I love my country and consider myself to be even more patriotic than many, since I want us to live up to our ideals. This is why, on this patriotic holiday, I posting Weshoyot Alvitre’s art work, displayed in the Pitzer College Art Gallery, on Facebook. The words on the white lines of her upside-down flag begin, “There is no suffrage in sovereignty. The voting system of the white males who invaded our lands, poisoned our waters, killed our men, raped our women, and stole, murdered, and broke the spirits of our children, does not apply to our way of life. In order to believe justice exists, one must have a history of clear thought and compassion. Their justice lies in mixed interpretations of a violent religious history. Crucifixion is their culture [I would say domination and control]. The basis of their rights in this country’s founding are of taking that which belongs to no one: life, liberty, land, and the pursuit of happiness are all covered in the bloodstains of our ancestors whose life was undermined in the creation of this great nation.”

I would add the undermined lives of enslaved Africans and their descendants and members of the working class.

Patriots must have sobering as well as celebratory thoughts.

Follow Weshoyot Alvitre on Instagram. Her art is varied and wonderful.