MY FLAG, MY COUNTRY! by Mary Neal

by duo | March 25, 2008 at 07:18 am

739 views | 21 Recommendations | 15 comments

This is our flag and our country! Too often the flag is used as a symbol of one political party rather than a symbol of the United States of America. Many African Americans do not say with pride, "I am an American!" because of the ongoing racism and centuries of hatred we have endured and continue to battle. But when you look around you wherever you happen to be in this country, you see the results of centuries of our contribution.

We did not come here in the 1940's seeking a better life, although I congratulate those who did and hope they found good success for their families.  But African Americans have been here from the beginning working to make America the prosperous nation that it is ever since the earliest settlers! That's black men's blood under the overpasses where you drive. That's black men's sweat you see drying on the railroad tracks as you take long trips, sweat from leased slaves. That's black men's blood on the battlefields from the Revolutionary War to Iraq's desert. That's black children's echos you hear as you drive by the cotton fields throughout the South.

This is MY COUNTRY, and I'm going to fight to hold America to the pledge I was instructed to say every morning of my young life:

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, ONE NATION UNDER GOD, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

America WILL keep her pledge to me, even though my hands are raw, calloused and swollen from yanking her promises away from those who would withhold the rights I am due, and I honor my pledge to America. My great, great, great grandmother came from Africa, but for me, America is home! I will join hands in unity with Americans of all races and ethnic groups and fight to make her better just as our fathers fought to carve her out of wilderness and died to keep her safe. Let others give up on America, but I'm going to stand right here and claim my hard-won citizenship with pride and demand what is mine by birth and bloodshed. GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Great video!  Watch:

James Brown's Living in America
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHqUipinDyw

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Another video to enjoy!

Red Skelton's Pledge of Allegience
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPbIls0iOnI

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It is important to keep in mind that patriotism also means developing and keeping a good relationship with other world citizens. Ultimately, we ALL share a common home - earth. And whether we acknowledge it or not, we all share the same loving Creator.

If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. ~ Romans 12:18

A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly. ~ Proverbs 18:24

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UPDATE 12-13-08

An interesting thing happened this morning. I opened my Yahoo email box and there were several groups I never joined - Pakistan, and others. I wish everyone well all over the world, but I wondered why the groups showed up in my email box since I never joined them and do not wish to do so. Perhaps, like with Martin Luther King and others, there is an attempt to make it appear that any Americans who stand up for freedom and justice for all must be of another political persuasion. To clarify, I am a capitalist without any capital, and I believe more in democracy than those folks in Washington any old day. Bless their hearts. Stealing my emails and replacing my groups with foreign national groups will not work. Try something else. And stop substituting the last part of addresses in my contact list with different data after the @ so that my mail does not reach the folks I email!

At the end of the day, I will still stand and demand to know what you did with my mentally ill brother, Larry Neal, who died under Secret Arrest in Memphis/Shelby County Jail. His family has asked for FIVE years what you did to him and why you did it. Furthermore, I will continue to demand that you decriminalize mental illness and replace prisons with treatment for mental patients. God said that we must treat others as we wish to be treated, and I don't think anyone in power around here would want a sick loved one treated as though his illness was a criminal offense punishable by solitary confinement in the "hole," tasered, gassed, or otherwise abused. No official would have the least bit of trouble having the death of his loved one investigated, especially if that person dies in government custody. So I don't appreciate it. Freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and the right to petition government for a redress of grievances are my rights as a citizen, and I will not give up any of them.

To secretly arrest a handicapped citizen and return him dead without explanation, excuse, full autopsy report, and denied any investigation is very undemocratic of YOU, not me.

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Mary Neal
Website: http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com

Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill
P.O. Box 7222, Atlanta, GA 30357
Visit online: http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/AIMI

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duo

at 22:46 on December 17th, 2008

Thanks, Politisite! I believe in the Pledge and making it a reality for my family and for many other citizens. I hold to the statement: "In God we trust." We should never abandon sound principals because there are some faults in the system and people in high positions who refuse to adhere to those principals. I think it behooves all Americans to try to make the ideal of America a reality for all citizens across this great land.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
~ Martin Luther King Jr.

Regarding folks wanting to take "under God" away from the Pledge, I say yes. He is sick of hypocrits anyway and has never appreciated empty accolades. Folks saying one thing and living contrary to their own words make Him have stomach upset. Read:

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked ...Revelations 3:15-17

Many folks feel so smart and wealthy that they don't need to serve God in America and treat everyone with respect. So if people feel independent of God and refuse to live by His order, which is to love everybody, then they should indeed stop calling His name. He is likely weary of hearing it.

Mary

duo

at 22:54 on December 17th, 2008

I will certainly look forward to your First Amendment article, Politisite. That Amendment is taking a licking right now, but it will STAND!

duo

at 15:52 on August 21st, 2008

Wow! Thanks for the use of the AWESOME flag photography, aka fotography! They are great. Did you take these pictures? If so, where can I see more of your work?

Mary

Dar (not verified)

at 16:33 on August 21st, 2008

Bravo.....,

duo

at 17:06 on August 21st, 2008

Hello, Dar, my Care2 friend! Thank you for visiting and leaving an encouraging comment here at NowPublic.

Blessings,

Mary

Marcia Everett (not verified)

at 16:52 on August 23rd, 2008

Hi Mary:

I absolutely agree with the sentiment, that this country has benefitted from our BLOOD SWEAT and TEARS.

I don't however, agree that the flag represents that. All that flag represents is the 13 colonies(occupationists) and the fifty states that produced.(mini me imperialists)

ONE NATION UNDER GOD was not added until 1954. And since the constitution protects us from religion making laws, by separating church and state. This item should be removed.

duo

at 12:03 on August 25th, 2008

Thanks for your comments, Marcia.

Mary

azzayindia

at 09:05 on December 14th, 2008

i agree with u

duo

at 09:30 on December 14th, 2008

Thank you, Azzayindia. It is time for people to focus on the ties that bind us instead of so much division. Blood and body parts are interchangeable across races, nationalities, and economic classes, so what does that tell you? We are all in the human family. We should love one another. But if folks find "love thy neighbor" is asking too much, we should at least respect each other.

politisite

at 21:12 on December 17th, 2008

Well Done. Very good read

politisite

at 21:38 on December 17th, 2008

The words separation of church and state do not appear in any of the founding documents. The constitution guarantees freedom of religion not freedom from religion. A quick read of Senator Story's book from 1811 shows that the founders wanted religion to be encouraged as it provided for civility among the inhabitants of America. It warned against providing more emphasis to a specific sect over another.

People contemporary to them had no concept of separation of church and state. What is being taught in school is that there is a separation clause in the constitution not an establishment clause. There is no document, book, or memoir to be found contemporary to the writers that agree with the rhetoric that is being taught in our schools today.

Now if one believes in a living breathing changing document then one is not worried about what the founders thought and intended. One then is only worried about contemporary thought.

Anyone who has taken a basic English or literature class knows that the context and thought process behind a document helps one understand the intent.

I challenge anyone to find anything contemporary to the founding fathers that calls for a complete separation of church and state.

For Me, I am a strict Constitutionalist, with its amendments, that provided for equality of all men and woman.

One should further read President Lincolns address that freely used the Bible in his speeches. One should also be aware that every President has stated, "so help me God" when he is Sworn In on a Bible. This practice was statrted by Washington who added, "So help me God" to his statement. Many folks call Washington a Deist. The problem with this is that a deist beleives that God is there but chooses not to inteviene in the Affairs of Man. Now if Washington was a Deist, why would he say, "So Help Me God"? Religion has been a large part of our government from it's inception. The idea of Freedom from and seperation of religion is a rather new concept.

dunkelberg

at 22:09 on December 17th, 2008

Believing... that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their Legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church and State." --Thomas Jefferson to Danbury Baptists, 1802. ME 16:281 (emphasis added)

"I do not believe it is for the interest of religion to invite the civil magistrate to direct its exercises, its discipline, or its doctrines; nor of the religious societies, that the General Government should be invested with the power of effecting any uniformity of time or matter among them. Fasting and prayer are religious exercises. The enjoining them, an act of discipline. Every religious society has a right to determine for itself the times for these exercises and the objects proper for them according to their own particular tenets; and this right can never be safer than in their own hands where the Constitution has deposited it... Everyone must act according to the dictates of his own reason, and mine tells me that civil powers alone have been given to the President of the United States, and no authority to direct the religious exercises of his constituents." --Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Miller, 1808. ME 11:429

"It is... proposed that I should recommend, not prescribe, a day of fasting and prayer. That is, that I should indirectly assume to the United States an authority over religious exercises which the Constitution has directly precluded them from. It must be meant, too, that this recommendation is to carry some authority and to be sanctioned by some penalty on those who disregard it; not indeed of fine and imprisonment, but of some degree of proscription, perhaps in public opinion. And does the change in the nature of the penalty make the recommendation less a law of conduct for those to whom it is directed?... Civil powers alone have been given to the President of the United States, and no authority to direct the religious exercises of his constituents." --Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Miller, 1808. ME 11:428

"I am for freedom of religion, and against all maneuvers to bring about a legal ascendency of one sect over another." --Thomas Jefferson to Elbridge Gerry, 1799. ME 10:78

politisite

at 22:43 on December 17th, 2008

Very good work. I know about the first quote by Thomas Jefferson. The separation that Jefferson speaks of here is no laws will be passed that establish one religion over another. The word respecting should be evaluated.

I see you were very fair with your RE: Very admirable. I do not want to high jack this thread as the main subject matter is much wider.

I do hope that you come loaded for bear when I do my series on the 1st Amendment in the weeks to come. It will be nice to have some intelligent discourse on the subject

Thanks

politisite

at 23:13 on December 17th, 2008

Mary,

I hope that you read my series in the coming weeks on the 1st amendment that will deal with faith in America. I think MLK said it very well. Really good work here. I wrote a lengthy comment above about church and state issue (please forgive me) I didn't want to high jack this thread as you were dealing with a much wider issue.

Have a great night

duo

at 19:40 on December 22nd, 2008

Politisite, I am honored that your interest led you to this story. Thank you for commenting. I enjoyed reading your thoughts on the matter and look forward to your First Amendment work. Speaking of Rev. King, I listen to his speeches almost daily. He and many other great spokesmen and writers who advocated freedom and justice for all are sources of inspiration for many people. Here is a speech wherein he said,

"All we say to America is, 'Be true to what you said on paper.' If I lived in China or even Russia, or any totalitarian country, maybe I could understand some of these illegal injunctions, maybe I could understand the denial of certain basic First Amendment privileges, because they haven't committed themselves to that over there. But somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of press. Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for rights. And so just as I say, we aren't going to let any dogs or water hoses turn us around, we aren't going to let any injunction turn us around. We're going on."

SEE THE VIDEO! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1L8y-MX3pg