Celebrating July 4

Today is the 250^th July 4 in this country.

One of the most complicated times we’ve all experienced.

I keep reading what other people have said about this holiday, and listening to Woody

Guthrie. Rebecca Solnit had a wonderful Guardian piece this week, describing the

mix of horror and wonder this country is now.

Although many people have tried to argue me out of optimism, I remain optimistic. I

still believe that this country is full of opportunity, and hope, and the incredible gift of

so many immigrants who’ve made life rich and unexpected. Immigrants whose rights

have to be protected now.

I’ve always loved small towns, and big cities too. Years ago when I traveled to Europe

for the first time, I remember thinking that in Italy, most of the people were Italian. In

the small villages of France, or the gorgeous islands of Greece, people who were born

there lived there. Here though, especially in the places I love most (Utica, Jersey City,

the borough of Queens) our lives are enriched by people from everywhere. Even in

GreeneCounty, New York, a Republican county supporting our president, we have an

Indian gas station restaurant with spectacular food, a world-class baker from Burkina

Faso, and a Muslim mayor in Hudson.

And another surprising positive: the Democratic party is finally moving away from

Neo-Liberal whiteness that’s dominated for so long. Young Democratic Socialists,

including many women and people of color are actually winning around the country.

When I joined DSA many years ago, it was mostly a group of white intellectuals.

Michael Harrington, a wonderful leader and thinker (and friend of Moe Foner’s) and

writer activist Barbara Ehrenreich were co-chairs for years. The movement was pro-

labor, and pro many social justice issues. The group was small.

In some ways that changed with Bernie Sanders, and then, so many young dynamic

people inspired by Bernie became commited to changing this world.

Of course it’s a difficult job. But it’s a job that seems to be playing out in ways so many

people thought were impossible.

Yesterday Zohran Mamdani made a fantastic speech about the country.

“The truth, my friends, is that America is exceptional because here, nothing is fixed into place. The frontier may be closed, we may have walked on the moon, but the work of fulfilling the values first enshrined in the Declaration of Independence — that work endures, my friends, and it belongs to us all. It belongs too to our newest Americans, those standing here with me today, all of whom were recently naturalized. Nearly a decade ago, I too felt what you feel — the joy of no longer being just a New Yorker, but an American too. You each hold a special power. The power to determine what America means.

“The powerful have always known their answer. America, in their view, is an arena of supremacy, where only a select few are allowed freedom, where not all are created equal. America, if you ask them, becomes less the more people it welcomes. America, they will tell you, belongs only to those with the right accent or the right shade of skin. The rest of us, they insist, should be grateful for merely being allowed to visit.

“How small they are, how weak, how unoriginal. At every moment in our past, those who led through exclusion and isolation have tried to win power and enrich themselves by turning us against one another. Division is the oldest trick in politics, and the cheapest. But time and again — including 250 years ago — those forces of division have been vanquished by the forces of progress. As Thomas Paine once wrote, ‘this new world hath been the asylum for the persecuted lovers of civil and religious liberty [...] hither have they fled.’ And yet today, too many of our leaders do not believe in a vision of this nation as an asylum for the persecuted — but rather as one that persecutes those seeking asylum. As we mark 250 years, what do we see?

“We see a city of contradictions within a nation of contradictions.”

The whole speech is worth listening to.

A few years ago NPR did a program on the famous Frederick Douglass speech:

What to the Slave is the Fourth of July. Descendents of Douglass read his still relevant

words.

You might want to listen to music too.

Today’s a good day to listen to Earl Robinson. He was born 116 years ago

Earl Robinson was a singer-songwriter and composer who wrote such songs as “Joe

Hill,”“Black and White” and the cantata, “Ballad for Americans.” In addition, he wrote

many popular songs and was a composer for Hollywood films.

In the 1940s, Mr. Robinson worked on film scores in Hollywood until he was

blacklisted for being a Communist. Unable to work in Hollywood, he moved back to

New York, where he headed the music program at Elisabeth Irwin High School,

directing the orchestra and chorus.

Earl Robinson’s musical influences included Paul Robeson, Lead Belly and American

folk music. He composed “Ballad for Americans” which became a signature song for

Paul Robeson. Other songs written by Earl Robinson include “The House I Live In” (a

1945 hit recorded by Frank Sinatra) and “Joe Hill”, a setting of a poem by Alfred Hayes.

Whatever you do today (besides staying cool) we all wish you an interesting holiday

of hope and music. And food.

Love to all

Esther