTUS has arrogated unto itself the ability to interpret and enforce regulations that affect the safety of the food and drugs that we consume. Especially since the majority opinion was written by Justice Neil Gorsuch who does not seem to know te difference between laughing gas and smog? How do I celebrate our independence from King George III, when SCOTUS has just anointed King Donald I?