Some Independence Day Thoughts

Do you remember when I went to the Swig and Stitch event at the National World War I Museum? Well, our teacher was very nice, and had extra kits that she gave out. By that time, the only ones left were the American Flag design, and honestly I would have rather had another poppy. Beggars can’t be choosers, though, so I gratefully took the extra kit she offered me. I thought it would be something fun to stitch for today, but this last week made me less inclined to stitch it.

It’s hard to celebrate being American when we as Americans are treating people seeking our help with straight up cruelty, and I feel like I can’t do anything about it. I know I can share the social posts. I can donate to RAICES, I can call my representatives, and I can write this post, but even as I do all that those people are still suffering. I feel utterly useless, and that’s when I shut down.

What I have to keep telling myself is what I do by myself isn’t much, but if hundreds of thousands do it, it’ll make a difference. So, I decided to switch up this design a little, to be a reminder. For my inspiration, I turned to my favorite, fictional Nazi-puncher, Captain America.

Cap has a pretty well-known quote from when he appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man during the Civil War arc. He and Spider-Man meet up, as fugitives from the law. Spider-Man asks him how he handles running from a country that he so represents. Cap goes into a Mark Twain quote about who is the country; the common voice of the people is the country. Then he says:

“Doesn’t matter if the whole country decides that something wrong is something right. This nation was founded on one principle above all else: the requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or the consequences. When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world –‘No, YOU move.'”

So I added that last bit to my piece, to remind myself to keep up the work. I hope you will too, until it is self-evident that all of us are, in fact, equal.