"I ain't even white." |
So everyone's been wondering HOW.
Let me tell you a story via the Twitter-verse. Basically, my wonderful, pushy, but extremely supportive best friend Kristi Lewis saw this tweet:
Two minutes later... this idea was birthed:
Kristi QUICKLY told me I needed to enter said contest as we were ALREADY GOING to the concert. I said, SURE WHY NOT?!! So I clicked on the tweet below:
After reading the official rules, I realized I didn't qualify for the contest. The submission had to be a YouTube video cover of an already existing SONG. This contest was for singers. I'm not one of those, so I said:
"Kristi, I can't do that! I don't sing!" And she so lovingly said, "Who cares? Do it anyway. What do you have to lose?" SO. I submitted my video of "Society's Box" to Kelly's contest with only my name and email address. That was it. No explanation. No extra words. WELL. Kristi. You're always right. Yesterday I received an email stating that Kelly had picked me to perform on Saturday. The performance will be during Kelly's set in Hershey Stadium. Said stadium looks like this:
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It's not like I was ever gung-ho about Independence Day. It's not my favorite holiday. Cook-outs and fireworks are cool and all, but like I'll live if they don't happen.
But this year was different. This year was difficult in a weird, uneasy feeling kind of way. Let me preface this entire post by saying this: I understand that without the freedoms and rights that were fought for in the American Revolution, I wouldn't have the ability to type these words. Freedom of speech. I get that. But on July 4, 1776, I wouldn't have been able to speak my mind. Because I am a woman. White, Christian males would have been able to say whatever they wanted... but not me. Not my black coworkers. My black coworkers' ancestors were still slaves. I'm not exaggerating. One of my coworkers knows the exact plantation on which her family worked. When I used to think of the 4th of July, I thought about how proud I am to be an "American." And being proud of being American meant that my country was the best. We've always been on the "right" side of things. Wrong. Slavery. Just one example. The reason that I didn't feel like celebrating Independence Day isn't because I hate that day. I think I could still hold to the belief that July 4th, 1776 represents a day of progress that I support. But after wrestling with the issues I have this school year, I just flat-out didn't want to be excited about the history of our nation. I've just been taught so many misconceptions my whole life about the history of America, and as I grew older, I wish someone would have added more truth little by little. I've been reconciling a lot of emotions about our nation's progress, and this year was too emotional to be proud. Whose Independence Day is it? I feel sad, maybe a little bit lied to. But I'm working through my thoughts and haven't made everything make sense just yet, but I'm choosing to think for myself. If nothing else, I'm proud of that. |
AuthorA young woman trying to figure out why she matters and where she belongs in a struggling, urban culture. CategoriesArchives
November 2016
All stories, opinions, and suggestions are written strictly by the author of this blog, and do not reflect the opinions or stance of Communities in Schools of Philadelphia.
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