First and foremost, I have to preface these words you’re about to read with this:
My revolution is a revolutionary mindset, a revolutionary culture, a revolutionary lifestyle. It is something you’re born with. Real recognize real. I think when most people think of the idea of revolution, they think of something violent, something negative, something full of pessimism and bullshit. No, my revolution is one of positive thinking and living, no nonsense type shit. My revolution is one of idealism, albeit with a twist of cynicism because nothing is perfect. Nothing is flawless. Nothing is permanent. My revolution is one that challenges the status quo to see what we are truly capable of with our time here on Earth. Do we want to be ruled by hypocrisy and ridiculous rules, stereotypes, and pigeonholes, or are we capable of uniting as a human race?
We as humans have the unalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and we’ll be damned if we let anyone get in the way of that very important pursuit! Can we as a people still pursue these rights equally in the 21st Century without fear of persecution or ridicule? The revolution has become something very personal, yet very real. What does it take to be a revolutionary in this day and age, and for that matter, what has revolution become to you?
My revolution is one of freedom- pure, absolute, unadulterated freedom. Freedom from mental slavery, for “none but ourselves can free our minds.” I could go on and on with Robert Nesta Marley quotes about how “until the philosophy that one race rules superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned we’ll see war,” but unless someone hears it (and more importantly does something about it), my words are rendered useless. Kind of like that old adage: If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Well, you tell me: does this revolutionary tree make a sound?
I’ve heard that the revolution won’t be televised. I’ve also heard that it will. By now, the revolution’s got its own webcast on a channel just past your vision. In any case, I stepped into Boston aka The Birthplace of The American Revolution the same way I step into most places: with high hopes for the best and reserved expectations for the worst. The final dose of what I found on my 4th trip to the East Coast goes a little something like this…
The 4th of July: Independence Day Boston Style
This holiday is a big deal in Boston, and rightfully so. The city is where the revolution all went down–right in their backyards. But what was the revolution really? Breaking free of a Monarchy across the pond? Taking over a luscious land already inhabited by natives? That’s all part of this country’s sordid and confusing history. Don’t get me wrong, I love this country and the freedoms it allows more than anyone. But come on: 1776 was not a time of independence for anyone outside the privileged, elitist, self-proclaimed intellectuals of the time. Independence is for everyone, and that is what my revolution is and always will be.
Here in Chicago, the 4th of July is another excuse to bust out the grill, the cases of beer, the American flags in the front yard, and the ass loads of fireworks. In Boston, they cling to and identify with the American Revolution more than any city I can think of off the top of my dome. The year is 2010, and it is time for a Rebirth of the Revolution. This time, we’ll get it right.
As for the actual fireworks show in Boston, a reported 900,000+ people showed up along the Charles River to catch Pops Fireworks extravaganza, chock full of bells and whistles. Cannons were shot off, Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture was remixed, and Craig Ferguson hosted the festivities for viewers across the nation. All I can say is that Boston sure knows how to party for the 4th.
The 4th of July always makes me think of possibilities, possibilities independence offers. The infinite possibilities imagination offers. My revolution has us all accepting and embracing our differences. My revolution has us sitting pretty for when the rapture hits. My revolution is not violent…yet. It will get violent if need be, but we are a peaceful people. We are only violent against the very violence that engulfs our nation’s past, present, and (unless we do something about it) future. My revolution has us coexisting on this planet and making something of ourselves, whatever that something may be. Everybody’s got their something. It’s about time we acknowledge each others’ somethings and take back what is rightfully ours…
If you're not affected, then you're not paying attention…
It is much to be wished that slavery may be abolished. The honour of the States, as well as justice and humanity, in my opinion, loudly call upon them to emancipate these unhappy people. To contend for our own liberty, and to deny that blessing to others, involves an inconsistency not to be excused.
John Jay, letter to R. Lushington, March 15, 1786
so much for only the elitsts to be included in freedoms eh?
oh and there was this man and a few others look him up its great to have knowledge
Representative, 1870–1879, Republican from South Carolina
Born into slavery, Joseph Rainey was the first African American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, the first African American to preside over the House, and the longest-serving African American during the tumultuous Reconstruction period. While Rainey’s representation—like that of the other 21 black Representatives of the era—was symbolic, he also demonstrated the political nuance of a seasoned, substantive Representative, balancing his defense of southern blacks’ civil rights by extending amnesty to the defeated Confederates. “I tell you that the Negro will never rest until he gets his rights,” he said on the House Floor. “We ask [for civil rights] because we know it is proper,” Rainey added, “not because we want to deprive any other class of the rights and immunities they enjoy, but because they are granted to us by the law of the land.”
this country has always been full of greatness for every man of every color…
It is much to be wished that slavery may be abolished. The honour of the States, as well as justice and humanity, in my opinion, loudly call upon them to emancipate these unhappy people. To contend for our own liberty, and to deny that blessing to others, involves an inconsistency not to be excused.
John Jay, letter to R. Lushington, March 15, 1786
so much for only the elitsts to be included in freedoms eh?
oh and there was this man and a few others look him up its great to have knowledge
Representative, 1870–1879, Republican from South Carolina
Born into slavery, Joseph Rainey was the first African American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, the first African American to preside over the House, and the longest-serving African American during the tumultuous Reconstruction period. While Rainey’s representation—like that of the other 21 black Representatives of the era—was symbolic, he also demonstrated the political nuance of a seasoned, substantive Representative, balancing his defense of southern blacks’ civil rights by extending amnesty to the defeated Confederates. “I tell you that the Negro will never rest until he gets his rights,” he said on the House Floor. “We ask [for civil rights] because we know it is proper,” Rainey added, “not because we want to deprive any other class of the rights and immunities they enjoy, but because they are granted to us by the law of the land.”
this country has always been full of greatness for every man of every color…