by Cachet Wells
Blue skies and shimmering green grass, flowing clear rivers of water and mountains of fresh winds blowing. A place of health and wealth that’s full of all life’s freedoms and liberties to be had by all. At least this is the picture that is painted for the world to see from the greatest to the very least. A place at the table is set for everyone to come together and not go backward.
Pledging allegiance to stars and stripes because we each have a love for the red, white and blue. A love for this place that represents itself as one where we can live in the land of the free. A love that is suggested to be united in harmony. A love for a place that boldly professes that we are one nation under God that can’t be divided. Despite the harsh reality that for so many, we still have to fight for the right to have a seat at the American table. Fact or fiction: Reality or fake news, we each have an opinion and rights according to that holy Constitution. So we come with lifted voices, saying a place at the table is set for everyone to come together and not go backward.
Thunderous sounds pounding against the winds like a constant ringing out is all that we hear. The heart-wrenching voices of a nation, like church bells, piercing our very ears. The chilling clatter of the screams and cries of oppression spanning as far as our ancestors. The painful realization that no matter how far we have come, we have so much farther to go. From the highest place on the hill to the hole in the wall around the block, we steadily await the change necessary to move the mindset of people forward. A place at the table is set for everyone to come together and not go backward.
Standing upright on the steps of dialogue saying that we all are free, but too often we see the very opposite, can no longer be the normal. So hand in hand, we join, searching for the answers that will truly present a cohesive message of true peace, unity and justice for all. Many of us are still seeking the very freedoms explicitly shouted in America’s pledge. Those words that say that we are all equal on paper, but in actions we see otherwise. Pledging an allegiance to be one nation under God and indivisible. Yet the heart’s devotion of a few across this nation speaks loudly. Believing that there is a limit to whom these citizenship rights belong to boldly. A place at the table is set for everyone to come together and not go backward.
The beauty of the rainbow as it sits high in the sky and shining so bright for all to see. It is gazed upon because of its collective uniqueness that sets it apart as one being totally complete. Together they illuminate a brightness of unified hope altogether. The flow of humanity has been summed up by two agents, and for that, we must dialogue. That of money, which seem to be defined as the integrity of people. The other is that of privilege, which seems to be defined as the isolated rights of people. Yet both go against the very precepts to which America pledges: freedom, rights and justice. So we ring loud the bells of injustice and walk through the doors of those that seek to oppress our God-given birthright as citizens to come to the table for change. A place at the table is set for everyone to come together and not go backward.
Change comes as a result of a process, one that started long ago and has now reached a turning point in the dream. Now here it is some 50-plus years later, and the dream has yet to be fulfilled. What started as onward steps are now mere bricks that have moved us up but not forward. Senseless acts seem to be on repeat, with no consciousness of wrong or consequence. It is amazing to see that you can be sworn to protect and serve in the armed forces of a nation, but not all are afforded the rights of being protected equally within its walls. A place at the table is set for everyone to come together and not go backward.
A place at the table is not about identifying that one is greater than the other. It is about recognizing the beauty, value and significance of each one. A place at the table to effectively communicate and execute a plan of action that promotes intentional, decisive measures to eradicate the improper use and actions of discrimination, racism, injustices and misuse of power of any kind against humanity by any person. A place at the table is set for everyone to come together and not go backward.