How can we celebrate “independence?”

By Rania Batrice

When your family’s land was stolen, and they immigrate to land that was stolen, how exactly do you celebrate that country’s “independence”?

I’m Palestinian. My family’s land was stolen--our culture, our food, our language, all co-opted by those who continue to oppress us and continue to steal, anex, abuse and co-opt everything about us as a people. I understand intimately the pain that sits in your body as you watch people desecrate the land that belonged to your family, to your people. I know the pain that engulfs your heart when thieves and bigots celebrate “independence” as your people continue to be persecuted and abused. My parents and many other members of my family immigrated to the United States to get away from oppression, bigotry, violence, control, hatred. They came to the United States to give themselves, my brothers, and me a chance at self-determination. They tried their best to assimilate. The majority of my family in the U.S. are even conservative Republicans--I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve yelled these words at my Dad:

Dad! You’re brown, you have a thick accent, you’re an immigrant, 

AND you’re a small business owner--THEY DON’T LIKE YOU!!!

I am not a Republican--a choice I get to make because of the choice my parents made to do everything possible to give us a better life. 

This year has been harder than most, but the realities have been the same since the creation of this nation. I’m grateful that my parents came to a country where I can theoretically be as opinionated, stubborn and outspoken as I want to be. I can own a business and speak my mind as I navigate and try to dismantle a completely corrupt political system. I can buck the systems that continue to uphold oppression and racism and inequality in this country. But let me be clear, there is a risk I take in doing it because my blood is Palestinian blood. The names I’ve been called, the threats I’ve received, the bigotry I’ve experienced--have been and still are reminders of the limitations placed on Black, Brown Indegenous, and People Of Color in this country. 

I don’t celebrate. I can’t. But what I can do, is follow the lead of some dear friends and celebrate “INTERDEPENDENCE DAY.”   I can remind myself to breathe, to keep putting one foot in front of the other, and to keep fighting for justice and equality. I can tell the truth about the history of my homeland and my adopted land—and all the connections between them. I can remember, today and every day, that we are all citizens of this planet and every single one of us has a part to play. That is how change happens--we make it happen.