July 4th Special

This blog is a July 4th special about my experience as a black woman on Independence Day

It’s July 4th aka American Independence day aka the best day for fireworks shops across the country. This year with Black Lives Matter and more focus on the racial injustice in this country, this holiday has a little more weight on its shoulders.

I have always had an interesting relationship with my country. I love America. It gives me opportunities that I adore and the ability to meet people from different races and cultures. However, I have always felt American in a way that was very different from my white American peers. Despite what is emphasized in my history classes, my family before me didn’t feel so welcomed in this country. And, this feeling is carried from generation to generation, also known as transgenerational trauma. The way I connect to America mainly is the memories I have here and the values I hold that come from my experience of being born and raised in America and make me the American that I am. With this feeling of being a distant American maybe I do have some complicated feelings about Independence Day because what are we celebrating exactly? For my ancestors, life did not change one bit. They fought on behalf of the newly formed American people and we’re still no more valued than the years prior. I do understand that without the Revolutionary War, there is the possibility that we would be similar to Australia… a Queen loving yet democratic country that confuses a lot of visitors (aka me). However, for many people of color across the country, July 4th does not represent independence. It represents a distraction for many Americans to avoid the social injustices that existed in 1776 and continue to persist today.

One of the reasons I wanted to write this blog is to give readers, specifically non-POC readers, what a black person potentially thinks about and goes through on this holiday. I know this blog is not about an environmental issue nor related to environmentalism, but here at Climate Justice Now, we try to connect with people of different backgrounds and experiences. I believe that hearing a person’s experience first-hand is really important as an activist. So, I hope that my story connects with you all and makes you wonder what else you can learn by listening to people.

Written by Dominique Agnew, Senior at Cornell University and Climate Justice Now intern