The Tennessee Tribune

A4
Thursday, July 2 - 8, 2020 • www.TnTribune.com
Commentary
Freedom is Not Free
Commentary
by Pastor
Howard E. Jones. Jr.
While we embark
upon this Independence
Day holiday, we must remember
there is more to
it than enjoying cookouts,
delicious food, and outings
with family and friends.
This marks the day on July
4, 1776, that the United
States of America proclaimed
its independence
from England by signing
the Declaration of Independence.
Independence
Day is considered by many
as the most patriotic and
enthusiastically celebrated
of all America’s holidays.
There are usually parades,
barbeques, picnics and
fireworks throughout the
country. COVID-19 has
changed the recreation
spectrum of the holiday.
The lines in the Declaration
of Independence
that are most familiar to
contemporary Americans
are these: “We hold these
truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed
by their Creator
with certain unalienable
rights, that among these
are Life, Liberty and the
Pursuit of Happiness.”
These stirring words were
designed to convince
Americans to put their
lives on the line for the
cause. Separation from the
mother country of England
threatened their sense of
security, economic stability,
and identity. The Declaration
of Independence
sought to inspire and unite
them through the vision of
a better life.
Now, in 2020, more
than 244 years since the
United States declared its
independence, I ask, whose
independence? European
Americans rebelling
against the English took
the land from the Native
Americans, then brought
Africans to this country to
make them slaves. Neither
Blacks nor women could
participate in developing
policies for this nation.
Therefore, while Europeans
fled from England for
their freedom, Blacks who
were brought to this country
against their will are
still fighting for freedom to
this day. We have paid the
cost for freedom with our
very lives.
Here are just a few
contemporaries who have
had their lives and freedom
stolen, Daniel Hambrick,
Jocques Clemmons,
George Floyd, Breonna
Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery,
and Rayshard Brooks,
Martin Luther King Jr.,
Medgar Evers, and William
Barbee paid the ultimate
cost, as well. We have
had to fight for the right to
be considered human beings,
the right to own property,
the right to vote, and
most importantly, the right
to be respected. While
there are currently protests
in the streets to demand respect
for Blacks, as well as
an all-out effort to remove
statues that showcase the
days of Jim Crow and
staunch segregation, none
of this is new to Americans
fighting for freedom.
When the early Americans
were fighting for their
freedom from England, after
a public reading of the
Declaration of Independence
at Bowling Green,
on July 9, 1776, New Yorkers
pulled down the statue
of King George III. Parts
of the statue were reportedly
melted down and
used for bullets. Were they
called looters and thugs, or
men of valor fighting for
freedom?
Freedom is not free…
we all have to pay a price.
What price are you willing
to pay?
Howard E. Jones serves
as the Senior Pastor of
Fairfield M.B. Church
in Goodlettsville and is
an assistant principal at
Strafford High School
in the MNPS system.
He conducts the Lifting
the Lid Leadership Call,
weekday mornings at 6
a.m. 712-775-8972 Ext.
199029349.
Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor;
As I shared a few weeks ago, we stand
strongly with our brothers and sisters from
the Black community. Recently someone
vandalized our sign Sunday morning at
5:17 am, when a person stopped their SUV
and approached our sign to rearrange our
Black Lives Matter message and change
it to ‘All’ Lives Matter on one side (after
borrowing letters from the other side). We
have a surveillance video which caught
the person responsible for this act.
A week ago, our friends from the Jewish
community had a swastika sign and
vandalism in their holocaust memorial
- very shameful, and it evokes one of the
darkest history on our planet of the atrocities
against Jews. Our Jewish brothers and
sisters should not have to live with fear nor
be reminded about the hatred that still exists.
As we work to combat hate, yesterday
a very hateful and horrific ad was posted
in the Tennessean (claiming that Muslims
are going to detonate a nuclear device in
Nashville on July 18th). This has made
our community fearful of the backlash
that occurs when lies and misinformation
are spread towards our community (e.g., a
mosque in Columbia, TN was burnt to the
ground and quite a number of other acts of
vandalism, bullying, etc, which our community
members are subjected to). We are
presently in discussions with leaders from
the Tennessean, which has deeply apologized
for this egregious error and have
conducted an internal investigation as to
how the ad, which violates their policies,
was allowed to be published.
Peace!
Rashed Fakhruddin,
Islamic Center of Nashville
Director of Community Partnerships
Harris is Best VP Pick
By Rosetta Miller Perry
Seldom has the choice
of a Vice-Presidential
candidate been more important
than this time for
Democratic Presidential
candidate/former Vice
President Joseph Biden.
He needs a choice who is
not only dynamic and extremely
competent, but one
capable of exciting the elements
of the party’s base
that did not come out and
vote in full force in 2016.
Minority voters, especially
Blacks, as well as young
people and progressives,
never warmed to Hillary
Clinton in the manner
they had twice for Barack
Obama. The results delivered
an unqualified and
embarrassing buffoon who
didn’t even want to win,
but ended up in the White
House, despite losing the
popular vote. In several key
states, just enough voters
from the previous coalition
that had carried Obama to
two victories either stayed
home or had their votes
widely suppressed.
As a result we have a
man in office whose lack
of integrity, crooked moral
compass and competence
is the lowest in history,
much worse than Richard
Nixon who was successfully
impeached. Trump
has now decided to emulate
the campaign tactics
of not Nixon but George
Wallace. He openly embraces
and encourages racist
language, sometimes in
coded form when he talks
about his ideas of “law and
order,” other times directly
as when he retweeted a
scene in which the chant
“white power” can be
loudly and clearly heard.
When numerous people in
both parties objected to that
particular tweet, Trump’s
response was to first delete
it, then later claim he hadn’t
heard the chant. The fact
that it happened in the first
eight seconds of the video
didn’t mean anything to
Trump, who consistently
tells so many lies on a daily
basis he can’t keep them all
straight. He also has called
people protesting against
police misconduct and systemic
racism “thugs.”
Joe Biden, left, and Kamela Harris
Trump MUST BE DE-
FEATED in November,
and that’s why Biden’s VP
choice must be someone
with the ideal combination
of experience, political savviness
and charisma. There
are numerous highly qualified
Black women who fit
that role, but in our view the
most qualified candidate
would be current California
Senator Kamala Harris.
Before winning election to
the Senate in 2017, Harris
was the District Attorney
of San Francisco for seven
years, and then a two-time
state attorney general until
2016. She’s an HBCU
graduate (Howard University)
and her long track
record of public service
shows that she has plenty
of experience as well as
distinctive expertise. While
no one ever wants to think
this way, the reality is the
Vice-President is literally
a heartbeat from the
presidency, and Biden’s age
makes it vital that he have
a VP candidate who could
step in at a minute’s notice
and take over. Harris would
have no problem assuming
the nation’s top spot.
There are many out
there who want other choices,
notably Stacy Abrams,
whose narrow loss in the
2018 Georgia gubernatorial
election was due as much
to questionable tactics by
her opponent Brian Kemp.
Abrams spent 10 years in
the Georgia legislature, and
was minority leader from
2011 to 2017. She now concentrates
on fighting voter
suppression, and in February
of 2019 she became
the first Black woman to
deliver a response to the
State of the Union address.
She would unquestionably
be an asset as Biden’s Vice-
President.
But there’s another role
that would serve America
even better, and where she
could stay a lot longer than
four or eight years. A Biden
victory will mean he gets
to name at minimum one
new Supreme Court Justice
and possibly two. That’s a
lifetime position, and at 46
Abrams would be in position
to make critical rulings
that could preserve Affirmative
Action, and finally
balance the toxic presence
of Clarence Thomas on the
bench. Abrams would be a
breath of fresh air and give
the court at least a 5-4 margin
in the opposite direction
from what it usually is
now.
The nation desperately
needs to get rid of Donald
Trump. Period. It’s time
for people to stop spouting
ridiculous rhetoric and
making esoteric demands
on candidates. There are
millions of people who’ve
lost their jobs due to the
coronavirus/COVID-19
pandemic, which is disproportionately
affecting
Black communities nationwide.
Something substantive
must be done regarding
police misconduct and brutality,
as well as economic
disparity. The Trump administration
claims to be
more interested in Black
empowerment than its
Democratic rivals, but he
has no qualms about employing
racist language and
getting cozy with hardcore
white racists. Kamala Harris
could help him generate
more excitement and passion
for Biden’s campaign.
This is one that’s too important
to fool around with
when it comes to a vicepresidential
choice. We
believe that Kamala Harris
makes the most sense and
would be the best selection.
Published by Perry and Perry and Associates
President/CEO/ Publisher
Rosetta Miller Perry,
Associate Publisher/Executive Editor
Wanda Miller Benson
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