Coast Chronicles: Thoughts on Independence Day

Published 8:56 am Monday, July 4, 2022

We, the people, must redeem

The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.

The mountains and the endless plain—

All, all the stretch of these great green states—

And make America again!

— Langston Hughes,

from “Let America Be America Again”

SCOTUS fireworks

The fireworks for this year’s Independence Day have been provided by the Supreme Court. Six justices have rolled us back into the middle of the last century, or before — Texas is using legislation from 1925 to uphold the abortion ban. Those of us women who fought for the freedom to make decisions about our own bodies have had some pretty spicy things to say about where we are now in the U.S. of A. At the many gatherings I attended over this July 4th weekend, one topic was “Who will carry the banner now?… we’re frustrated, outraged and exhausted.”

It would be one thing if every pregnant woman had great prenatal and reproductive care, family leave, daycare and spousal support in every state. But, alas, most or all of those services are non-existent, especially in the states most adamant about making abortions illegal, not only for the women involved but also for doctors. What if we added the actual sperm providers to the list of outlaws? Would that change any minds?

But I tried to put our nation’s current political state out of my mind for at least the weekend so I can enjoy the many gatherings of friends and family.

Folk songs

One weekend gathering featured just the kind of music I love: songs folks can actually sing. What an amazing experience to be in a group of people spontaneously raising their voices, filling their lungs, and belting out songs from a time when songs had tunes and words most everyone knows. At one of the gatherings I attended there were plenty of talented musicians so even a standard like “Tom Dooley” — a two-chord wonder and the first song I learned on the guitar — became a melodic, harmonious gift of communality.

Pull Quote

One weekend gathering featured just the kind of music I love: songs folks can actually sing. What an amazing experience to be in a group of people spontaneously raising their voices, filling their lungs, and belting out songs from a time when songs had tunes and words most everyone knows.

Songs like “Tom D” or “This Land is Your Land” provide numerous options for harmony, descants, a range of voices in all octaves, and one can’t help but think — humans are marvelous! There were smiles all around as we stumbled through the words to “Jamaica Farewell,” “Yellow Bird,” “Sloop John B,” trying to puzzle out second or third verses from the corners of our collective memories. Music is a magical medicine for bringing folks together.

Food, glorious food

At every usually unoccupied home or vacant lot, were family compounds of cars, trucks, tents, modest RVs, enormous fifth-wheelers and chairs circling campfires. Flags were everywhere, parking lots and grocery stores were full. So we all know another theme for our American Independence Day is food.

I’ve had many text-strings asking, “What are you bringing?” or “Here’s what we have so far on the menu.” Of course barbecue (or just ‘Cue as it’s being called on the Food Network) is a hot item: doggies, burgs, sliders, ribs, steak, marinated chicken or chops, are typical July 4th yums. Then the must-have accoutrements: baked beans, potato or macaroni salad, deviled eggs, chips and dips. Add sugar: chocolate chip cookies, brownies, strawberry shortcake, pie and ice cream. Wash it all down with something a little tingly — a cold stout, martini, gin and tonic, lemon drop, or tequila — and you have a more or less perfect beachy meal.

For further reflection

Amid this plenty, may I interject a few additional thoughts for reflection? Our democracy, our independence from the yoke of British rule, that way-back-in-history tea tax, among other catalyzers of our revolution, brought me back to gratefulness for all the gifts we have in our country.

We’re blessed with a land from “sea to shining sea” — that is, lots of possibility for trade, for communications with other countries and cultures on both sides of the earth’s great oceans. Our natural resources, mostly untapped when our nation was created, provided us with raw materials for manufacturing and building. Our open arms for immigrants meant we accumulated unmatched human resources, which brought to our shores some of the most innovative and talented individuals any nation had ever seen, as well as a mix of vibrant cultures. All these conditions gave us an ever-rising arc of accomplishment on the world stage.

We’ve matured as a democracy and we’re experiencing different conditions now. Our population is skewing older; we’re dependent on resources from abroad; we’re part of a global community. The policies and the structures that worked so well for us in the past need to be adapted so our good fortune can continue. Going backward is not the answer. I was reminded of this in a deep way last week when I visited Tieton and witnessed an exhibit in the Mighty Tieton Warehouse Gallery.

Migration

The current traveling exhibit (up until July 17th) is “Hostile Terrain and Hunter Gatherings,” a moving and graphic illustration of how many people are dying in their efforts to enter our country. Walking in the door of the large cool once fruit warehouse now gallery and conference space, one is impressed first with the array of colorful and eye-catching images of monarch butterflies — vivid in black and orange — butterflies who migrate on their gossamer wings from Mexico to the Pacific Northwest. Then one sees the metaphoric connection.

Spanning the back wall of the gallery is a large map representing Southern California, Arizona and New Mexico; it’s a map with thousands of small red pins and, centered in the middle, a cluster of yellow tags. Stepping closer, I saw that those were so called “toe tags,” each providing detail about and representing a body found in the desert.

This exhibit was meticulously created by a team of Tieton volunteers led by Rosie Saldana, artistic director for Dia de los Muertos for Tieton Arts and Humanities, and Yesenia Hunter. Rosie explained a bit more. “This exhibit came as a project, with a grid and instructions. Our team of volunteers took several days to create it. Every pin on the map is geolocated and we hand wrote all the toe tags — and these tags are only a quarter of the real total. Just putting the exhibit together makes you very sad, as you write out the tags you see the range of ages from babies to elders. You feel every death.”

“There are so many stories to be told and so many stories that can’t be told. We’re hoping the exhibit will have an impact of people. That we can realize building walls isn’t stopping these people from trying to cross borders. They’re not bad people. They’re not trying to come to America to steal jobs; they’re just looking for a better life.” (For more information: colibricenter.org).

Freedom

How desperate must you be to risk death to find a better life? Even the college educated Honduran couple Alejandro Miguel Andino Caballero and his fiancé Margie Támara Paz Grajeda, two of the 51 found dead in the truck in San Antonio, Texas, tried to make the crossing. Don’t get me wrong — I’m not promoting illegal immigration, but I am saying we must find ways to solve the problems facing our nation. We’re in a miasma of divisiveness and stagnation right now; one that could undo our good fortune and endanger our democracy.

Yes, let’s celebrate our luck at being born Americans. And let’s step up to the responsibility that freedom affords us. Let’s find ways to talk to each other; to solve problems that are killing people; and stop creating situations that do harm.