It is simple really. There is a war going on right now. The forces of peace against the forces of hatred. On Saturday August 12, 2017 a casualty; no a combatant, gave their life for peace in Charlottesville, VA.
Heather Heyer was peacefully counter protesting when she was killed by a simpering coward.
The skirmish in question revolved around the removal of Confederate Statues in the recently renamed Emancipation Park.
The vanquished armies from a century and a half ago are still fighting a war with recruits of hatred. These armies rely on intimidation to get their way. While the official guns were laid down in 1865, Emancipation has been a long road. Winding through Reconstruction and Jim Crow the hooded armies planted trees of strange fruit. It took a century of travel to arrive at a ballot box. And still there is a fight to allow the votes to be cast.
As a country, we are finally coming to terms with what we are as a people.
We talk about Freedom like we cornered the market on the concept. But when we treat our citizens to jail; we are the most punitive on the planet. When an athlete makes a case for refusing to stand for the Star Spangled Banner because he knows the history of the ditty, he gets blackballed from playing what is supposed to be America’s game. (Irony is the NFL operates as a socialist organization rather than a capitalist organization.)
When a single woman is run down in the street for exercising her First Amendment rights and her duty as a citizen, she is somehow questioned.
Maybe to give a victory of light over darkness rededicate Emancipation Park as Heyer Park.
Then take a large heavily traveled thoroughfare and rededicate it as The Emancipation Highway.
What happened at the park was a single battle in a long war against violence against our own people. Other warriors are namesakes of highways and squares and monuments. Heather Heyer was a warrior for peace. We need to honor those who stand up against hatred armed only with their presence and their voices.
Emancipation is a long road we share.
We need to drive that home every day.