Sunday, July 04, 2010

Happy Birthday USA!

Today is Independence Day, and depending on the weather where you reside there are probably parades, picnics and fireworks displays going on taking place all over the country.

There's a big one downtown at Eleanor Tinsley Park just west of downtown Houston, and thanks to the remnants of Hurricane Alex dumping rain on the area for the last two days, it is probably going to be muddy.

But as an African American, our feelings about this country can be conflicted at times. It can be summed up in a line from the Tuskegee Airmen movie:

How do I feel about my country, and how does my country feel about me?

Frederick Douglass touched upon that in his famous July 5, 1852 'The Meaning of July Fourth For The Negro' speech that still resonates with many African descended Americans today.

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