07/04/2024
Growing up in a family steeped in military discipline and unwavering duty, my heritage is a mosaic of sacrifice and resilience. My uncles faced the harrowing trials of Vietnam, while my father, a sergeant in the US Army, was a paragon of authority and charisma, his voice commanding with a hat perpetually cocked forward. My son now serves in the Air Force, continuing this legacy of valor.
As I reflect on this Independence Day, I am awash with gratitude for the manifold freedoms I enjoy. My Sicilian ancestors, once denigrated and subjugated, faced unimaginable brutality, epitomized by the lynching of eleven souls in Florida during the late 1800s. The Irish, my people, were corralled like cattle, with over 600,000 sold into servitude, their spirit unbroken but their dignity assailed. My Kenyan and Nigerian brothers endured the abhorrent scourge of chattel slavery, sold and scattered in Virginia and North Carolina. We were NOT free.
Yet, through the divine providence of God Almighty, these heritages—once ensnared in the fetters of turmoil, destruction, pain, and suffering—have been woven into the steely fabric of the freest, most prosperous nation ever to grace the face of the Earth. This alchemy of adversity into triumph is nothing short of miraculous.
I stand here today, a testament to the unyielding human spirit and the boundless mercy of my God, feeling an ineffable freedom that transcends mere words. To those who truly know, this freedom is an exalted state of being—immeasurable, unquantifiable, and infinitely precious.
If you know, you know.
Happy Independence Day!
