Happy Birthday, America! It has now been 244 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
What does the lived reality of America look like 244 years on from those famous words about self-evident truths and inalienable rights? To be frank, the proverbial visitor from Mars probably would not look at America of 2020 and find those self-truths to be very evident. The struggle for all Americans to fully and equitably enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness continues.
The phrase "Freedom Isn't Free" is generally a nod to Americans in uniform, and for 244 years, our military has done the hard work of protecting our country against all manner of ever-evolving foreign adversaries. But the military is not the solution to all the barriers that might keep us from fully and equitably realizing our founding ideals. There is hard work to do within our borders, at all levels of government and in our schools, and in the private sector of workplaces, universities, places of worship, and at our kitchen tables. There are hard conversations to have about where the arc of history bends too slowly toward justice, about how the powerful in America use power for their own gain rather than to empower the oppressed. There are too many people in 2020 America who know that had they been standing outside Philadelphia's Independence Hall in 1776, the statement coming from inside about equality and pursuit of happiness would not have applied to them, and only because of their gender or skin color.
In the 244 years hence, America has made progress, often haltingly, often sporadically, and with much bloodshed along the way. We stand on the shoulders and legacy of Abraham Lincoln and of Martin Luther King Jr. and of countless, often nameless, other Americans who have fought and literally died doing the hard work of bringing freedom fully and equitably to all who call, and who want to call, this country home. Much work remains to be done.
And so: what can we do between now and America's 245th birthday to make our country a little more free? How can those of us who have freedom share it with others? How can we get closer to realizing our founding ideals? I include myself in that "we," because I know I want to be part of it. Each of us can do something. Each of us can be the change we want to see.
With malice toward none, with charity toward all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in...
Abraham Lincoln
Second Inaugural Address
March 1865
