By Star Gump
Student Change Agent Coalition Leader and Newman Civic Fellow
University of Minnesota - Duluth
Published as part of Letters to America, a national youth-driven civic initiative launched by Made By Us through Youth250, in which young people put forward their own declaration for America’s 250th anniversary. These letters are published unedited and in full to showcase the students’ authentic voices and unique perspectives. While their views are entirely their own, we believe their voices, and those of all our student leaders, are a vital part of the conversation around America’s future.
America truly stands as a nation of Red, White, and Blue. A mix of fiery flames from our past, the innocence and beauty of the weddings taking place frequently and beautiful flowers like cherry blossoms that we see around us in spring before the summer comes. We have 10,000 lakes in Minnesota, Hollywood in California, and theme parks across the country all under one veil of blue skies along with much more beauty to take in.
In the past 250 years, a lot has changed and much has stayed the same. This includes; but is not limited to our society having difficulty valuing marginalized voices that need to be heard even if they don’t pop-up in social media algorithms or our day to day experiences.
I cannot leave the flames of agony here, however, without addressing an underlying problem in our society today. We need to live in the grey and in the middle more than we tend to do. We have begun to become more polarized than ever before, calling us to recognize the intersectionality every human being has within themselves. Intersectionality is the intersection of all of our identities, the communities we were/are a part of, along with our thoughts and experiences. These all make up the foundation of who we are and partially fuels our potential for what we all can become.
Let’s start and continue listening to voices from every side because the diversity of our country is a strength like none other. In my personal life, I’m still a work in progress on this front, but like many struggles in life someone’s purpose, identity, and balance is a life long project that we can do our best to pursue over time. In your own journey, I encourage you to find the civic engagement work that you are interested in and continue to make our world a better place.
I love our country and what it has become, but we continue to long for positive change in our systems and communities to make our country better for everyone. The Golden Rule: “Treat others the way you want to be treated” still stands today as we flex our empathy muscles in our small and large decisions.
I hope we as a nation full of ideas, wisdom, and experiences can continue to flourish, making our country more vibrant and beautiful for all, including our ecosystems that are all around us.
In commemoration of our county’s 250th anniversary,
