"Americ(na) To Me."

Tomorrow is July 4th. A day for flags, parades, barbeques, and fireworks. A day to celebrate the Declaration of Independence and the founding of the United States of America. A day I have been anticipating with anger and despair.

In the last few weeks, the decisions of a right-wing Supreme Court regarding Roe v. Wade, gun violence, climate change, civil rights and the separation of church and state have reversed decades, if not centuries, of laws that ensured progress from a time when women, African Americans and indigenous peoples had no rights. I have come to dread any news article that begins “Today the Supreme Court…”  

Where can I find hope when everything I believe in and have fought for is being erased, when so called “Christian” misogynists and bigots rule the day?

But I did find hope, in an unexpected place – “America(na) to Me,” a dance program at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival.   The afternoon began with a dance company from Bermuda, the Warwick Gombey Troupe. As I was wondering why Bermuda, the artistic director came out and explained that indigenous people of New England were sold into slavery to work the Caribbean sugar fields. Their performance on the Jacob’s Pillow stage was a return to their ancestral homeland.

The program ended with “Unsung Sheroes of the 20th. Century,” a tribute in tap dance to four African American women dancers with music from Nina Simone, George Gershwin, Fats Waller, and Count Basie. In between there was flamenco, ballet, and the retelling of an Indian story in the tradition of Bharatanatyam to reflect the liberation of women from the restrictions of “propriety.”

It was an enthralling series of performances, the story of old and new America from multiple cultures and perspectives. The Court can attempt to turn the clock back, but there is a new America, and ultimately, it will not be denied.