Today is a national holiday in the United States of America celebrating this country's freedom from the rule of Great Britain. What was once a colony being governed by a place that didn't understand what was in their best interests became a separate nation of states who could govern themselves with the assistance of a unifying governing body. In essence, they were 'free' to take care of themselves. No longer would a single monarch, chosen by "divine right" or "royal blood" be the leader. It would now be a person chosen by the people (well, an electoral college that supposedly represented the people). The people would have a say in who was governing them and what would happen in their own country.... And best of all, the founding fathers of the country decided that we would all have "inalienable rights" that would make everyone in the country 'free' and automatically able to pursue the best life possible.
So in America, we are considered ‘free,’ especially since the 15th Amendment to the Constitution abolished slavery in America and set free millions of people of African descent who had previously been held legally in a system of chattel slavery. Of course, there are those who will argue that freedom has still not been gained, not just by the descendants of slaves but by other minority groups in America. This may be seen in the persecution of Muslims or the fight for rights that the LGBT community is currently engaged in (despite victories in places like NY).
But that’s not really the freedom I want to address. While it is probable that there will always be a minority group that struggles in one way or another to receive legal recognition or protection because the powerful think that the only way to remain such is suppress someone else, the kind of freedom that I want to address can be found lacking in any group in any place in the world. Seneca the Younger, a Stoic philosopher once said, “it is a mistake to imagine that slavery pervades a man’s whole being; the better part of him is exempt from it: the body indeed is subjected and in the power of a master, but the mind is independent, and indeed is so free and wild, that it cannot be restrained even by this prison of the body, wherein it is confined.” I’m sorry, Seneca, but I have to strongly disagree. You never read the Lynch Letters that intended to make slavery the entire identity of the African slaves. And you must have never lived in a place where you were told that part or all of you was wrong, an abomination, inferior, or anything like that. This is bondage that I want to address.
While I was born after the time in history where there was legal slavery, Jim Crow segregation, and even the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, I have known my own form of bondage. It is the kind that comes from societal pressure to be a good citizen, maternal pressure to be a lady, religious pressure to be a good Christian, and personal pressure to be what others wanted in order to gain love and acceptance. And while it is good to have rules and order to prevent anarchy, it’s unfortunate that these institutions and pressures tend to push so hard as to kill diversity, difference, and individuality. Such was the case for me for too much of my 26 years, and there are few places that will actually encourage you to “be free” and “be yourself.”
Thankfully, God led me to the School of Theology at Virginia Union University, and OMG! if I wasn’t set free in so many ways by my time there with those people. While I was deep in a shell when I got there, year by year, semester by semester, day by day, and class by class, I began to find the space to be myself. I had previously been afraid of being wrong or even the sound of my own voice, but when my voice was valued and applauded (even requested), I found the strength to stand up and speak.
Unfortunately, as my friend Lacette tweeted the other day, “Freedom has benefits and ramifications.” As much as freedom to be myself is a beautiful thing, and I don’t have to do the work of figuring out which mask to wear in what circle of people, I do have to face the fact that not everyone will be happy about the authentic me, especially when it affords them less opportunity to take advantage of me. Because I'm free, I have the presence of mind to stand up for what I believe in, and that can make other people uncomfortable, especially when my views disagree with theirs and I challenge them to rethink what they believe. This can lead to conflict which makes it hard to be free at times. Being free is often tempered with the desire to be accepted, which means giving up freedom.
In the Bible, there is a story of the Israelites who have been set from the slavery and the rule of the Egyptian pharaoh. While they have been set free, they now have the challenge of escaping the pharaoh (who changed his mind) and getting beyond the Red Sea which blocked their path. At this point, freedom looks more problematic than the previous enslavement. And even once they got beyond the Red Sea, they had to get through the desert and fight for the land that they claimed as their own…. But at least they were free.
The question for some is whether freedom is worth it, given its high costs. I’m inclined to think so. Fight for your freedom. Stand for yourself and even for those closest to you. Be your authentic self and don’t be ashamed of it.
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