Out Of Independence

Of Each Other, By Each Other, With Each Other

Photo by John Salvino on Unsplash

I am writing this on July 4th.

Independence has always meant a great deal to me personally. From the time I could move, I was always taking off somewhere. My parents actually had to add locks to our front door when I was a toddler, just so they could rest assured I’d still be home when they awoke in the morning.

For many years, I’ve connected the concept of Independence Day celebrations in the USA with those in other lands. Yesterday was the Independence Day for Belarus, tomorrow it will be Algeria’s and Cape Verde’s turn to celebrate. In the days between my writing and your reading this freshly-posted Spotlight, there will be no less than eight other celebrations of independence in locations around the world. (Look here for a more comprehensive list)

Wherever we may live or call home, many of us can relate to the concept of celebrating the event of coming into our own. Yet it seems that our individual celebration means more when shared with those who also want or appreciate their personal freedom.

Over the years, I have been thinking more and more about those who are not celebrating and why. My mind goes less to those who do not feel a strong desire to have the picture of freedom that I hold for myself (that is their choice and I respect it), but rather they linger with those whose freedom was deliberately hindered by others.

I think about the Native American people, and how their lives changed dramatically when settlers from other lands came here to give themselves freedom.

If the settling of the Americas (or any land anywhere, where people have found themselves cast out or controlled in their own homeland) by those of us from other lands were to happen today, would things be any different?

I would like to think so. If we look at the challenges we are experiencing now to see and hear each other, I wonder if we have come far enough to be capable of creating another, more inclusive history for this country.

And while I believe we still have quite a ways to go before we truly, fully realize the egalitarian, inclusive, accepting, and diverse community that was envisioned by the authors of our Constitution, I also believe the humanity, compassion, and everything else we need to realize that vision is already inside of us.

It comes through in the freedoms granted by founding documents:

The right to life and liberty, to privacy, of peaceful assembly, from torture and of expression and speech.

All persons are equal before the law and are entitled to equal and effective protection of the law. They must not be discriminated against on the grounds of race, sex, language, religion, politics or other status. (Cf. American Equal Protection Clause).

All persons are guaranteed freedom from torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; capital punishment; arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, home or correspondence; arbitrary arrest or detention; and from unlawful attacks on the person's honour and reputation.

Did I mention that the liberties cited above are from the translated constitutions of Afghanistan and Bhutan? It’s true. Our influence on and by our neighbors near and far can be our greatest gift. When India revised its constitution, it drew inspiration from the constitutions of at least ten other countries around the world.

I imagine many of us are looking for ways to continue bringing our proclaimed, cherished freedoms more fully to every person in our country. It is no easy or quick undertaking, and the best we can strive for is the sustainable courage to persist and the chance to celebrate many small victories along the way, so that we may truly transcend the injustices and inequities of our past.

I found myself celebrating this July 4th by responding to the post of a compassionate colleague from Britain and listening to the soundtrack of Hamilton. Written by the brilliantly talented Lin-Manuel Miranda, with orchestrations also created by the extraordinary Alex Lacamoire, I have listened to this soundtrack more times than I can count (though I still do not know all the words). It had been awhile since I had played it, and the words could not have been more fitting.

Burr: The Constitution’s a mess.
Hamilton: So it needs amendments.
Burr: It’s full of contradictions.
Hamilton: So is independence. We have to start somewhere.

Miranda, L. (2016). Hamilton: an American musical. In J. McCarter (Ed.), Hamilton: the revolution (pp. 23-26). New York: Grand Central Publishing.

We have to start somewhere, indeed. If every day is a new beginning, then where do we start today?

When I look back on my own, young acts of independence, I realize my morning departures were about running toward the greater world. I was not running to get away from my parents, or my home. To me, my independence meant connecting with people, places and things, because I knew we were all out there, waiting to discover each other. As Miranda said and I imagine the American Founding Fathers believed, independence is full of contradictions.

This paradox of the inherent complexity of independence got me thinking about my colleague’s post about independence v. interdependence. I wondered whether the concepts about interdependence we’ve held up until now may actually shelter limiting beliefs that deny our ability to recognize a different reality: independence on any level can only exist if we recognize, value, and celebrate our interdependence with each other.

Stories with texture
pluck mangoes from sugar maples,
paste lingonberry jam on tamales,
curry garam masala with otoro,
coat Pop-Tarts with Vegemite,
groove Timbao in Tehran markets,
…navigate freedom amid repression,
trace love along the contours of hate.

The world isn’t tidy,
so give us your stories
that don’t make sense
and confuse with
jangled and mangled
prose and poetry,
compass needle always pointing true.

Excerpt from poem, “Compass” from Home by Deepak Chopra, Kabir Sehgal, and Paul Avgerinos

Here’s to the messy, marvelous, and often mixed-up stories that led us to here. The story, as it unfolds next, depends upon what we write…together.