Other countries may get together for a group photo all the same, but how many nations comprise of so many different faces, so many different origins? It was a delight to see that we had German-Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, and of course a Hong Kong-American. There was even a Liberian-American! Look closely, she's the one with the white bow in her hair. (Still camera shy, that one.)
Independence Day celebrates our freedom as a nation from England. Freedom is a bedrock value of the United States. Our thinking, our mentality, our culture - it is all built on the idea that when one sets foot on our soil, they can pursue that American Dream. My family and I are no stranger to these ideas, and I am grateful for these values.
Later that night on 4th of July, I watched the film Gandhi. Gandhi promoted values of freedom from (again) the British, first in South Africa then in his native India. Through his initiatives, he spoke out against injustice through his steadfast spirit and humility.
Today, I watched Barack Obama give a speech on his intentions during his possible Presidency. The first thing he will do, he said, is plan for our US troops to withdraw from Iraq. Success will be that we see a democratic, self empowered Iraq, to paraphrase him. He would want the Iraqi people to do this for themselves, to have freedom for themselves.
A few weeks ago, Ester and I were standing on the shores of Liberia, about a hundred yard from our group of friends. This strip of beach was yet uninhabited. No huts had been set up, no foreigners laid their towels out to sunbathe. No Lebanese restauranteur had set up shop just yet. It was untouched. A Liberian man floated on his back, a happy expression on his face. There was a round rock nestled comfortably by time into the shore. That moment, I shared my desire with Ester about how I wished the Liberians would take their own country into their hands, instead of allowing other investors, like the Lebanese, to be building restaurants dotted along their coastline. I shared this thought with some others. My Nigerian friend, Lucy, shook her head, 'They will not do it.' I asked why. 'They are waiting for others to do it for them.' The Liberians are economically under someone else's thumb.
If you have watched Gandhi (or better yet, know something about Indian history), you will know that when the British pulled out, huge tensions drew between Hindu Indians and Muslim Indians. And when the US pulls out of Iraq will the same happen between Sunni Muslims and Shiite Muslims?
Freedom is critical to us as human beings, this is true. In the case of two colliding ships, if the ship that bissected the first backs away, the first will sink. You must get the people off the ship first. Are we willing to do the work? I am not sure. For freedom is not just a state of not being inhabited by a foreign country politically or economically, because in the end we are all a slave to something. But freedom is the trust that whatever or whoever we are indebted to, will ultimately not hold us into bondage or forced acts against our will. It is the knowledge that we can create something for ourselves and others - out of our own will, and for the betterment and wellness of our society and world.
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