Making History: One Step at a Time

Yesterday, I felt conflicted all day. Due to my growing insights into activism, I have become so clearly aware of the lack of freedom that we have; as women, LGBTQ+ people, disabled, and people of color. We are not free. I woke up yesterday morning feeling that I have no right to celebrate. It's become so clear in the past few months since November that much of our country is more discriminatory than I noticed in the past. In November, discrimination, misogyny, inequality, and racism won. On July 4, discrimination, misogyny, inequality, and racism was still present. I don't want to speak for anybody else, but I do know that every 4th of July, I feel more vulnerable. I carry myself differently, I hide myself more, and I feel more endangered than I usually do, because for many people, I've found that patriotism is synonymous to violence. I don't know how to feel patriotic anymore. I used to adore the 4th of July, and this year, I couldn't get into the