Understanding Ourselves

Juneteenth and the 4th of July.

“Daddy? How old was I when we got Penny?” asked my daughter Ellie. Penny is our overweight, food-aggressive beagle. I explained, “You weren’t born yet baby”. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped “What? Why?” She couldn’t fathom a world she wasn’t a part of. But with every question, she learns more about others and herself. On this day she learned Penny’s story. How she surprised the family on Christmas morning in 2013, her floppy ears shaking as she crept from under the tree, eliciting screams and tears from Mommy, Julia, Gabe, and Oliver.

I believe it is important to learn about the past, it helps one understand the world they live in better. Ellie now understands Penny better which connects the two, it also puts their relationship in perspective to her siblings. The girls often act like Penny is their dog, they’re always asking to take her out, they want her to be theirs, and they want the responsibility. And I want them to have it, but I can’t give them something just because they want it and it’s a “good thing”. It wouldn’t be fair for me to take those responsibilities from their siblings. On top of it, at 5, they are not capable of handling it on their own and I don’t want to set my children up for failure. I like to teach my kids patience when seeking new adventures in life. Responsibility will come looking for them, they don’t have to go looking for it.

On the same note of responsibility and understanding our past. How many people know what Juneteenth is? It’s a holiday commemorating the anniversary of the news of the emancipation proclamation. Some may say adding new holidays is silly, but they miss the point of holidays. Holidays are not meant to celebrate the present with parties, holidays are about remembering the past, so we can appreciate our present. Juneteenth was a vital moment in our history. It was a moment where we took a step forward in fulfilling the words in our declaration “that all men are created equal”. Juneteenth is just like the 4th of July. The ideas of 1776 were of self-governance and equal representation for the people, and they were enshrined into our constitution with republican government. To our founders, representation was the key to our freedom. The emancipation proclamation was an extension of freedom to more Americans, and it was enshrined into the constitution with the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments with republican government. Both Juneteenth and the 4th are ideas about extending representation to a larger number of Americans. Celebrating Juneteenth is another way to share the principles of our founding, along with recognizing our past mistakes with the next generations. It’s not just a holiday, it’s a responsibility. Celebrate and enjoy!

Before I leave you today, I would like to announce a new project I am working on. I have teamed together with John Beatty (former 10th district congressional candidate) to create a Politics and Parenting podcast to go along with the sub stack. In our first episode, we discuss big tech, the data behind 2000 mules, Juneteenth, and equal representation for the people. Each week John and I will use our expertise in tech, history, and government to break down the political problems of our day and we will share the perspective of family that is so often overlooked in our society.