By Hipolito Navarrete, Managing Editor/Publisher

There is so much to be thankful for those of us that grew up in the United States of America; we just need to remind ourselves. The signers of the declaration of independence tried to give individuals the power to find their destiny in writing because “we hold this truths to be self evident that all men are created equal,” in actual practicality that was not true if you were not part of particular communities.

We celebrate the idea that was set forth on a document by men that were feeling the yoke of oppression, that was the common feeling that we still connect to, the higher calling of forming a nation state where people that are being unjustly burdened, through physical or financial persecution or exclusion could find justice. A place where fear did not override our sense of humanity, where those individuals that would find justifications to humiliate, subjugate, or hurt their fellow humans, could be controlled or at least managed. This is the place that we are still struggling for; we are still engaged in a battle of respect of all humans, not just those that we understand or feel we can respect. There is so much to do. The promise of this land is equality and it has been bastardized to give equality to those that can afford it. Those with guns can’t seem to remember that they still have their guns and have seem to have forgotten that control does not mean confiscate. They are so confused or emotionally invested in being able to kill other humans at a whim that they are willing to follow their pointy headed leaders to stand off with their neighbors even though those neighbors just want to get a cup of coffee and a donut, and as the demographic changes expand that would be a pan dulce.

We are at a moment when more than 2 of children under 1 do not reflect the ethnic background or color of the settlers and this change is being seen with tremendous hate and fear, and to an extent the fear may be justified because no one wants to lose the power they have held and gained through many sort of documented methods, some fair and some extremely nasty.

In this beautiful day of the 2016 Fourth of July, we celebrate the gift that we have been left, an idea of equality that we must continue to strive for. It’s an ideal that does not exist anywhere yet because of our fears. The United States has never been anything other than an inspirational set of ideas that are worth following, ideas that should not be attributed a color, a sexual preference, a religious choice or an ethnicity, its an idea that we still do not understand or want, otherwise we would be living it. The danger of interpreting something that we do not understand, is that we take what we feel fits our point of view, as deluded as it sometimes is. There are those that follow a charlatan and call him their voice, there are those that sympathize with murderers because he executed their religious conviction and allow for his crime. We are at a crossroads, we will grow stronger if we seriously incorporate what we celebrate today, but if we allow the harlequin to sit at the sit of power this could be one of the last we celebrate as a United States. Let’s remind ourselves of what we celebrate so we can give all a sit at the table of prosperity and peace. Happy Fourth of July!