As we celebrate Independence Day, consider the following words penned by TD Jakes:

I recalled something Martin Luther King Jr. said, “No one is free until we are all free.” We celebrate our great nation and its many freedoms each Independence Day, but we must not overlook those whose souls scream out in silence, mourning the injustice, apathy, indignity, and indifference they face each day in these same fifty states. We are knit together as one country, but we threaten to unravel at the seams if we do not rely on one another as the thread of shared freedom binds us all together

Freedom is more than the keeping or removal of a statue. Freedom is the complete inclusion of opportunity and the total reform of any residual systemic imbalance so as to level the playing field of disadvantage that has existed for generations. From ghetto streets to small-town parades, from reservations to country clubs, we must let freedom ring through every corridor of this great country. All of must fight every day for the liberation and justice for the sons and daughters of the slaves, the Native Americans, and all others who paid a huge price for the freedom of others.

Not just some but all.

I share these reflections not to stir up feelings of pain, guilt, anger, or shame. This is not the time to argue about who is at fault, to defend oneself and point the finger at someone else. Now is not the time for pronouncements of right and wrong – not while others continue to suffer. Now is the time to recover those who have been crushed and to recover our humanity within our own crushing.

TD Jakes
Crushing