The United States recently honored the anniversary of the United States’ holiday known as Memorial Day. If you think about it, holidays offer us the opportunity to keep track of history. Memorial Day has as its purpose reminding people to honor, or at least, recognize the contributions that our soldiers have made toward the safety and security of American citizens.
Wikipedia offers the following information regarding this important holiday: Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It is also considered to be the unofficial beginning of summer. Memorial Day is a time for visiting cemeteries and memorials to mourn the military personnel who died in the line of duty. Volunteers will place American flags on the graves of those military personnel in national cemeteries. Memorial Day was first observed on May 30, 1868.”
Fast forward to 2026; Americans are faced with some of the most drastic changes observed in many years. For one, we have a chief executive (i.e. president) who basically serves as the leader of our country, and who has very interesting ideas about how we should function as a nation. Unfortunately, this leader has strange ideas about how we should behave as a nation. He has made certain promises that he has not been able to keep or bring to fruition. This appears to be due to his personal philosophy; our leader, Donald J. Trump, tends to be interested in things that do not contribute to the well-being of regular citizens. He is spending an enormous amount of money that does not relate to the needs of non-wealthy citizens.
With this said, it is important to understand the past in order to create a better future. As we look backwards, we recognize the prominence of Jim Crow life; we see the discrimination, deprivation, and general maltreatment that was prominent “back in the day.” Today, we have the privilege of looking back on that past in order to craft a better future. There is a challenge in this regard, however, and that will be the behavior of citizens, particularly, non-wealthy individuals and families, as they respond to our new social directions.
Back on point, when thinking about the well-being of citizens, the military is right up there in the front row; our soldiers have a unique responsibility, they see themselves as those who will keep Americans safe. Unfortunately, our soldiers are also citizens and, in that regard, stand to lose their own lives. Our soldiers are, therefore, super-important. An example of the jeopardy that they face can be seen in the numbers of soldiers who have lost their lives as a result of Trumpian machinations during the Iran “war.” Trump did not serve in the military, and because of this, it’s pretty certain that he is not able to really relate to what it means to demonstrate sacrificial behavior for the sake of others.
One more thing; as alluded to in previous paragraphs, it is possible to forecast the future based on what happened in the past. African Americans have actually been making great progress in this country in spite of a very negative past. But it’s not lost on astute observers that the backward movement of the current administration is very toxic. Many of the gains that have been experienced by Black people have been observed by pundits that understand that our current trajectory is going in a backwards direction. We are literally in danger of going “Back to the Future,” i.e., a future that recaps the negative past. Because of this, we need to take control of our collective destiny before it’s too late, and this involves making sure that we put the work in that will result in better sociological outcomes for ourselves and our posterity. After all, the past predicts the future! Aluta continua.
Reprinted from the Chicago Crusader
