Let Freedom Ring

In May of this year, our marching band had its annual orientation meeting to officially announce the theme of the halftime show for the upcoming marching season. When applause rang through the auditorium following Mr. Nutting's declaration of the show title as "Let Freedom Ring," I clapped along with the rest of the audience, but I couldn't help my rising skepticism. Though I had no doubt that the band would be able to pull off a musically and visually brilliant performance, I had a hard time understanding why anyone would want to celebrate our country in such a way in light of the current state of our government. Why were we expressing pride in America when so many issues remained unresolved and the state of the nation seemed to be growing worse rather than improving?

While I've grown to love our performance over the course of this season because of the impact that music has on me and the many memories that I have come to associate with the show, it really wasn't until I considered redefining what patriotism means to me that I began to grasp the true meaning of our display. Being patriotic isn't about fireworks, parades, or wearing red, white, and blue. Being patriotic isn't about agreeing with every action of your government, or even about being proud of your country one-hundred percent of the time. Patriotism means something different to everyone, but to me, the essence of patriotism is having an investment in your country and caring about its future. Caring enough to not turn away and disassociate yourself from it in trying times. Caring enough to be fundamental in the change you want to see happen. Caring enough to bring others up and serve as inspiration in spite of negativity as our show seeks to do. Not everyone needs to take action as radical as what Thoreau suggests in On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, but every citizen can do something. Because sometimes, in the face of adversity, something is all we can do. As Sarah Vowell states in The Partly Cloudy Patriot, we wouldn't feel such regret with regards to the state of our nation, "if we didn't care so very, very much about how this country is run."