Our country is in struggle; it has been increasingly so for some time now. The current trajectory of our political dialogue and culture does not bode well; like many, many Americans, I’m deeply troubled.

All that said, I still have hope that we can find a better place together as a people; this country founded and forever strengthened by immigrants will only survive if we welcome diversity and build our bedrock on equity, on inclusion.

This is the country I believe in.

Happy Birthday, America!

America (My Country ‘Tis Of Thee) by Samuel Francis Smith

“My country, ’tis of thee, 

Sweet land of liberty, 

Of thee I sing; 

Land where my fathers died, 

Land of the pilgrims’ pride, 

From ev’ry mountainside 

Let freedom ring! 

My native country, thee, 

Land of the noble free, 

Thy name I love; 

I love thy rocks and rills, 

Thy woods and templed hills; 

My heart with rapture thrills, 

Like that above. 

Let music swell the breeze, 

And ring from all the trees 

Sweet freedom’s song; 

Let mortal tongues awake; 

Let all that breathe partake; 

Let rocks their silence break, 

The sound prolong. 

Our fathers’ God, to thee, 

Author of liberty, 

To thee we sing; 

Long may our land be bright 

With freedom’s holy light; 

Protect us by thy might,

Great God, our King.”