The Flag Burning
"I pledge allegiance to no flag under this United States we call America and for the public and which it stands is a nation under God that is invisible with bigotry and selfishness for all." I made this piece in conversation with Hampshire's 2016 flag burning. I never really reflected those difficult times within my work, but learning about Cauleen Smith's work allowed me to revisit my views on flags. Smith uses banners as a form to facilitate discussions on various topics including intersectional feminism and Black fugitivity. I thought back to childhood and when I actually stopped caring about the American flag. I stopped standing for the pledge in middle school. I refused to stand for something that was/is not true: a promise of loyalty. I can truly understand it if I first have it with myself. That is an act of political warfare according to one of my writer and activist mothers, Audre Lorde. Therefore, I will never pledge my life to the flag of a country where all men have stood as presidents and wouldn't even care if women and girls like me go missing or are raped in broad daylight?! My use of lady liberty seeks to represent how women are often used as objects of progress. Yet, our actual freedom and safety are non-existent and socially controlled to actualize submission and silence. In our pleasures, we are shamed, in our workplaces, we are materialized, in our homes, we are coerced. Many Black girls and women have died under the hands of the government, the police, by their own partners, and white supremacists. When does the bloodshed end? The flag-burning in 2016 brought back feelings of conflict for me because I know that many black people died in the military, fighting in wars for their freedom. but I don't support the war(s), and I don't support the military so my pride for the American flag seems to only come from the appreciation of having citizenship. I cannot support this flag until justice is served for those who continue to die for the freedom they can never have.