From The Ramparts

                                              

                                                From The Ramparts

                                               Junious Ricardo Stanton

                                                     What If?

           

Holiday: noun 1500's Old English- haligdaeg- holy day, consecrated day, religious anniversary, a day of exemption from labor and recreation

           

            The word holiday in English etymology means a "holy day" a day set aside for religious purposes or special consecration. For example in this country from September through the beginning of January we experience  approximately one national holiday a month but when we stop to think about it, what do we get out of them other than a day off or a long weekend? For  example the first Monday in September is set aside to celebrate and honor the hard fought benefits of organized labor. Yet today in the US, organized labor (unions) is in major decline. Unions are on the way out. They are under severe attack by the ruling class and are becoming obsolete due to disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics.

            "Union membership has steadily declined over the past two generations. Today just 11.2 percent of employees belong to unions, fewer than when President Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act in 1935. The private sector figures are even lower - just one in 15 private employees hold union cards. Unions only remain strong in the one sector of the economy that faces no competition: the government. Government unions do not have to organize new members to replace those lost in bankruptcy. The government does not go out of business." http://www.heritage.org/jobs-and-labor/commentary/why-union-membership-declining

            That being the case why celebrate Labor Day? What if we stopped celebrating Labor Day altogether?

            In October we have Columbus Day a day set aside to commemorate a mass murderer, enslaver, a man who instigated a global holocaust. We all know the horrible truth about Columbus and what he did, yet we still celebrate him, why? Is it because we cannot challenge the narrative or is it because we are too cowardly not to celebrate this killer's legacy even thought we were/are directly impacted by it? What if we stopped celebrating Columbus Day?

            In November we celebrate Veterans Day and Thanksgiving. On Veterans Day we pay homage to those who fought and died in America's imperialist wars. Do we know the harsh reality America has been at war two hundred and twenty-two years out of its two hundred thirty nine year existence?!  The truth of the matter is, the only war the US fought when it was actually directly threatened by a foreign power was the War of 1812! So what are/were the other wars about?  How about we stop celebrating war?

            Thanksgiving became a national holiday in 1939 (some say 1864)  to celebrate  European settlers giving thanks for their survival despite engaging in murderous and larcenous behavior towards the indigenous people who originally welcomed them to these shores and provided all the food for the original settler celebration in 1621. Originally national leaders called for a day of prayer, fasting, feasting and thanksgiving but today it has degenerated to a day of gluttony, sports consumption and shopping. What if we held a real day of Thanksgiving where we were genuinely grateful for the abundance nature provides, our families and blessings?

            In December we celebrate Christmas despite the fact Christmas is fraught with controversy because no one really knows when Yeshua Bar Joseph was born. Today Christmas (the Catholic Christ Mass)  has been reduced to weeks of commercialism, consumerism and materialism.

            We celebrate the New Years on December 31st to ring in the new year but it too has been reduced to rowdiness, drinking, gluttony and binge sports watching. New Year's starts the process all over again with MLK, Valentine's Day, Presidents Day, Easter, Memorial Day and 4th of July on into Labor Day etc. and we do this mindlessly every year.

            What if we adhered to the original meaning of holiday (holy day)? What if we as a whole society or just us Black people observed and consecrated a day or days to PEACE, LOVE and set aside time to think about our life purpose, why we incarnated to this plane in the first place? What if we decided to be kind and loving towards our fellow man and we actually were sober, clear minded and seriously celebrated and honored people who did something meaningful to improve and advance humanity in stead of war criminals, mass murderers and enslavers like Columbus and Washington?

            What if we held PEACE vigils, meditated and spent designated days or at least several hours in introspection, self-examination and reflection, thinking about ways to improve our lives and our relationships? What if we decided all life is sacred and treated all life as if it contained a DIVINE spark? What if we gave genuine thanks for the animals we killed and used for food and clothing? What if we acted as if every day was a holy day? What if we viewed ourselves as holy people, as sons and daughters of the MOST HIGH and acted accordingly? What would such a society look and feel like?

                                                -30-