An Open Letter
An Open Letter to My Fellow World-Changers,
Today is the 4th of July, and for most Americans it is typically a day of fireworks, concerts, parades, and bar-b-que as we celebrate our National Independence Day. Except this year, things feel different. Most of the world is under some form of quarantine restriction due to Covid-19, ideological extremism on all sides have the social commentary at a boiling point, and every day seems to bring some new horror to our news feed. How can we celebrate in times like these?
Like so many, I have excitedly participated the pageantry of the 4th of July without thought or consideration to the holiday itself. Because of all I had experienced, I could not think, feel, act or be any different… until today. Yes, when the Second Continental Congress ratified the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, they sought to explain why the American colonies were breaking away from Britain and forming a new county. But it was so much more than that too…
The Declaration of Independence establishes the American Mission Statement. In business, a mission statement is a formal summary of the aims and values of an organization to which others can subscribe. The American Mission Statement penned in 1776 essentially reads, We (as ONE people, unanimously) hold these truths to be self-evident, that:
ALL men are created equal
(ALL men) are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights
Among these (unalienable rights) are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness
To secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed
Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it
This passage contains perhaps the most potent and consequential words in American history and set a moral standard to which the United States should strive. To quote Dr. Martin Luther King, the members of the Second Continental Congress were “signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.”
In recognizing this Mission, we must also acknowledge the ideological limitations of the American architects in 1776. Their definition of “men” was grotesque, and time has revealed these sins as destructive to the American Mission. This is why we must consistently and constantly endeavor to alter our society so that the promise is both upheld by and fulfilled for ALL.
Yes, there has been progress towards this Mission since it was issued in 1776, but an objective glance at the world around us reveals there is still work to be done. Celebrating the 4th of July is not about celebrating a Mission Accomplished, rather it is an opportunity to resubscribe to the American Mission and continue improving upon it..
To echo the poet Langston Hughes in his poem Let America Be America Again,
Let America be America again
Let it be the dream it used to be...O, let America be America again-
The land that never has been yet-
And yet must be…O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath-
America will be!”
On a national scale, fulfilling the American Mission can feel overwhelmingly big. The same can be said for the state and city levels. Even our neighborhoods and families can feel too challenging to navigate in today’s climate… In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, “If you want to change the world, start with yourself.” By changing yourself, you will change your family, which will change your neighborhood, which will change your city, which will change your state, which will change YOUR country; You are THAT powerful.
The American architects knew this. They also were aware, however, of the innate flaw in being human, describing mankind as being, “more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.” What are you suffering? What are you tolerating? Where are you settling for “good-enough”? What dreams have you disengaged from?
To quote Pericles, “One person’s disengagement is untenable unless bolstered by someone else’s commitment.” Upholding and fulfilling the American Mission is a task for ALL of us and is only completed by each of us unapologetically being the BEST possible version of ourselves… every day. What does the best version of yourself look like? What impact could they have on the world?
Without that personal sense of purpose, it is impossible to know how to respond to the troubles that will pop up along the way. To quote Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Today, I dare you to declare the vision you have for your life both to yourself AND the world.
“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” – The US Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776
If subscribing to live life as the best version of yourself sounds like a game you want to play, let’s celebrate and then get to work... We are in this together and today is our Independence Day after all!
Onward, Forward, and Upward!
-James