As an immigrant who didn’t grow up in this country but who gets choked up everytime I sing the “Star Spangled Banner” as much as I do when I sing “Eternal Father Bless Our Land” I am saddened that in 2017 minorities are still fighting for equality and justice as they did back in the 60’s. It may have been naive to expect descendants of slaves to exist happily because a law said they were supposed to… But the least one expected was not having to fight the same battles that were fought back then…

I lived in Asia for three years and one thing I learnt while I was there is how much I care for this country. America is truly one of the greatest countries in the world and I love it… I just yearn for it to live up to ideals that are written in the constitution, that ALL men are created equal, not some men because of color, not some people because of education or social status but ALL men…

This is not about disrespecting the flag, it’s not about disrespecting our military, it’s about standing for basic human rights – The right to stand, or take a knee, or lay prostrate on the ground is protected by US constitutional rights. This is not an episode of the Apprentice, this is not a made for TV series, this is real life, our life, this is the moment that your decision could affect your destiny and that of your children and their children… this is about dignity, about pride about a legacy, about everything that ever meant anything… It doesn’t matter if you’re black, brown, yellow, white, we all want the same basic things, if you don’t think someone else deserves the things you do – then you should ask yourself why?

African American ancestors fought in WWII and came back in the same trains as Nazi criminals who sat in the front of train and were treated as superior while the black soldiers sat in the back of train with livestock because the Nazis had a skin color that was considered superior to the men and women that fought for the US of America… why didn’t the American flag defend them then? where was the equality?
Don’t get me wrong, I am not inciting white vs. black hatred but simply trying to make a statement on American justice and its ineffective equality even up to this DAY! it is frustrating, it is sad, it is eye-opening, and it is frightening…