Hello Everyone,
The 4th of July is upon us at this writing, and I’ve been reflecting on who I am as a citizen of this nation. Who are we?
Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange
Minneapolis Museum of Art
The above photograph is one that dominated my childhood and the study of the Great Depression. This was a picture taken in the California labor camps of the 1930’s as a result of the great dust bowl migration. We are now in a global great migration and I have wondered if we as a nation would have more compassion if the people coming looked like her? How do we go from these pictures over 80 years ago to the same pictures today? And how can we not have compassion and act with courage?
I am better than this. We are better than this. It’s time for the moral people in this country to stand up and demand better of those held in terrible conditions on our watch, and on our land. We are the people and because we are a democracy, our government is us. The time to act is now. #neveragain
Thanks,
Molly Hermes
Everyday Activist 
This is a great post! Sadly, I wonder if America was ever “great.” After all, European colonists stole the land then set it up to favor rich, white, property-owning males. Seeing the Dorothea Lange photo taken in the California Labor Camps reminded me of one of my favorite books of all time, John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath.”
We the People must rise up and fight for our values. As Steinbeck has his character Tom Joad say, “Wherever they’s a fight so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Wherever they’s a cop beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there…. I’ll be in the way guys yell when they’re mad an’ — I’ll be in the way kids laugh when they’re hungry an’ they know supper’s ready. An’ when our folks eat the stuff they raise an’ live in the houses they build — why, I’ll be there.”
To those in power I say, We the People will keep standing up and fighting for a more perfect union, and justice for all. America, “with all your faults, I love you still.
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Thank you for your comment. I read nearly all of John Steinbeck’s books in high school and, yes, his words are perfect for this time. Here’s to taking an action each day for justice for all.
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