Interdependence Day

On this day, so many years ago,
our forefathers declared our independence,
so we would be free from foreign rule,
free to pursue our own destiny
as a nation, as a people.

And yet, too many of us were NOT free,
shackled to the land by land owners
to whom they were mere property,
stripped of their own inalienable rights
to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

And to this day, those rights are only distant dreams
to all too many of us, as we struggle under the yoke
of a myriad of inequalities.

So I ask myself, on this day, if each of us are truly free,
to enjoy our independence on equal ground
with ALL of our brothers and sisters,
or if our independence is just a happy myth,
that does not describe the world we actually live in.

Freedom is a beautiful dream, one still worth striving for,
despite a million harsh realities that seem to stand in our way.

So perhaps each one of us must first embrace the truth
that we are NOT independent,
that we are bound by a million forces
that limit us as individuals,
but also connect us as a human family.

And there is a deeper truth, that we are INTERDEPENDENT,
that we must achieve freedom for ALL of us,
before any of us are truly free.