“I pledge allegiance to the flag
Of the United States of America
And to the Republic for which it stands
One nation, under God,
For liberty and justice for all.”
In this country we are taught before we can even read to memorize these words, know them by heart, and embrace them without question. We are told to savor the taste of them on our tongue and recognize how lucky we are to be here — in this land of opportunity, freedom, and equality.
We are trained recite the words “with liberty and justice for all” with a smile on our faces, with pride in our hearts, and most importantly, with the knowledge of this nation’s greatness. Without ever really asking ourselves why we should always be willing to bleed red, white, and blue.
Years after year of repeating the same words, until they became securely embedded into our consciousness. A set of beliefs we were programmed to repeat, a reminder that we were never to question, to wonder, to realize, that “liberty and justice for all” has always really meant “liberty and justice for some.”
To the woman whose assaulter, the one who left her beaten and broken with his dirty hands and his heaving breaths and his voice in her ear telling her to be quiet, to silence herself, to stop struggling, walked away a free man, while her life was forever tainted. While her heart remains trapped in a cage far worse than any prison as they kicked her while she was down, told her she was asking for it, tied her hands behind her back and watched in silence as she burned.
To the young black teen whose murderer, the one who sentenced him to death for the color of his skin and left his body to paint the asphalt red, walked away a free man, while he will never again open his eyes to see the world that was always working against him. While he will never get back the life that was stolen from him, and his mother will never see justice for her baby boy, forced instead to watch as her son is painted as a thug, a criminal, told that his death was not even considered a crime, that the man who killed him should not be held accountable, that his life did not matter, anyway.
To all of those who will not be given the justice they deserve against those who have wronged them and the society that has failed them. Whose liberty has only ever been conditional, whose voices are silenced, whose bodies are beaten, whose souls are broken. Put on trial in front of the world for the very crimes that have been committed against them and found unworthy, unimportant, undeserving, all because of who they are and things they cannot change.
And all the while we are told to look the other way, turn a blind eye to their suffering and repeat those words that have come to feel so bitter on my tongue. I have long since learned how to spit them out after keeping them pressed against the back of my teeth, searing the back of my throat like acid, tasting foul with the knowledge of what they really mean, and who they really stand for.
But now, I have learned to use my voice for better things. Things that I believe in, things that have meaning, things that hold truth. Now, I refuse to be silent. I will make myself heard. I will not stand by idly and watch as injustice occurs. Not anymore.
invisibilime 