Mother and daughter earning their living by combing through garbage Baghdad July 4th 2006. Desperate poverty, fear, bereavement, imprisonment, mutilation, torture, hunger, rape, disease, this is what the American occupation has brought to Iraqi women and children.
What’s the line in that song?
Oh yes … “Each day the 4th of July.”
Have a nice day.
markfromireland
No tag for this post.
The 4th is a day I always find difficult - have since the Vietnam War. The vision of liberty and equality is so moving yet the reality - and not simply recently - has been quite the opposite more times than not. So I tend to ignore the whole thing except to be irritated by the lack of regular news programs.
This year I live in an urban and highly quirky and diverse neighborhood and as I was getting my first blog dose of the day, I heard sirens and popped out to the corner to watch the neighborhood parade. Like those funky parades in small towns in New England, this was a peoples’ celebration but with faces of every color of the human rainbow, hiphop marching bands followed by floats with little kids waving and laughing and two local peace groups - much older than me and frail but feisty - and finishing with the Chitown Posse, a mostly african american crew on horseback cowboying down 53rd street with style.
These events bring tears to my eyes - perhaps the reason I normally avoid them since it is so easy to slip … into that jingoistic patriotism, the american exceptionalism, that leads to horrors. Still, to see a community of faces … and one with a political awareness and a pride in diversity makes me smile as well.
And then I return to the news and see more horrors, the fate of children like those I just watched smiling down the street, their brothers and sisters in Iraq whose lives do not include smiles - and whose sorrow is caused by our inaction and lack of power to change what our government is doing.
Keep fighting, yes but also keep looking, eyes wide open at what we do and what is done in our name.
Well said, Siun.
Perhaps what you are seeing and what is moving for you is that you can see what could easily be if human beings were left alone without the power sructures and the people who exploit them.
I know it is the case for me.
Celebrations become bitter/sweet occasions for me because I am always thinking “Why can’t it be like this all (OK, most) of the time?”
“Why is there so much oppression for every small victory, every small celebration of humanity?”
Have a happy 4th, Siun.
And it’s all thanks to some old “insurgents”, eh?
Seriously, I wish you well. Along with all your enlightened and civilised fellow Americans.
As for the others — well, like my feelings toward my own ’stupid’ fellow Brits — I daren’t say. Not here at Mark’s place. Moderator Omar may still have me on his ‘no sh*t’ list. ;^]
Meanwhile, it goes without saying, keep on keeping on, Mark and co.
Actually it’s me tonight and considering the language I used over at your place I’ll give you fair dibs.
Omar generally fires a warning shot first. He’s a good troll trainer too, amazing how some people just can’t take being done over by a brown person. All going well in the very near future we sort of pinkish people are going to be in the minority amongst the moderators and then oh goodness gracious me how we’ll survive with our egos intact I’ll never know. I just hope they don’t opress us too much.
:-))))))))))))))
And yeah Siun have a good 4th. There’s a lot to be proud of in America too - it’s just that at present most of your fellow Americans are proud of all the wrong things.
Keep the faith.
Heh. I saw it Declan but considering some of This Old Brit’s choice stuff, I doubt he turned a [grey, old], hair.
Btw, things over there right now are about as hot as they’ve ever been — like the current temperatures we’re having — phew. Anyhow, I’m going to sit back till tomorrow before butting back in myself.
G’night all.