I was listening to Garth Brooks’ 1992 hit “We Shall Be Free” this morning with Brian. I was struck by some of the lyrics, coming from a country singer, singing to a country audience (presumably conservative-leaning):
*When the last child cries for a crust of bread, When the last man dies for just words that he said, When there’s shelter over the poorest head, We shall be free.
When the last thing we notice is the color of the skin, And the first thing we look for is the beauty within; When the skies and the oceans are clean again, Then we shall be free.
When we’re free to love anyone we choose, When this world’s big enough for all different views, When we all can worship from our own kind of pew, Then we shall be free.
And when money talks for the very last time, And nobody walks a step behind; When there’s only one race, And that’s mankind, then we shall be free.*
An extremely progressive set of outlined goals that we have actually gone backwards on as a country. Not necessarily in our actual beliefs, but certainly legislatively and from an idea of holistic justice.
It’s really sad to think about, actually. How did we get to a place where we are so damn fearful of change? Of change for all people?
