11:11 * never forget * a11 1 1ove
Suffice it to say, ‘twas not Bo Jangles that penned the Star Spangled Banner.
And the song remains the same.
The NFL still plays our national anthem at the start of every game.
And then Mr. Colin Kaepernick took a knee.
At present he is a biracial NFL outsider, taking a stand on behalf of black men singled out by police brutality and blatant indiscrimination, based largely on the complexion of one’s skin.
Francis Scott Key conversely, was a Washington insider and upper crust elite, and ironically not unlike our whitebread NFL owners, and Kaepernick’s former employer. Key wasn’t quite an anti abolitionist, ‘cept when it came to the letter of the law, to which he reportedly followed to a T.
A middling poet and maestro lawyer, he however was a slaveholder, and if only by inheritance, albeit he was admittedly a proponent of what could be by benefit of the doubt or loosely termed, a proponent of (Marcus) Garveyism and repatriation of (former slaves and now freed) black men back to Africa (Liberia). And still he was a separatist who believed in privilege and superiority, and like the rest of ‘em, in our (burgeoning and just) manifest destiny.
By some account he was anti war, albeit at least by this author’s accounting his “inspirational” ode, now tainted in some circles, is decidedly pro military industrial complex and glorifies war, and which of course is in stark contrast to the (slave legacy and) melancholic inspiration of the og street performer or gypsy songman in the all us, imploring of us to get up and dance, and rather than to fight for what is “right” and just. Is not life a love story and her song our lantern ?
For the some of us, Key’s third stanza is what has done us in. “No refuge could save the hireling (professional British troops/mercenary hessians for hire) and slave (Colonial Marines/escaped American slaves offered combat ops/duty in promise/return for their freedom), from the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave (commentators call out Key for his vantage point toward a most unpatriotic act of fleeing slavery, and perhaps for his term “freeman” which may or may not be inclusive of say a one Morgan Freeman).” He was a well heeled patriot of the times.
During the War of 1812 and handicapped by a manpower shortage, British adopted tactics included impressment, the kidnapping of American seamen for use in battle against their own, and the welcoming of black and native American deserters, escaping slavery and oppression in our “home of the brave and land of the free.” After the war we demanded the return of our “American property,” albeit the Brits held true to their word and left our “traitorous” lot of their own free will and accord, and with most migrating to Canada/the West Indies (Halifax/Trinidad).
Those ex pats are now known as ‘Merikans, and again suffice it to say, would surmise it to say that there are a fair bit of a like lot still oppressed and virtually enslaved within our US borders. We are still at war within. The American way is one of prevailing public opinion and whereby “our” majority opinion substitutes for truth, and such is our American “democracy.” We have the red scare tactics of the republicans and the corresponding dem blues, socialism vs. nationalism and ye ol’ good vs. evil. We have shouts toward biblical law and in the face of majority rule, of which btw encourages conformity and wherein dissent turns reactionary. We have racial unrest and corresponding reform on the table, but only unto our largely uniform, homogenized white Christian males. I am not anti, but anti Christ and not un, but unAmerican. Patriotism trumps my common sense/logic and the rhetoric of political perversion perpetrates a most clear and present danger upheld by our Fundamentalist Catholic and Christian oligarchy.
And by birthplace, I too am a coastal elite, albeit more oft than not, singled out as scapegoat for American trepidation at large. And like Mr. Kaepernick, eye too do my best by free speech and a mostly nonviolent communication, or in his case his purported/perceived method of resistance.
How do we move “from paranoia to pronoia?” The third stanza is by most accounts no longer part of our national anthem, and albeit our backstepping was due more to concern for British sentiment and less for any deference to our black indignities. Are we not conquerors justified in the name of righteousness and just conquest ?? Or were we not once upon a time rejects and discards of the (once great) British Empire, seeking out “our” freedom from oppression ??
“In God We Trust,” separates out those of us who practice a “godless communism,” and apart from our most just and “Christian America.” And if only it was simply a matter of flag and song.
For some, we find the Francis Scott Key ballad a bit too Yankee Doodle Dandy to our liking, and may want for an alternative. Dr. Harry Edwards, professor and advisor to both the NFL and Colin Kaepernick, proffers we consider what is known as the black national anthem, a song titled “Lift Every Voice and Sing, and of which asks us to stand true to our native lands. In addition a Mennonite school with pacifist ideals renounced Key’s work in favor of the well known “America the Beautiful,” a song that speaks of a peoples in brotherhood and unto a most amazing grace.
South Carolina did away with their Confederate flag.
Is it so wrong if the NFL changes their tune ??
oppression * five of wands * Voyager Tarot by James Wanless
See it true, see it thru. Go the extra mile. Continue on from the false summit. Recall to see the forest for the trees and ride the night mare as your trusted faery steed. Recall that the way out is in. Let go, give in and yield. Be of service and assistance. Consider to be accepting of disorder and irregularity. You are the messenger. Deliver your msg. As mystic, speak softly and share of your medicine, and of a most heartfelt sense. In stillness, feel your kundalini rising. Transcend your mental slavery and light the candle for others to see the way. Live in harmony with natural law and order. Real eyes your truest of natures. Open the gate and smile at the gatekeepers as you go thru, with things. Give thanks for the unrestricted nature of your open heartspace.
Move from obscured to in full view. Free yourself from limitations by seeing yourself accurately. Real eyes that all things are possible if you see the possibilities. See your way thru setback and all the whilst you are welcome to wallow in your disappointment. Increase your image of yourself and you will (undoubtedly) unlock all your talents. Recall that the greater your self image, the greater your self expression. Sing of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
