Our Civil Liberties
At the end of the day, it all comes down to human beings fighting for freedom. Freedom is meant for all by birthright. It shouldn't be sugarcoated or downplayed. With the recent evil insurrection of fascists against the U.S. Capitol building that happened on January 6, 2021, it is always important to reiterate the importance of promoting our human liberties and rejecting nihilism. For thousands of years, human beings have fought for their human rights. We desire to live in peace. We believe in strong communities. Back then, human beings wanted justice. This time is no different. The only difference now is that we have much more advanced technologies than yesteryear. Today, we have sophisticated intelligence agencies that monitor communications worldwide. There are constant debates on civil liberties all of the time. That is why Big Brother is ever talked about from London to New York City. This year of 2021 will be the 20th year anniversary of the Patriot Act. It was passed immediately after 9/11 when I was a freshman in college. This occurred in the midst of the backdrop of the early aftermath of terrorism on American shores. From the start, I disagreed with the USA Patriot Act on civil liberty grounds. To me, the law made an ambiguous definition of terrorism. So, we see how civil liberties relate to our time. Whistle blowers have exposed how the NSA had a secret spy program against Americans, we see the growth of DARPA for decades, and social justice issues are prominently presented in our society. From nanotechnology to other issues, we have every right to discuss and debate the issue of civil liberties.
The rights that we do have today didn't exist in a vacuum. There is a long history of human beings in the four corners of the Earth (in Africa, Europe, Asia, the Americas, Oceania, etc.) developing legal laws in dealing with various affairs. The Code of Hammurabi back in ca. 1754 B.C. was a Babylonian code of law of ancient Mesopotamia. The Babylonian leader Hammurabi enacted the code. It cited rules like an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. It dealt with class, gender, men, and women. It is found on a 7.4 tall stone steele. There was Moses being shown as the lawgiver in the Bible. Rules are found in ancient Egypt, the rest of Africa, Asia, and in the rest of the world. Alfred the Great lived from 848-899. He was the King of the West Saxons who helped to unify many Anglo-Saxons of England. He defeating the Vikings by 878 at the Battle of Edington. He helped to make a law code book. In it, it had translations of English of the 10 Commandments, a few chapters from Exodus, and the Apostolic Letter from the Acts of the Apostles (15:23-29). Alfred's code has 120 chapters because Moses lived 120 years according to the Bible. A heavy contributor to our law today is the Magna Carta that was created in 1215. This law restricted the excessive power of Kings and other rulers in the land of Britain. The Magna Carta created rules that developed habeas corpus and the right of juries to determine cases. Habeas corpus protects us from being imprisoned unlawfully.
It made King John of England to proclaim certain rights to freemen and respect rights. It confirmed common law that influenced the legal perimeters of the English speaking world. Later, John Wycliffe was a religious scholar who promoted representative government. He translated the Bible and questioned the veneration of saints and transubstantiation. He believed that the Bible, not the Papacy or clerics, was a reliable guide to truth. John Wycliffe also wrote that, "This Bible is for the government of the people, by the people, and for the people." This was long centuries before Abraham Lincoln said similar words during his 1863 Gettysburg Address. Even the Catholic Church apologized for executing Jon Hus back in the 1400's. Hus allowed allowed women to preach and serve in battle. He said "Women were made in the image of God and should fear no man." Jan Hus' views influenced the Protestant Reformation. Later, you have many legal traditions that influenced the development of the Constitution like the 1689 English Bill of Rights (that cites the right to bear arms and limits the powers of the Monarchs to be regulated by Parliament), John Knox's and John Locke's words of "all men are created equal," and the words from the English legal scholar Blackstone. The 1689 Bill of Rights came after the English Civil War between factions who wanted the authoritarian king to run everything or a more fairer body of government controlled by the people. The Puritan John Cromwell was one leader of the English Civil War. Oliver Cromwell was right to ideologically disagree with the Roman Catholic Church theologically, to allow Jewish people to return to England without oppression (to express their own faith), and to disagree with the excesses of a universal monarch. His error was that sometimes he went too far in some of his actions of warfare (he had zeal, but he went too far in some of his deeds in Scotland & Ireland). While I have theologically disagreements with Roman Catholicism obviously, Roman Catholics, Protestants, Baptists, and anyone of any religion shouldn't be deprived of their religious liberty rights. Religious liberty means that human beings, regardless of creed, should be treated with dignity and respect without oppression. It also means that anyone of any religion has the right to practice his or her faith in peace. It even means that those who who don't have religious views ought to live in peace too. I believe in God, and I believe in human freedom. It is important to note that many Baptists were persecuted by many Protestants, because Baptists rightfully refused to baptize babies plus the Baptists rightfully believed in the separation of church and state. In Book 1, Chapter 1 of Blackstone’s Commentaries, the point is made that “every individual” has “the right of petitioning the king, or either house of parliament, for the redress of grievance.” These Commentaries had pro-liberty provisions in them as well. People have every God-given right to nonviolence and self-defense. Self-defense is a universal right.
The truth is that there must always be a balance of protecting civil liberties and maintaining a social safety net. It is not evil for the federal government to use resources to help people (in dealing with health, education, housing, the environment, etc.) or protect voting rights. It is evil for the government to suppress human rights though. One example is how Jim Crow apartheid decades ago harmed the right to assembly and other basic democratic freedoms. That is why heroic people of many backgrounds organized and mobilized to eliminate legalized Jim Crow apartheid. Not all laws are just. Once, America considered black people 3/5s of a human, and the federal government permitted slavery legally. These actions are wrong and unjust period. If a law contradicts true morality or truth, it is an unjust law. Regardless of what the skeptics say, government sponsored terrorism has existed throughout human history. Not everything is an inside job, but real inside jobs or plans for inside jobs has transpired like Operation Northwoods (when some in the government wanted to blow up things and blame it on Cuba via a false flag operation as a way for an invasion of Cuba to happen. President John F. Kennedy rejected such a nefarious plan), Operation Ajax, Operation Gladio, etc. The global financial system is heavily influenced by neoliberalism, and groups like the Mon Pelerin Society advances that philosophy diligently. The military industrial complex has expanded greatly since World War II. We have experienced the Vietnam and Iraq wars. According to author and scholar Carroll Quigley (he was from Georgetown University) in his book entitled, Tragedy and Hope in 1966, many elitists have the following goal: "Their aim is nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole." Therefore, it is our responsibility to eliminate unjust laws, so just laws can flourish in the world. Many groups now dedicate their lives to protect our civil liberties too. In my life, I will always defend human rights.
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The Freedoms found in the Bill of Rights
The freedoms found in the Bill of Rights remain powerful after all of these centuries of American history. Historically, American society readily haven't lived up the the values found in the Bill of Rights, but we always fight for basic human rights regardless of what time we live in. Bigotry, injustice, and violations to human liberty have no justification in any era of time period. It is important to show to the world what the Bill of Rights means. The Bill of Rights are the first 10 Amendments to the American Constitution. The Bill of Rights was ratified by December 15, 1791 in a compromise among Federalists and Anti-Federalists. The Anti-Federalists feared that the federal government's power over the states would be too powerful. So, the Federalists and others used the Bill of Rights to make sure that individual human rights were protected. Obviously, we know that the most powerful people in America back then wanted to maintain the interests of mainly landowning wealthy white men not all Americans. James Madison mainly wrote the Bill of Rights. The Anti-Federalists were right that a Bill of Rights was necessary, but they were wrong in overly desiring some weak national government. The Federalists were right to mention specifically that you need a strong national government to deal with millions of people in a country in dealing with growing its infrastructure. The First Amendment states that America has no establishment of religion. Also, it promotes the freedom of the press, the freedom of speech, the right of the people to peacefully assemble (or protest), and the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. The 2nd Amendment maintains the right of the people to bear arms. This came from English Common law and in the English Bill of Rights of 1689. There is a regulation of bearing arms as explained by the Supreme Court in later years.
Heller in 2008 acknowledges the the right to bear arms is individual, but legitimate regulations in some circumstances can be done. The 3rd Amendment restricts the quartering of soldiers in private homes. The 4th Amendment bans unreasonable searches and seizures and wants a warrant to be judicially sanctioned. The 5th Amendment bans double jeopardy and self-incrimination. It promotes the rights of due process, grand juries, and compensation of the seizure of private property under eminent domain. Later in 1966, Miranda v. Arizona states that defendants must be informed of their rights to an attorney, and it bans against self-incrimination before interrogation by the police. The 6th Amendment promotes a speedy trial and an impartial jury. A trial can be used to inform witnesses, a person can can have counsel, witnesses can appear in court, etc. The 7th Amendment guarantees jury trials in federal civil cases that deal with claims of more than 20 dollars. It bans judges from overruling findings of the fact by juries in federal civil trials. The Supreme Court later said that the Amendment's requirements could be done by a jury with least 6 members. The 8th Amendment bans excessive bails or fines and bans cruel and unusual punishment. The 9th Amendment says that there are fundamental rights that exist outside of the Constitution. The 10th Amendment deals with the separation of powers and federalism. It mentioned that the powers not delegated by the United States Constitution nor prohibited by it to the states are reserved to the states or to the people. Sometimes, Congress has circumvented the 10th Amendment by invoking the commerce clause in Article One.
DARPA Explained
In the Civil Liberties topics, DARPA is one of the most controversial groups in America. It stands for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. It was created on February 7, 1958 as ARPA. It is part of the United States Department of Defense that deals with research plus development of new technologies (used by the military, etc.). DARPA was originally created by President Eisenhower to respond to Sputnik (or the first Soviet satellite in space) from 1957. They wanted new technologies and use science in many arenas. DARPA has been involved in computer networking, the development of the modern day Internet, and various graphical user interfaces in information technology. Its Director is Victoria Coleman, and it's based in Arlington, Virginia. It has about 220 government employees in six technical offices including a most 100 program managers. DARPA supported the evolution of the ARPANET (the first wide-area packet switching network), Packet Radio Network, Packet Satellite Network and ultimately, the Internet. They deal with research in the artificial intelligence fields of speech recognition and signal processing, including parts of Shakey the robot. DARPA has worked in new X-planes. DARPA isn't just creating these devices for just invention. They have inventions used to deal with national security and monitoring societies. One of the most secret plans of DARPA is working in nanotechnologies. For example, Dr. Eric Van Gieson admitted that the DARPA's In Vivo Nanoplatforms (IVN) program desires ot monitor military people and use nanoparticles to monitor or detect illness. According to George Dvorsky of Gizmodo, DARPA has been working on advanced robotics, an artificial human brain, next generation robotic aircraft, advanced prosthetics, and self teaching computers. That is why many civil liberty advocates have questions about the uses of such technologies that DARPA is bringing forward.
Civil Liberty Issues
Especially in this year alone, civil liberty issues are found all over America. They are diverse too. One of the most important parts of civil liberties involve protecting human privacy and security during the midst of a rapidly changing technological age. Technology is heavily innovated in the 21st century. We desire individual people to have control over their personal information and reject those who hack others' information. Back in 1986, there is the federal law that protects people's electronic information. This was long before the modern manifestation of the World Wide Web that came about in 1989 with the first web browser came out in 1990. The Fourth Amendment protects information that people keep in a desk. Many former NSA whistleblowers including Snowden has sent to the public the extent of the NSA warrantless programs that has been criticized by people from across the political spectrum. It is not a secret that government agencies like the NSA, CIA, and FBI monitor private communications worldwide. That includes cell phone communications and everything else. Edward Snowden copied and leaked thousands of classified NSA documents to journalists. This information proved that the access of some federal agencies to the public's online identity and led to wider use anonymizing technologies. Snowden is forced into exile in Russia, because he risks arrest to this day if he steps foot in America. Some have called him a hero, a patriot, or a traitor.
The truth is that Snowden did a controversial action, but he isn't some traitor (as he desired to allow the American people to know how extensive mass surveillance, government secrecy, etc. is). By September 2, 2020 a U.S. federal court ruled that the U.S. intelligence's mass surveillance program, exposed by Snowden, was illegal and possibly unconstitutional. Daniel Ellsberg has said that Snowden's release was the most significant leak in American history. We have to fight for our freedom. We don't want the government to track our every move at every circumstance. The balance between security and freedom must always be in existence. Movies like Enemy of the State and Snowden (by Oliver Stone) exposed what is going on in America plus the world to this day. Other civil liberty issues deals with voting rights, national security, women's rights, religious liberty, free speech, disability rights, criminal justice issues, etc. Voting is a fundamental human right. That is why the 1965 Voting Rights Act should be strengthened, unfair gerrymandering must be ended, voter restoration must be a priority, and access to the ballot has to be expanded in order for human rights to be grown.
If anyone wants to study civil liberties, he or she should look at the aftermath of 9/11 to witness how important civil liberties are to protect plus preserve forevermore. Many people were sent into Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Some of the folks there had no ties to al-Qaeda at all. Also, the Bush administration had fierce debates with civil liberty proponents on civil liberties. We know of the pro-Bush torture memos being so bad that people from across the political spectrum condemned them. The so-called liberal lawyer Alan Dershowtiz defended torture during the Bush years (2001-2009). It is no secret that the Bush family and the Bin Laden had business for years. No major party has a monopoly of anti-civil liberty measures. On March 23, the American Civil Liberties Union reported: “The Obama administration has extended the time the National Counter-terrorism Center (NCTC) can collect and hold on to records on U.S. citizens and residents from 180 days to five years, even where those people have no suspected ties to terrorism. The new NCTC guidelines, which were approved by Attorney General Eric Holder, will give the intelligence community much broader access to information about Americans retained in various government databases…Authorizing the ‘temporary’ retention of non-terrorism-related citizens and resident information for five years essentially removes the restraint against wholesale collection of our personal information by the government, and puts all Americans at risk of unjustified scrutiny. Such unfettered collection risks reviving the Bush administration’s Total Information Awareness program, which Congress killed in 2003.”
As for the Trump administration, everyone knows that he promoted anti-democratic, anti-civil liberties on many levels. For example, Trump is explicitly in promoting the policy of banning people from Muslim majority countries to go into America, he wants to ease libel laws, he wants the police to rough up suspects, he condemns peaceful protests against police brutality in vulgar terms, he agreed with waterboarding (which is torture), etc. Recently, in early January 2021, Trump told the Georgia Secretary of State that he wants to change the election result to make him win Georgia. This phone call was recorded on tape. Trump's act is not just about eliminating tons of African American plus other votes. It is a promotion of outright treason against our democratic system. There is no other way to put it. His actions violate the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Eighth Amendments to the Constitution.
Some people want new laws to restrict protesting among activists. Protesting is part of the First Amendment which gives people the right to peacefully assemble and address their grievances in public. Today, even in 2021, there is an unprecedented push to harm the right to protest. The same far right hypocrites who lecture us on patriotism and freedom are silent on this issue. Ever since the Trump inspired insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 9 states at least have promote 14 anti-protest bills. Many of these bills bar demonstrators from public benefits or government jobs. Some offer legal protections to those who shoot or run over protesters. Some bills would allow protesters to be held without bail and criminalize camping. Some bills want to prevent local governments from defunding the police. Such bills are found in Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Rhode Island. This threat to our civil rights and civil liberties is real. There is no excuse for reactionary members of state legislature to propose bills that harm peaceful protesting and strife the First Amendment in general.
The Republicans are back to promote even more voter suppression bills, so we should comprehend this reality and defend our voting rights. One example is how some want the state House Bill 1289 of North Dakota to be passed. This legislation would significantly extend the amount of time a person must reside in the state and their precinct before becoming eligible to vote. That could harm the voting rights of new military base employees, college students, Native Americans, poorer Americans, and other human beings. Other states are doing similar plans, because of the large voter turnout by Democrats to end the Trump regime (and cause changes in Congress). According to Brennan Center for Justice, 253 bills to restrict voting access have been introduced in 43 states already in 2021. Now, Georgia's Republican Senate Majority Leader Mike Dugan introduced a bill. This bill would repeal no excuse absentee voting which 1.3 million Georgians used to vote in 2020 including 450,000 Republicans. His proposal will cause only a small amount of people to be eligible to vote by mail. The bill want people to cast ballots by mail to have a witness signature on the ballot and attach a copy of photo ID. In Georgia, some want to eliminate voting on Sunday to try to suppress black turnout.
Also, the GOP in Georgia wants to have a bill that cuts the runoff period from 9 weeks to 4 weeks. It cuts early voting to 5 days, eliminate automatic voting registration, and bans new voters to register for the runoffs after November. This will make it harder for Democrats to vote in Georgia. State David Lucas gave an emotional speech condemning that reactionary agenda of voter suppression by the Republicans. Iowa Republicans want to cut nine days of early voting and restrict mail in voting by limiting ballot drop boxes to 1 per county. They want to stop county officials form sending absentee ballot request forms to voters. Republican Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis wants to restrict mail in voting. He wants to block election officials form automatically mailing ballots to voters who cast absentee ballots in the past. in Arizona, the GOP wants a bill to be passed to allow the state legislature to have the power to turn over Presidential election results. This is not only anti-democratic, but it's treason. Our vote matters. If our vote didn't matter, the GOP would have never proposed anti-voting rights legislation. That is why progressives in Congress want to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and for the People Act to stop these new voter suppression efforts.
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Opposition to Police Brutality
There is no question that police brutality is not only evil. It is against our civil liberties as human beings. Police brutality is not new. It is just that with new technologies, we record them on tape more often than back then. Centuries ago, many of the police were slave patrol people who brutalized black people and kidnapped black people to be placed into oppression. We certainly realize that every cop is not a brute or a murderer. Yet, putting police brutality under the rug is just as evil as saying "All Lives Matter" in minimizing the truth that Black Lives Matter. Many of the same so-called "super patriots" claim to be against the militarization of the police or militarized police harming the liberties of folks in the suburbs (which is wrong), but they are completely silent on the same police brutality going on in the poor, mostly minority areas of America's cities. That is why I'm consistent. I'm opposed to the massive militarization of the police, and I'm opposed to police brutality at the same time. By the late 1960's, the government instituted police to expand the military style weapons on police forces in terms of SWAT (during the rebellions of the 1960's). This expanded during the War on Drugs and today. Massive SWAT raids, the killing of unarmed people, and the invasion of privacy are realities. The incidents of people dying form raids exist among every color, but police killings disproportionately harm black and brown Americans as the statistics show. The deaths of one black man at the Selma protests in 1965, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other Brothers and Sisters show us that we have a long way to go in seeing justice for all. Activists are working around the clock to fight unjust laws, to protest, to go into the courts, and to fight for real change. Grassroots people are ever present in the struggle for liberation. We know that no knock raids have contributed to injuries and deaths as Breonna Taylor was a victim of murder via a no knock raid.
The recent February 2019 raid of Anjanette Young's home in Chicago shows the disrespect of the human dignity of black people. Young barely survived in the raid, and she experienced brutal trauma. She is an innocent woman, but the police yelled at her when she just came out of the shower (being naked with only a towel). There is no excuse for what happened to her. She was not a criminal, and the police targeted the wrong house. After the police wanted her to not release the tape of her arrest, the tape was released. Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot had no choice but to apologize to Anjanette Young. The officers involved in this injustice should be tried by a jury, convicted, and sent to prison. In Columbus, Ohio, Andre Hill was killed in December of 2020. Even the police chief in Columbus recommends that the officer Adam Coy ought to be fired. The video showed what happened clearly. Andre Hill was unarmed, he was not a threat to anyone, and he was unjustly killed. Hill was on the ground for 5 minutes without aid given to him. It's a shame that Andre Hill lost his life. The newly released body camera footage showed the situation. The realm of justice will only exist when Coy is prosecuted and police brutality is non-existent in the world.
*When you have people as diverse as the ACLU and the CATO Institute in opposition to police militarization and police brutality, you know that we are certainly in the right side of history. If justice is to be done, then racism and economic injustice must end.
Heroes standing up for our Rights
For generations and in the modern age of 2021, there are always dedicated heroes who have defended our civil liberties and human rights in general. Sherrilyn Iffill is an American lawyer who has fought for our voting rights for years. She is a law professor and President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. She is the 7th President of the Legal Defense Fund since Thurgood Marshall founded the organization in 1940. She is the cousin of the late, great journalist Gwen Ifill. Her family immigrated to America from Barbados. Both Sherrilyn's and Gwen's fathers (who are brothers), both were ministers of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. She is a teacher, and a modern day hero defending affirmative action, policing reform, progressive judicial nominees, and human rights. She won the Society of American Law Teachers Great Teacher Award. Iffill was an American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellow in 2019. No one can omit the great work done by Michelle Alexander (who is a legal scholar and author of the book of the New Jim Crow) and Bree Newsome (who talks about how progressive change needs no apologies). Former Senator Feingold opposed the Patriot Act in 2001. That was taboo, because the nation of America was debating what to do about the war on terror. Yet, Feingold found out about the civil liberty problems with the Patriot Act.
There are tons of other heroes who have made a difference in the lives of the people everyday. LaTosha Brown have fought for voting rights throughout her life. She co-founded the group of Black Voters Matter which is an organization that fight for the voting rights of black Americans. Voting matters as school board members, judges, governors, city council members, and investments to communities in the world all deal with voting. She came in Georgia and across America in making sure that Georgia became blue. She has fully documented how far we have to go as voter suppression is ever real in America, not just in the South. Cori Bush is a politician, a pastor, and an activist. He won a Missouri congressional district. She is the first African American woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri. She was born and raised in St. Louis. Also, she earned a graduate diploma in nursing from the Lutheran School of Nursing in 2008. During the 2014 Ferguson movement, she worked as a triage nurse and organizer. Bush is also an unapologetic progressive who has been endorsed by Jamaal Bowman, Nina Turner, Bernie Sanders, Angela Davis, and other human begins. Fighting for criminal justice change, police reform, a $15 minimum wage, and other policies is part of her aim. She received the 2015 Women of Courage Award from the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation. Noah Harris being 20 was being elected as the first black student body President at Harvard College. He is from Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He is majoring in government and co-chairs the Undergraduate Council's Black caucus. He promotes inclusion and improving student mental plus physical health. Princeton University's Deana Lawson was the first photographer to win the $100,000 Hugo Boss Prize. She is the professor of visual arts in the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University in New Jersey.
There is monumental news today. The ACLU for the first time in its 101 year history elected an African American as its new President. The new President is Deborah Archer. She is a clinical law professor at New York University. She is a well known civil rights attorney, teacher, and teacher. She said on Politics Nation that she wants to fight racial inequality and promote political, social, and economic justice. She has all of the qualities in the world. Deborah advocates affordable housing, dealing with the racial wealth gap, fighting for reparations, and dealing with civil liberties. The ACLU is well known to oppose many policies from the previous Trump administration, because the Trump administration was overt in violating immigration rights, civil rights, and democratic principles in general. It is certainly a time of celebrating for Deborah Archer. Also, the fight for justice continues.
Congratulations to Sister Deborah Archer.
Conclusion
For centuries and thousands of years, human beings have fought earnestly for the protections of civil liberties. The threats to our rights aren't some abstract thinking or some theory. It's real. Long ago, many in the UK fought against King John to promote a better system for its people. In America, people fought the Confederacy, Jim Crow apartheid advocates, and other evil people in order to extend human rights to black Americans and other human beings. During the War on terror spanning almost 20 years, we have continued to promote our civil liberties. The Patriot Act, the NDAA, drone attacks on American citizens without due process of law, and other policies violate many human civil liberties. People from across the political spectrum have made this known. During the 2004 Republican National Convention, many protesters were sent to Pier 57 camp, Fuji blimps monitored people, and sound weapons existed. Today, we just seen the end of a Trump regime whose policies violated immigrant rights, civil rights, and other human rights. Our freedom is not just about freedom for some people. Freedom is meant for all people regardless of race, color, sex, nationality, or background.
Many sincere people who believe in civil liberties have been slandered as anti-American, but we believe in justice. We know that the establishments of both Republicans and Democrats are funded by corporate interests and lobbyists. We know that militarized police is a serious problem in America. We realize that the NSA was caught using warrantless spying during the Bush Jr. years. Edward Snowden, and other whistleblowers have exposed this fact. We know that many want censorship in the Internet spanning long years. That is why I subscribe to net neutrality. Back in the day, when George W. Bush was President, I opposed his administration on the issues of the Iraq War, on the environment, and on many issues. When Barack Obama was President, I agreed with him on some issues. Yet, I disagreed with him on drone strikes, on certain foreign policy actions, and on his attacks on whistleblowers. Trump has been an overt threat to democracy with his policies of trying to harm the U.S. Census (by eliminating undocumented human beings from the U.S. Census which is unconstitutional), trying to stop mail in voting, saying that the police can harm suspects, his bigotry, his hateful Muslim ban, and his xenophobia (as immigrant rights are human rights too. Trump allowing children to be caged and stripped from their mothers is the height of cruelty). The Bill of Rights has given a strong foundation on how human civil liberties remain a key part of a just society. Rights aren't given by the whim of humans. Fundamental human rights are God-given from birth.
The Mysteries of Life Revealed Part 5: The Mysteries of America (The New Atlantis)
Ever since 2001, I knew about this subject. That was when I was before 20 years old. America wasn't just an nation created after many colonial visits. Many people who came into America had links to the esoteric crowd. In fact, many Freemasons were involved in the Constitutional Convention. For thousands of years, human beings have always sought to try to form an Utopian society. The ancient Egyptians had priests who wanted to know the mysteries of astronomy, mathematics, the weather, spirituality (as the ancient Egyptians believed in the concept of the soul), and medicine. The ancient Greeks and Romans used many of the knowledge from the ancient Egyptians to develop their own cultures. Even the ancient Greeks was influenced by the ancient Phoenicians (as the Phoenicians traded as far as Spain and Britain. The Phoenician alphabet is an ancestor of the English alphabet). Thousands of years ago, Plato wrote about the legend of Atlantis in his literature. Atlantis was a legendary place of advanced civilizations where it was destroyed by a massive flood. Today, many esoteric people believe that America is the New Atlantis. The late 33rd degree Freemason Manly P. Hall believed in this ideology. In fact, he wrote a book about it called, "America's Secret Destiny." Many leaders like Dr. John Dee promoted British exploration of America in advancing the British Empire. A lot of people don't know that Dr. John Dee was not only an advisor to Queen Elizabeth. He was an outright occultist (in favor of alchemy, Hermetic philosophies, and sorcery) and astrologer who loved to do certainly rituals (with his friend and occultist Sir Edward Kelley). Over 2 centuries after the death of Dr. John Dee, we saw America born. It is important to note that many evil people harmed human beings in America via the genocide of its indigenous people and the enslavement of African human beings. Sir Francis Bacon was a philosopher and scientist who wrote literature in an unfinished novel called New Atlantis in 1627.
The story was about human discovery and knowledge. It showed the fictional place of Benslaem. The story showed a fictional organization of Solomon's House utilizing modern research. Sir Francis Bacon was involved in creating the English colonies of Virginia, the Carolinas, and Newfoundland in northwestern Canada. Thomas Jefferson praised Bacon for his research into the physical and moral sciences. Johnnes Kelpius and other mystics came into America. By 1800, Washington , D.C. was created. Many of its major buildings were helped to be created by Masons with cornerstones on them. Numerous pagan god and goddess images are found in many buildings of D.C. too. The Library of Congress even have esoteric paintings, and other locations in D.C. have statues praising Sir Francis Bacon. From 1776 to the present, America is filled with good people and evil people. It has been filled with heroes and villains alike. Today, we know that the mysteries of America have the right to be made known to the people. Also, we are clear that bigotry and injustice are antithetical to true morality. We always believe in justice for all and human equality wholeheartedly.
The Ancient story of Atlantis
The ancient story of Atlantis existed first in the fictional island tale outlined in Plato's works of Tameus and Critias. These stories described rivalries and power. Plato wrote about how Athens repealed the Atlantean attack unlike any other nation in the ancient world. The story of Atlantis, as told by Plato, mentioned that Atlantis failed out of favor with the deities and submerged into the Atlantic Ocean. Atlantis has been used by many to describe an allegory of a highly developed civilization that ended by corruption or natural disasters. This allegory has been written about by many Renaissance writers like Francis Bacon's New Atlantis and Thomas More's Utopia. 19th century scholars in many cases believed that Atlantis actually existed like Ignatius L. Donnelly in his book called, Atlantis: The Antediluvian World. Plato's words said that these events that he described were more than 9,000 years before his time. Plato believed that the location of Atlantis was beyond the Pillars of Hercules. Scientists in the modern age have studied this subject for a long time. What is true is that similar civilizations destroyed by floods stories are found in the four corners of the Earth. Some people believed that the inspiration of the Atlantis story were about Egyptian records of the Thera eruption, the Sea Peoples invasion, or the Trojan War. It is no secret that Plato wanted a perfect society as documented in his Republic work that was written in ca. 380 B.C. Critias said that Atlantis was over 9,000 before his time, and that Atlanteans conquered parts of Libya into Egypt. Gunnar Rudberg said that the Atlantis account may have been inspired by the city of Syracuse. Here is a quote from Plato on the legend of Atlantis:
"In the days of old, the gods had the whole earth distributed among them and there was no quarrelling. The island of Atlantis was divided into ten portions, he gave to the first-born of the eldest he named Atlas, the whole island and the Ocean, called Atlantic. To his twin brother, obtained his lot the extremity towards Asia. Many great deluges have taken place during the nine thousand years, for that is the number of years elapsed since the time of which I am speaking, since it fell."
-Plato's Critias, 360 BC
Many people back then and today view the Atlantis story as fictional or real. Aristotle thought the story was fictional, while Crantor believed that it was a fact. Occultists from Blavatsky, Edgar Cayce, and Manly P. Hall have written about Atlantis too. What is the truth? The truth is Atlantis, so far, is a fictional location. Yet, it is true that the ancient world was a lot more complex and interesting than many people assume. Advanced technologies from clocks to building tools did exist centuries and thousands of years ago. Many occultists used the story of Atlantis to promote an Utopian society: "For more than three thousand years, secret societies have labored to create the background of knowledge necessary to the establishment of an enlightened democracy among the nations of the world ..." (Manly P. Hall, occult philosopher). Therefore, the mysteries of the ancients has been embraced by many Secret Societies like the Rosicrucians, Freemasons, the Skulls and Bones, etc. in order for some people to make radical esoteric changes in society. Later, I will show more information on this subject.
Early Explorers
As for the explorers of the Americas, the first explorers were the Native American people. They came into America from Asia from about 15,000 B.C. The Native Americans back then hunted mammoths, created crops, and made advanced civilizations. Many of them planted corn, squash, beans ,and other types of foods. Clovis was an early civilization. There were the Mound builders and the Pueblo people. The Polynesians settled in the Hawaiian Islands between the 1st and 10th centuries A.D. By 1200, many Tahitian explorers explored Hawaii too. The first continental European people who are recorded to come to Europe are the Norse people. Many of them like Leif Erikson came into Greenland by the 1000's A.D. Norse settlements are found in Canada like at L'Anse au Meadows. There are debates about whether the Norse came into New England and other areas of America. Leif Erikson lived from ca. 970 to ca. 1020. There are also theories of Africans, Asians, and other Europeans including Middle Easterners who some claim came into the Americas long before the 1500's.
Early America and Secret Societies
To start with this research, you have to start with Native Americans once again. The area around Washington, D.C. have Native Americans as its first inhabitants. On the Anacostia River, many Algonquian speaking people like the Nacotchtank human beings lived in that area. The region was never discovered by Europeans until the 17th century with explorers like Captain John Smith in 1608. By this time, there were people like the Patawomeck and the Doeg. One of the most powerful families in the region centuries ago was the Carroll family of Maryland. This family had a relationship with Georgetown too. Daniel Carroll lived from July 22, 1730 to July 5, 1796. He is historically significant as he is one of the Framers and one of the most powerful Roman Catholics of early America. The colonial Carroll family had great influenced in the DMV area. Daniel Carroll's younger brother was Archbishop John Carroll (1735-1815) and he was the first Roman Catholic bishop in America (from 1790). Archbishop John Carroll was the Archbishop of Baltimore and he was the founder of Georgetown University. Their cousin Charles Carroll of Carrolton (1737-1832) signed the Declaration of Independence. Charles Carroll was an active supporter of the Revolutionary War. Carrollton was the 10,000-acre estate in Frederick County, Maryland, that Charles Carroll's father had given him on his return to America from his education in Europe. Back during the 1600’s, many Catholics couldn’t hold public office or vote, even in heavily Catholic Maryland. Daniel Carroll was one of the five men to sign both the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union (1778) and the United States Constitution (1787). Daniel Carroll was a planter and a slaveholder. He owned a lot of land. He gradually supported the Patriot cause, and was a friend plus ally of George Washington. He also wanted a strong central government and he fought in the Constitutional Convention for a government directly responsible to the people of the country. Out of gratitude for John Carroll's support during the war, George Washington gave a modified version of the seal of the United States to the institution that is now Georgetown University. That seal is still in use.
Georgetown then and now is a heavily Jesuit-influenced University. The education center educates many world leaders. Jesuit Georgetown University, whose seal proclaims a Roman eagle grasping the world and the cross, represents the State and Roman Catholic Church with a banner in its beak. The banner has the Latin words of "Utraque Unum," meaning "Both Together." Of course, I believe in the separation of church and state as no church has the right to dominate the human conscience of any person in an authoritarian, oppressive way. Even the early mayor of the District of Columbia was Carroll's nephew Robert Brent. Daniel Carroll provided land for the Capitol and Charles Carroll was a War Commissioner. So, Charles Carroll controlled all the executive duties of the military department, with its ammunition supplies of cannon balls, shot, kettles, spikes and nails to the army. John Carroll was a close friend of Benjamin Franklin, even living in Franklin's house. District of Columbia donor and Capitol Commissioner Daniel Carroll was close to George Washington. Georgetown was established in 1751. It came about when the Maryland legislature purchased sixty acres of land for the town from George Gordon and George Beall at the price of £280, while Alexandria, Virginia was founded in 1749. Georgetown is found at the fall line. The fall line is the border between a more flat land area and a hilly area. Georgetown was the farthest point upstream to which oceangoing boats could navigate the Potomac River. Gordon had constructed a tobacco inspection house along the Potomac in ca. 1745. Warehouses, wharves, and other buildings were added, and the settlement rapidly grew. The Old Stone House, which was located in Georgetown, was built in 1765, and it is the oldest standing building in the District. It didn’t take long before Georgetown grew into a thriving port. It facilitated trade and shipments of tobacco including other goods from colonial Maryland.
The American Revolutionary War period from 1775 to 1783 was filled with complicated histories and links to Secret Societies like Freemasonry, the Hell Fire Club, etc. Not every early American were occultists or Masons. Many of them were professing Christians, but secret societies did have a history during that era of world history though. The war existed among many factions, primarily the Redcoats and Tory allies against the Patriots. Both sides were adamantly transparent in their political positions. At the core was the Revolutionary war was about one side wanting to have taxation with representation in the American colonies (along with later desiring independence from the British Empire). The other side wanted total allegiance to the British Empire and the status quo. Both sides had imperfections. The Patriots didn't go far enough to condemn slavery and promote racial and economic injustice in general. The Redcoats and their Tory allies were wrong to adhere to the concept of Monarchy while being silent on the British Empire's brutal colonial regimes across the globe. Monarchy is wrong, because it is the concept based upon the principles that human liberties must be subjected under the domination of one human being (and religious liberty rights including other personal rights are readily suppressed in that arrangement). The Declaration of Independence told the truth that all men are created equal, but its author had the contradiction of owning slaves plus being a stone cold racist. The Intolerable Acts, the Boston Massacre, British soldiers going into colonists' homes, the dispute of the Proclamation line of 1763, and other factors made war inevitable. Diverse people like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, etc. (who had political, ideological disagreements) were unified in desiring an independent American nation. Freemasonry influenced much of the history of the American Revolution. Freemason Baron von Steuben trained Continental forces in the Northeast, and he was an ally of his Brother Freemason George Washington. Freemason Prince Hall (who was a freed slave) wanted to have his own lodge, and he formed Prince Hall Freemasonry. The signers of the Declaration of Independence who were Freemasons were Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, Joseph Hewes, William Hooper, Robert Treat Payne, Richard Stockton, George Walton, and William Whipple. Samuel Adams defended the Boston Tea Party. Thomas Paine is one of the most supporters of American Independence. Rosicrucians cite him as a prominent Rosicrucian:
“The Rosicrucian Fraternity existed in America prior to the First American Revolution. In 1774, the great Council of Three (the Fraternity’s ultimate governing body) was composed of Benjamin Franklin, George Clymer and Thomas Paine.”
– The Fraternitas Rosae Crucis, soul.org
Other people involved in support of the Boston Tea Party action were Paul Revere, William Molineux, and other Sons of Liberty. Many meetings of the Sons of Liberty took place in the Green Dragon Tavern. This place had a downstairs area of the tavern. Upstairs had the St. Andrews Lodge of Massachusetts (Ancients). It was filled with Freemasons who would later be involved in the American Revolution. The Sons of Liberty were the group of colonists who explicitly desired total American independence from the British Empire. Many Freemasons were involved in the American Revolution from Generals to regular colonists. The Sons of Liberty held secret sessions in the Green Dragon Tavern. Joseph Warren and Paul Revere were well known Freemasons. The First Continental Congress was presided by Peyton Randolph (a Freemason) on September 5, 1774. On February 1775, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress made final plans for an armed resistance. The Virginia Provincial Assembly met at St. John's Church where Patrick Henry gave his famous "Give me liberty, or give me death" speech. Many of George Washington's generals were Freemasons. George Washington joined the Fredericksburg Lodge #4 in Virginia. He was a Templar Mason in 1768, and he was elected President of the United States in 1789. George Washington received his oath of Office on a Masonic Bible as did his Vice President John Adams. The oath was given by Robert Livingston, the Grand Master of New York's Grand Lodge. The Marshall on that day was Freemason General Jacob Morton, and Washington's escort was Freemason General Morgan Lewis. History is dynamic indeed.
Washington, D.C. and other Places (the Esoteric Influence)
The United States capital at first was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia was the city where the First and Second Continental Congress met followed by the Congress of Confederation upon gaining independence. Yes, I have been to Philadelphia before in real life. Back in June of 1783, an angry group of soldiers came into Independence Hall. They wanted payment for their service during the American Revolutionary War. Congress had requested that John Dickinson or the governor of Pennsylvania call up the militia to defend Congress from attacks by the protesters. This action was called the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783. Dickinson sympathized with the protesters and refused to remove them from Philadelphia. As a result of these events, Congress was forced to flee to Princeton, New Jersey on June 21, 1783. Dickinson’s failure to protect the institution of the national government was discussed the Philadelphia Convention in 1787. The delegates therefore agreed in Article One, Section 8 of the United States Constitution to give the Congress the power:
“…To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of Particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards and other needful Buildings…”
From James Madison’s Federalist No. 43, he wanted the national capital to be distinct from the states, so the nation can have its own safety and maintenance. The Constitution didn’t have a specific site for the location of the new District. Many state legislatures (from Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia) have issued proposals for the location of the national capital. Northern states wanted a capitol in one of their locations. Conversely, Southern states desired that the capital to be located closer to their agricultural interests. James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton agreed that the selection of the area would be around the Potomac River (which was the boundary between Maryland and Virginia, which were both slave states back then). Hamilton proposed that the new federal government would take over debts accrued by the states during the Revolutionary War. Yet, by 1790, Southern states had largely repaid their overseas debts. Hamilton’s plan would require Southern states to assume a share of Northern debt. Jefferson and Madison agreed to this proposal and in return secured a Southern location for the federal capital. On December 23, 1788, the Maryland General Assembly passed an act. This act allowed Maryland to cede land for the federal district. The Virginia General Assembly followed suit on December 3, 1789.
The signing of the Federal Residence Act on July 6, 1790, mandated that the site for the permanent seat of government, "not exceeding ten miles square" (100 square miles), be located on the "river Potomac, at some place between the mouths of the Eastern-Branch and Connogochegue.” The “Eastern-Branch” is known today as the Anacostia River. The Connogocheque (or Concocheague Creek) empties into the Potomac River upstream near Williamsport and Hagerstown, Maryland. The Residence Act limited to the Maryland side of the Potomac River the location of land that commissioners appointed by the President could acquire for federal use. The Residence Act authorized the President to select the actual location of the site. Yet, President George Washington wanted to include the town of Alexandria, Virginia within the federal district. In order to make this happen, the boundaries of the federal district would need to encompass an area on the Potomac that was downstream on the mouth of the Eastern Branch.
The U.S. Congress amended the Residence Act in 1791 to permit Alexandria's inclusion in the federal district. However, some members of Congress had recognized that George Washington and his family owned property in and near Alexandria, which was just seven miles (11 km) upstream from Mount Vernon, Washington's home and plantation. The amendment therefore contained a provision that prohibited the "erection of the public buildings otherwise than on the Maryland side of the river Potomac.” The final site was just below the fall line on the Potomac or the furthest inland point navigable by boats. It included the ports of Georgetown and Alexandria. Many landowners objected to the plan like David Burns. He owned a large 650 acre tract of land in the district. So, on March 30, 1791, Burns and 18 other landowners relented and signed an agreement with Washington. This allowed allowed the landowners to be compensation for any land taken for public use. Half of the remaining land would be distributed among the proprietors and the other half to the public.
President George Washington followed by the Residence Act by appointing three commissioners (who were Thomas Johnson, Daniel Carroll, and David Stuart) in 1791. The commissioners’ jobs were to supervise the planning, design, and acquisition of property in the federal district and the capital city. By September 1791, the three commissioners agreed to name the federal district as “The Territory of Columbia,” and the federal city as the “City of Washington.” Major Andrew Ellicott worked under the supervision of the 3 commissioners and at the direction of President Washington. So, Andrew Ellicott was assisted by his brothers Benjamin and Joseph Ellicott, Isaac Roberdeau, Isaac Briggs, George Fenwick, and an African American, Benjamin Banneker to survey the borders of the Territory of Columbia with Virginia and Maryland during 1791 and 1792. The survey started at Jones Point, which was a cape located at the confluence of Hunting Creek and the Potomac River south of Alexandria. The survey team enclosed within a square an area containing the full 100 square miles (260 km2) that the Residence Act had authorized. Each side of the square was 10 miles (16 km) long. The axes between the corners of the square ran north–south and east–west. The center of the square is within the grounds of the Organization of American States headquarters west of the Ellipse. The survey team placed sandstone boundary markets at or near every mile point along the sides of the square. Many of these markers sill remain. The south cornerstone is at Jones Point. The west cornerstone is at the west corner of Arlington County, Virginia. The north cornerstone is south of East-West Highway near Silver Spring, Maryland or west of 16th Street. The east cornerstone is east of the intersection of Southern Avenue and Eastern Avenue.
In early 1791, President Washington appointed Pierre Charles L’Enfant to create a plan for the new city in the area of the land at the center of the federal territory (that lay between the northeast shore of the Potomac River and the northwest shore of the Potomac's Eastern Branch). L'Enfant then designed in his "Plan of the city intended for the permanent seat of the government of the United States..." The city's first layout, a grid centered on the United States Capitol, which would stand at the top of a hill (Jenkins Hill) on a longitude designated as 0,0°. The grid filled an area bounded by the Potomac River, the Eastern Branch (now named the Anacostia River), the base of an escarpment at the Atlantic Seaboard Fall Line along which a street (initially Boundary Street, now Florida Avenue) would later travel, and Rock Creek.
The North-south and east-west streets formed the grid. There were wider diagonal “grand avenues” which were later named after the states of the Union which crossed the grid. When these “grand avenues” crossed each other, L’Enfant placed open spaces in circles and plazas that were later named after famous or well-known Americans. L’Enfant broadest grand avenue was a 400 feet (or 122 meter) wide garden lined esplanade, which he expected to travel for about 1 mile along the east-west axis in the center of an area that the National Mall now occupies. There is the narrower avenue (or Pennsylvania Avenue) that connected the “Congress House” (the Capitol) with the “President’s house” (or the White House). Later on, Pennsylvania Avenue developed into the capital city’s present “grand avenue.” L’Enfant’s plan also included a system of canals, one of which would travel near the western side of the Capitol at the base of Jenkins Hill. To be filled in part by the waters of the Tiber Creek, the canal system would traverse the center of the city and would enter both the Potomac River and the Eastern Branch. On August 19, 1791, L’Enfant presented his plan to President George Washington. Yet, L'Enfant subsequently entered into a number of conflicts with the three commissioners and others involved in the enterprise. I remember years ago, many Masons denied that L'Enfant was a Mason. Now, we know that he was a Mason. While L'Enfant was in New York City, he was initiated into Freemasonry. His initiation took place on April 17, 1789, at Holland Lodge No. 8, F & A M, which the Grand Lodge of New York F & A M had chartered in 1787. L'Enfant took only the first of three degrees offered by the Lodge and did not progress further in Freemasonry.
During a particularly contentious period in February 1792, Andrew Ellicott informed the commissioners that L'Enfant had not arranged to have the city plan engraved and had refused to provide him with an original plan that L'Enfant was then holding. Ellicott, with the aid of his brother, Benjamin Ellicott, then revised the plan, despite L'Enfant's protests. Ellicott’s revisions realigned and straightened Massachusetts Avenue. It eliminated five short radial avenues and added two others. It removed several plazas and straightened the borders of the future Judiciary Square. Shortly thereafter, Washington dismissed L’Enfant. Ellicott gave the first version of his own plan to James Thakara and John Vallance of Philadelphia. John Vallance engraved, printed, and published it. This version was printed in March of 1792 and it was the first Washington city plan that received wide circulation. After L’Enfant departed, Ellicott continued the city survey in accordance with his revised plan. There are also larger and more detailed versions of which were also engraved, published, and distributed. As a result, Ellicott’s revisions became the basis for the capital city’s future development. In the year 1800, the seat of government was finally moved to the new city. By 1800, President Adams moved into the White House. The capitol moved from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. The United States Capitol building was constructed, Washington Navy Yard was established. Its population in 1800 was 14,093. Again, people recently found out that Charles L'Enfant was a Freemason and attended 1 meeting and received an Entered Apprentice Degree. He was dismissed of the D.C. plan by February 1792. The White House's architect was the Freemason James Hoban.
On February 27, 1801, the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801 placed the District under the jurisdiction of Congress. The act also organized the unincorporated territory within the District into two counties: the County of Washington on the northeast bank of the Potomac, and the County of Alexandria on the southwest bank. On March 4, 1801, Thomas Jefferson was inaugurated as President. On May 3, 1802, the City of Washington was granted a municipal government consisting of a mayor appointed by the President of the United States.
*There is another side to Washington, D.C. that many people don’t know about or talk about. There is an esoteric influence to D.C. Washington D.C.’s architecture has been heavily influenced by Freemasonry, Deist ideologies, and Enlightenment principles. That is why the city is filled with Zodiac symbols, mysterious faces, and various Greco-Roman god and goddess images. Many of the people who existed in early America were not conservative Christians. Many of them were Deists or those who followed many esoteric principles. People know how I think about Freemasonry. I disagree with Freemasonry, because I don’t believe in swearing oaths involving death (even if they are symbolic), I don’t believe in using deception among the Blue Degrees, I don’t agree with experiencing a sharp object touching my chest, I don't agree with calling a grown man "Worshipful Master," and I don’t believe in the spiritual syncretism that Masonry embraces.
All Masonic symbolism came out of long established occultism as verified by high level Freemason Henry C. Clausen: “The signs, symbols and inscriptions date from...the Sumerian civilizations...Chaldea [Babylon], Assyria, Greece, Rome and even in Mexico and Yucatan...Some rites of the Scottish rite of Freemasonry of our Mother Jurisdiction have been in existence from time immemorial. For we teach the same grand truths, the same sublime philosophies...as those adept’s of the ancient mysteries taught in their esoteric rites.” “Messages for a Mission” [the Supreme Council 33rd degree, A & ARFM, Mother Jurisdiction of the World, 1971]
One of the easiest ways to discover the Masonic influence of many parts of D.C. has to do with the corn and wine ceremony on September 18, 1793. This was the groundbreaking ceremony of the construction of the Capitol building. Back then, George Washington was in Masonic attire to lay the cornerstone (on the site where the U.S. Capitol building is to be built) in a corn, wine, and oil ceremony. Freemasons are pictured next to George Washington in a picture of the ritual. The word "Capitol" comes from the Latin word Capitolium and is associated with the Roman temple to Jupiter Optimus Maximus on Capitoline Hill. "Capitoline Triad" is the name of the three Roman gods and goddess worshiped in the same hill in ancient Rome consisting of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. The Capitol is influenced from many temples to Greco-Roman gods. Also, we know that many Europeans stole the wisdom from ancient Africa, the ancient Middle East, ancient China, etc. and manipulate it as way for them to promote control over society.
Benjamin Latrobe was involved in the construction of the U.S. Capitol building, and he was a Freemason. Latrobe was initiated in the Lodge of Antiquity No. 2, London from 1788. He served as Junior Warden from 1789-1790. Freemason Thomas Ustick Walter flanked the wings and the dome of the Capitol too. Freemason James Hoban was the architect of the White House. Many Greco-Roman paintings are found all over the Capitol building. There are images of Mercury, Minerva, etc. Also, the famous apotheosis image of Washington is there too. Apotheosis is a word meaning becoming a god, so the painting signifies Washington going into the realm of godhood or perfection, which is outright blasphemous in my view. The influence of Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism pervade many places in America including Washington, D.C. Former President George W. Bush once said (during his Presidency) said that he was fulfilling the "Ancient Hope" of the "New Order of the Ages." For centuries, Utopians wanted to establish the perfect society and some want Washington, D.C. to be the representation of the beginning of that process to create the Utopian world society (or the new world order as has been talked about by world leaders for a very long time). This information is increasingly being known by folks in our generation. As for me, I believe in independence of thought and liberty without Utopian visions. I believe in the liberation of the international proletariat and all people. Likewise, I don't believe in the creation of a new world order or the creation of global government. I believe in human sovereignty and justice for all.
There has been the 200th year anniversary of laying the cornerstone on the Capitol, which was held on September 18, 1993. Many Masons of many races were there to reenact the corn, wine, and oil ceremony. To the Masons, corn meant plenty, wine meant refreshment, and oil meant joy and gladness. George Washington was part of the first ritual and the Masonic George Washington Memorial is found in Alexandria, Virginia. Yet, we know that pagan religions and the ancient Mystery religions had such corn, wine, and oil rituals for thousands of years. Corn or grain in Hebrew is dagan. There is the word of Dagon (the images of Dagon have this god with fish scales on it. Baal is the son of Dagon). Freemasonry has been debated for years and centuries about its intentions and agenda. The William Morgan incident was about when William Morgan was murdered after revealing many secrets of Masonry. Also, one conspirator in the murder confessed that Masons were involved in William Morgan’s murder. In 1848, Henry L. Valance confessed to his part in the murder on his deathbed, a story recounted in chapter two of Reverend C. G. Finney's book The Character, Claims, and Practical Workings of Freemasonry (1869). Morgan's evil murder caused a huge backlash against Freemasonry for spiritual and moral reasons during the 19th century. In fact, one password in one Masonic degree is Jahbulon (which is a mixtures of names for a deity). There is the Statue of Freedom with stars on top of the U.S. Capitol building. State Capitols nationwide have mysterious, arcane symbols too.
Various unique images are from in the Library of Congress as well. The Library of Congress has some of the most esoteric images in Washington, D.C. Form the outside of the building to the inside, there are images of ancient gods and goddesses, zodiac patterns, and various sayings that relate to the ancient world. One picture in the Library of Congress can cause a book to be written about it. The Great Hall has a floor where the Giant Zodiac greets people coming into the location. The sun is found in the center of the floor. The image has the representation according to some as Iris (or the goddess the Rainbow). Iris, in Greek mythology was the woman messenger of the gods. Hermes was the male messenger to the gods. The rainbows symbolizes the connection of touching Heaven and Earth.
There are more information about the architecture of Washington, D.C. that deals with esoteric influences and Enlightenment philosophies. First, Secret Societies have always been part of American and world history. Many members of these organizations exist in D.C. One example is the Skulls and Bones secret society. Its secret initial ritual takes place in Yale University in a place called the Tomb (where people confess their deep secrets and are given a nickname). Its founders were William Huntington Russell and Alphonso Taft. It was created in 1832. Symbols exist all around Washington, D.C. locations. According to Dr. Robert Hieronimus (who is a member of Co-Masonry), there are multiple levels of meanings to symbols. Symbols reveal and conceal secrets or information. Many symbols pervade the landscape of D.C. One example is the Washington Monument. The architect of the Washington Monument was the Freemason Robert Mills. The Washington Monument also had a cornerstone Masonic ceremony before it was built back in July 4, 1848. Robert Mills wanted to show many Greco-Roman images around the monument, but George Perkins Marsh (who was an early environmentalist) caused the Monument to be just an obelisk. Marsh studied obelisks in Rome and in the Vatican where obelisks from Egypt were placed in Italy and throughout Europe. In Ancient Egypt, the obelisk represented the sun god Ra. It also in reference of a phallic image. Obelisks has a pyramid on top of it. There is not an exact North South parallel between the Washington Monument and the White House. Yet, there is the N-S parallel among the Washington Monument and the Masonic House of the Temple (which is the Scottish Rite headquarters in America).
The Washington Monument was finished by the late 19th century. Freemason David Ovason wrote of his theory that the architecture of Washington, D.C. was influenced by the star Sirius. Sirius is talked about in the occult including in Freemasonry. Sirius is the Dog Star and the ancient Egyptians gave Sirius strong connotations since it was in the sky prominent during July and August (or in the peak of the summer season when the wet season was huge). Sirius is found in Masonic Lodges (33rd Degree Freemason Albert Pike praised Sirius as the Blazing Star in his Morals and Dogma book on pg. 486). Pike also wrote that: “The Sun and Moon…represent the tow grand principles…both shed their light upon their offspring the Blazing Star, or Horus…” (Morals and Dogma, pgs. 13-14). Some believe that the planet Venus is linked to the Pentagram image, because the planet Venus forms a Pentagram image during its travels around the Solar system after a certain period of time.
According to the Masonic scholar Rex Hutchins, here is his view on the Pentagram: “…is the symbol of the Divine in man…The five pointed star with a single point upward represents the Divine. It also symbolizes man for its five points allude to the five senses, the five members ((head, arms, and legs) and his five fingers on each hand, which signify the tokens that distinguish Masons…” He also wrote that the Pentagram: “…is the symbol of the Microcosm, the universe where humans dwell. Since the Pentagram which encloses the pentagram may be formed by connecting the five points of the human body, for many centuries the symbol was used to represent humanity in general…” This quotation is similar to the Hermetic maxim “as above, so below.” That means that which is manifested in the heavens is manifested in the Earth (i.e. a human being is a miniature version of the outer Universe). The Pentagram inverted is used in the Eastern Star organization as a logo too.
Albert Pike talks about the Pentagram in the following terms: “….The Blazing Star in our Lodges, we have already said, represents Sirius, or Mercury, Guardian and Guide of Souls. Our Ancient English brethren also considered it an emblem of the Sun. In the old Lectures they said: ‘The Blazing Star or Glory in the centre refers to us that Grand Luminary the Sun, which enlightens the Earth, and by its genial influence dispenses blessings to mankind. It is also said in those lectures to be an emblem of Prudence. The word Prudentia means, in its original and fullest signification, Foresight: and accordingly the Blazing Star has been regarded as an emblem of Omniscience, or the All Seeing Eye, which to the Ancients was the Sun.” (Albert Pike’s Morals and Dogma, pg. 506). Also, much of the esoteric paintings in the Library of Congress has been influenced by Elihu Vedder. In the Library of Congress building, esoteric statues and paintings exist. Also, some words there exist there like: “The true Shekinah is Man.” Of course, I don't agree with that. The Shekinah glory belongs to the Most High God alone.
Sirius rises in the east in Egyptian latitudes. So, Davis Ovason in his book believes that the date of the signing of the Declaration of Independence saw Sirius high in the sky. On pages 4-5 of his book, Ovason tells us that this star, Spica, is really Sirius, "represented in hieroglyphics that resembled an obelisk and a five-pointed star.” David Ovason tells us something about the Declaration of Independence: "These [Astrological] computations clearly show that on the day the Declaration of Independence was agreed in Philadelphia, the Sun was on Sirius." [Page 138].
Sirius according to Pike is referred in these terms: "Isis was aided in her search [for the slain body of Osiris] by Anubis, in the shape of a dog. He was Sirius, or the Dog-Star, the friend and counselor of Osiris, and the inventor of language, grammar, astronomy, surveying, arithmetic, music, and medical science; the first maker of laws; and who taught the worship of the Gods, and the building of Temples." [Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma, p. 376, Teachings of the 24th Degree, Prince of the Tabernacle].
According to the occult writer M. Temple Richmond, writing in his book, Sirius, p. 29:
"The Euphrateans, Persians, Phoenicians, and the peoples of Vedic India called Sirius, The Leader, while the Romans knew Sirius as Janitor Lethacus, or Keeper of Hell, both of which titles are perhaps reminiscent of Anubis, the Egyptian god who led the deceased through the underworld. The Egyptians themselves reverenced Sirius under several other names as well, including Sothis, Sothi, Sept, Sepet, Sopdet, Sot, and Sed." David Ovason writes the following information: “…Had you stood on this water-edge of Foggy Bottom on April 3, 1791 ... you would have witnessed remarkable event -- one which seems to have been involved in the magic of the building of Washington, D.C. On the morning of that day...there would be an eclipse, when the Sun ... would be blacked out by the body of the Moon…The eclipse of 1791 was in Aries -- a certain portent that the destiny of Washington, D.C., would be filled with pioneering endeavor and excessive (not to say belligerent) enthusiasms ... the augury of that morning ... was remarkable. The Sun and Moon were not the only pair in Aries at that time: no fewer than five of the known planets were in that zodiacal Ram -- the sign which favors brave undertakings. Such cosmic curiosities are a sign that the city had begun in a kind of dream -- as in a vision." [Page 6-7].
The American one dollar bill have many different manifestations. Its modern manifestation existed since 1935. 32nd Degree Freemason and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt authorized the modern One dollar bill. Its images have been promoted by his ally 33rd Degree Freemason Henry Wallace, who was in the Department of Agriculture. The Observe or front side of the bill has owl imagery, the image of George Washington, (who was a Freemason), and acknowledgements from the United States Federal Reserve. To the right of George Washington is the Treasury Department seal. The scales represent justice. The chevron with thirteen stars represents the original thirteen colonies. The key below the chevron represents authority and trust; 1789 was the year when the Department of the Treasury was established. The series 1969 dollar bills were the first to use a simplified Treasury seal, with the wording in English instead of Latin. The reverse side of the Dollar Bill has much more interesting symbolism which has been discussed about for generations. The reverse side has the Great Seal. It was created originally from the late 1700’s via many committees. Benjamin Franklin was involved in the Great Seal and he was a Mason. Although, most committee members involved in the Great Seal weren’t Masons. The Great Seal has a Pyramid with the All Seeing Eye of Providence along with the Roman numerals representing 1776 via MDCCLXXVI. It has the words of Annuit Coeptis which means in Latin “He favors our undertaking.”
The words of In God We Trust were added in 1956 by an Act of Congress because of the McCarthyite era. The words of Novus Ordo Seclorum mean New Order of the Ages. This is in reference to the new American era. Also, it refers to the Utopian vision of a new society on Earth. That phrase is found in the fourth Eclogue of Virgil. It was proposed by Charles Thomson, the Latin expert who was involved in the design of the Great Seal of the United States, to signify "the beginning of the new American Era" as of the date of the Declaration of Independence. The Great Seal has 13 stars, 13 horizontal strips, 13 vertical stripes, 13 arrows, 13 olive leaves, and 13 olives. Even Annuit Coeptis has 13 letters including E Pluribus Unum (or out of many one in Latin). According to Richard S. Patterson and Richardson Dougall, Annuit coeptis (meaning "favours our undertakings") can both be traced to lines by the Roman poet Virgil. Annuit cœptis comes from the Aeneid, book IX, line 625, which reads, Iuppiter omnipotens, audacibus adnue coeptis. It is a prayer by Ascanius, the son of the hero of the story, Aeneas, which translates to, "Jupiter Almighty, favour [my] bold undertakings", just before slaying an enemy warrior, Numanus. 13 is in reference to the 13 colonies. The Great Seal has the eagle holding onto a branch and 13 arrows.
According to Henry A. Wallace (then the Agriculture in President Franklin D. Roosevelt's cabinet), in 1934, he saw a 1909 pamphlet on the Great Seal by Gaillard Hunt. The pamphlet included a full-color copy of the reverse of the Great Seal, which Wallace had never seen. He wanted Roosevelt to include the seal on a coin, but Roosevelt allowed it to be put on the reverse of the Dollar bill. Henry Wallace was involved in occult teachings. He worked with his friend Nicholas Roerich. Nicholas Roerich was a Russian mystic, a peace activist, and was involved in the occult. His wife was Helena Ivanova. Nicholas and Helena believed in Theosophy. Roerich wanted to find the mystical Shambhalla, but Wallace rejected him over the accusation of Roerich doing tax evasion. His mother was Russian, and his father was a Baltic German person. The so-called Roerich Pact was signed into law by the United States and most nations of the Pan-American Union in April 1935. In 1942, Roerich received Jawaharlal Nehru and his daughter, Indira Gandhi, at his house in Kullu. He had 2 children. Roerich was a very talented painter. Roerich lived to be 73 as he passed away on December 13, 1947.
*The All Seeing Eye is one of the most debated and misinterpreted symbols in human history. Its meaning is transparently clear and there is no wiggle room around it. The All Seeing Eye in the modern age represents the Eye of Providence or the eye of the Creator watching over Creation. The image has rays of light surrounding it. Freemasons adopted the All Seeing Eye image later on. The first time the Eye appeared in modern day Freemasonry was in the 1797 publican of Thomas Smith Webb’s Freemasons Monitor. Masons call God the Great Architect of the Universe (or GOATU). Such eye images have existed in the Renaissance with Christian related images and by Deists. Also, this eye goes back thousands of years too. Ancient Egypt has the one eye image called the Eye of Horus. This image is found in the ancient Americas. To occultists, this eye refers to the Third Eye that can be activated in increasing human consciousness.
According to the 1923 book from American author Grace Morey entitled, Mystic Americanism, “The All-Seeing Eye…emblematic of the pineal gland or third eye of the human being…has been found amid the ruins of every civilization upon the globe, thereby attesting the fact of a universal religion over all the earth at some remote period. As we now restore this universal religion, we set the All-Seeing eye upon the pyramid.” According to the Freemason Dr. Buck (1838-1916), “…It has been called “The Third Eye.” The Ancient Hindus called it the Eye of Siva, and it should be borne in mind that Siva is the third person in the Hindu Trinity…It is atrophied, and therefore dormant in the average individual…The Eye of Siva is, in fact, an All-Seeing-Eye; for it practically annuls Space and Time as concepts on the physical plane… A real Master [Mason], then, has the Eye of Siva; the pineal gland, dormant in others, is active in him…”
It is found in ancient India too. The ancients, who advanced the Mysteries, weren’t just showing images for show. They specifically promoted symbolism for a specific reason (ultimately in promoting their belief in using steps to achieve in their minds “human godhood”). Paganism itself believes in the principle that humans can use the powers to achieve godhood (along with the veneration of Nature and the praise of the human soul). Dr. George Washington wrote in his 1918 book called The Wonders of the Human Body that the All Seeing Eye refers to the Third Eye too. That is why one of the secrets of the occult is the belief in human divinity. I don’t believe in that, but this is what many pagans believe in.
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One of the most interesting paintings in the U.S. Capitol rotunda dome is the Apotheosis of Washington. It was painted by the Greek-Italian artist named Constantino Brumidi in 1865. The fresco is suspended in 180 feet above the rotunda floor. It covers about 4,663 square feet. Brumidi had worked for three years in the Vatican under Pope Gregory XVI, and served several aristocrats as an artist for palaces and villas, including the prince Torlonia. He immigrated to the United States in 1852, and spent much of the last 25 years of his life working in the Capitol. In addition to The Apotheosis of Washington he designed the Brumidi Corridors. The symbolism of the paintings is overt and clear. It show George Washington (who was a member of the Order of Cincinnati, and he was a Merovingian related to Charlemagne of France) sitting among the heavens in an exalted manner. It shows George Washington ascending into being a god (which in my opinion is blasphemous). Washington was the first U.S. President and the commander in chief of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. The paintings shows pagan imagery like the Goddess of Liberty with the red liberty cap. This cap is also called the Phrygian cap. It shows the goddess Victoria. Forming a circle between Liberty and Victory are 13 maidens, each with a star above her head, representing the original 13 colonies. Several of the maidens have their backs turned to Washington, said to represent the colonies that had seceded from the Union at the time of painting. Across the circle from Washington is the banner E Pluribus Unum meaning "out of many, one" in Latin.
Surrounding Washington, the two goddesses and the 13 maidens are six scenes lining the perimeter, each representing a national concept allegorically: from directly below Washington in the center and moving clockwise, "War," "Science," "Marine," "Commerce," "Mechanics," and "Agriculture." The perimeter scenes are not fully visible from the floor of the Capitol. The scenes shows an homage to Roman gods and goddesses like Minerva, Neptune, Ceres, Vulcan, and Mercury. It praises Columbia too.
The Utopian vision of many occultists and political leaders have been written about by Dr. James H. Billington’s “Fire in the Minds of Man” book. He wrote about the Pythagorean Passion where many occultists, according to Dr. Billington, believed followed politics in order to achieve their goals. David Ovason (who wrote about the Pythagorean Y and Virgo) believes that the city of Washington, D.C. was built according to specific star or constellation patterns. David Ovason also wrote in his book entitled, “The Secret Architecture of our Nation’s Capital: The Masons and the Building of Washington, D.C.” More information is known about this subject now, and David Ovason's book has been praised by C. Fred Kleinknecht, 33 Degree, Sovereign Grand Commander, The Supreme Council, 33 Degree (Mother Council of the World), Southern Jurisdiction, U.S.A., Washington, D.C. According to David Ovason in his book entitled, "The Secret Architecture of oUr Nation's Capital: The Masons and the Building of Washington, D.C.":
"At exactly 3:30p.m., Jupiter, the most beneficial planet in the skies, began to rise over the horizon. It was in 23 degrees of Virgo. If we assume that the unknown astronomer had selected this moment consciously, then he seized on the moment when the zodiacal Virgo was exerting an especially strong and beneficial influence. By this means, the zodiacal power of Virgo, which was called in later Masonic circles 'the beautiful Virgin' was able to stamp her benign influence on the building of the federal city. Was this one of the contributing reasons why many astrologers have insisted that Washington, D.C. is ruled by zodiacal Virgo? A few of the many Freemasons present at this ceremony would have been only too well aware of the profound implications of what they were doing. They were initiating the building of a new city that would serve not only the 15 states that had agreed to the creation of a new federal center, but the whole of what would eventually expand into the United States of America. It is quite clear that the ceremonial placing of the stone related to more than merely the founding of the federal district: it was somehow linked to the future destiny of America itself." [Ovason, Page 49]
When the cornerstone was laid for the Washington Monument on July 4, 1848, the Moon went into Virgo shortly before noon. The cornerstone was donated by Freemason Thomas Symington. The ceremony was hosted by Freemason Benjamin French who used the same Masonic apron and sash that Washington had worn for the laying of the Capitol cornerstone. David Ovason believes in the L'Enfant Triangle theory. This theory is that on August 10th, above Washington, D.C over the area west of Pennsylvania Avenue, there are 3 stars forming a right angled triangle that frames the constellation of Virgo. The 3 stars are Regulus, Arcturus, and Spica. Regulus (set in Leo) would be over the White House and to the west are Spica (in Virgo),and Arcturus in Bootes. The 3 stars to Ovason make up the L'Enfant triangle bound the Capitol, White House, and the Washington Monument. Those 2 stars enclose the constellation of Virgo. David Ovason’s theories are very interesting, and we know for a fact that cities in America were influenced by many Freemasons, etc.
Many in the esoteric crowd believe in the existence of ley lines. Promoters of ley lines believe that cities and ancient sites are placed on certain areas of the Earth with certain energies. Some of these people believe that these places are also aligned with the same star constellations like Orion and Draco. While mainstream scientists view the ley lines concept as psuedo-science, you still have to know about many things in life even if you disagree. Many researchers have found how a straight line pattern that aligns with the locations of Teotihuacan, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City Boston, Stonehenge, Troy, and Baalbak (in Syria). In the esoteric crowd, there is a concept called "God's Longitude" found meridian 77 degrees west of England. Many astronomers and surveyors went to Virginia to mark the new Meridian, but they were lost in the Great Dismal Swamp. The meridian 77° west of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, North America, the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, South America, the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole. Elaine Paulinois Phelen wrote an article on D.C. saying that the National Academy of Sciences have 12 of the zodiacs displayed in relief on the metal doors of the building. The Library of Congress Building had a display of 5 zodiacs. The U.S. Capitol building's architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe was initiated in the Lodge No. 2, London in 1788. He was affiliated with Lodge No. 54 in Richmond, Virginia.
So, in 1783, there was the federal city being planned from the U.S. Constitution. By 1790, the Residence Act implemented the Constitution. The start of the construction of the U.S. Capitol Building started in 1803. The Smithsonian Institution was established by Congress in 1847. In 1848, there was the start of the construction of the Washington monument. It was completed by 1884. The McMillan Plan was finished by 1901. The Lincoln Memorial was built in 1922. Gary Osborn wrote literature making the unique theory that the plan of Washington, D.C. is based on the plans of the Great Pyramid. Many deceived religious either downplay or deny that many (not all) early Americans were influenced by Masonry and Deism like James Dobson, Pat Robertson, D. James Kennedy, Chuch Colson, Tim and Beverly LaHaye, Jerry Falwell Jr., Bill Gothard, etc. Many early Americans were also sincere, holy Christians too. I want to make that clear.
The documentary of Secrets in Plain Sight researches the geometry, symbolism, of many famous architecture plus city plans found in ancient Egypt, America, Europe, etc. It documented information about how the ancients thousands of years already knew of complex mathematical formulas, astronomy, and other complex building skills to construct their own locations. Rick Campbell has wrote about theories about more geometric patterns in D.C. on his website of DCsymbols.com. Rick Campbell believes that the area of Washington, D.C. has the geometric pattern of a Pentagram in a cube making up a larger pattern of a Pyramid. As proven previously, we know that the Pentagram to the ancients have many meanings like Venus and the Microcosm. The documentary of Secrets in Plain Sight said that the cube is symbolic of the body. Rick Campbell said that a cube pattern in D.C. is found on the places of Jefferson Memorial, The Lincoln Memorial, the National Mall, The White House, Mt. Vernon Square, Washington Circle, and Scott Circle. According to the documentary, the top of the pyramid has the location of the House of the Temple or the World headquarters of Scottish Rite Freemasonry. The House of the Temple has 2 sphinxes on the front side of the building. The House of the Temple has the tomb of 33rd Degree Freemason Albert Pike. Campbell said that the House of the Temple was built Ad Quadratum Elevation or by the square. The Secrets in Plain Sight document have a theory of the Kabbalah Tree of Life and the Circle of Life patterns (including other geometric patterns) in the design of Washington D.C. with compelling evidence.
It is no secret that the White House, the U.S. Capitol, the Jefferson Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Second Bank of the U.S, and the Supreme Court Building are all influenced by the architecture of the ancients. Research continues on America's secret history along with the story of Atlantis indeed.
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The Complex Legacy of America
America's legacy is complex. I certainly reject the 2 extreme views of America. One view believes in the myth that every American centuries ago were terrorists who didn't honor morality or true justice. The other extreme view is that every American back then were just total saints and did nothing wrong. The truth is that America's history is more nuisance and complicated. There were wicked American colonists who were slave owners, traitors, and bigots. That's clear as shown by the histories of Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, and Thomas Jefferson. Many Framers also once owned slaves and became abolitionists like Benjamin Franklin and John Jay. Freemasonry, religious Christianity, other religions, the Enlightenment, and other ideologies or spiritual views were found in early America just like today in 2021. Also, many Americans centuries ago fought for righteousness, were believers in truth, and wanted justice for all. Long ago, many Bible believers in early America desired sincere spiritual growth while abhorring injustice. Therefore, we can't sugarcoat the flaws found in America (as the disgraceful, red baiting, pro-Trump 1776 Commission has done. The Biden administration rejected that false 1776 Commission). Slavery and the genocide of the Native peoples by terrorists are historical facts that must always be known. American slavery involved the split of families, rape, abuse, murder, torture, and other forms of unspeakable mayhem. Even the Constitution once advanced legalized slavery which is a disgrace until the 1860's. Also, we realize that one legacy of America is the chance of improvement.
Throughout our tortured, controversial history as Americans, heroes have risen to fight for the rights of women, black people, other people of color, immigrants, and the rest of the human family. Their names are Malcolm X (who loved black people and Africa with all of his heart), Muhammad Ali, Bree Newsome, Benjamin Lundy, Robert F. Williams, Sojourner Truth, Absalom Jones, Henry Highland Garnet, and other human beings. The sacrifice of these heroes must never be forgotten. These heroes aren't just famous individuals like Frederick Douglass or Harriet Tubman. Tons of these human beings are unsung, and they reside in the rural and urban communities of the land of America too. The overall legacy of America is that America has been through ups and downs, but there is always that remnant of people in America who have earnestly fought for justice among the various centuries of time. Also, it is not enough to condemn the evils in America. It is also important to be part of the solution in making America better. Those, who truly hate America, want the status quo and desire no changes to make equality and justice for all a reality.
The Truth about America
America is the land of my birth. I was born in Virginia, so my understanding of the United States of America is very thorough. In other words, America is my land too, so I have the right to talk about the United States of America. From the Great Depression to the events of World War II, I have discovered many of the most important events that shaped America in its essence. The United States of America is the land where my ancestors worked without pay in the fields of the South. It is the same place where many of my ancestors also stood up for the creed of justice too. That is why I have every right to speak on this country, because I live in this nation everyday. The truth about America is very much clear. It has been a nation formed in part by genocide against indigenous human beings and slavery against African people. It has been a land where oppression is common, and it has been a nation where righteous people in the United States of America have fought for righteousness and human liberation. If we want America to reach its highest moral heights (which we want), then we have to tell the people the truth about America. Those, who hate the truth about America, are those fascists who stormed the U.S. Capitol building days ago.
To know about American culture is to truly know America. America is very much a multicultural nation. Also, black culture is a key part of American culture too. From politics, music, fashion, art, literature, STEM Fields, education, and other realms of human civilization, black Americans have made exceptional accomplishments in American history. People of Asian, Latino, European, Pacific Islander, Native American, and other backgrounds are part of American culture as well. Semi-distinct cultural regions of the United States include New England, the Mid-Atlantic, the South, the Midwest, the Southwest, and the West—an area that can be further subdivided into the Pacific States and the Mountain States. One aspect of American culture is its diversity. Diverse human beings in this land have made monumental contributions to American society. People know about the Bible Belt of the South and the liberal areas of the West Coast in the states of California, Oregon, and Washington state. We have art from Norman Rockwell to Augusta Savage. American music styles and influences (such as rock and roll, jazz, rock, techno, soul, country, hip-hop, R&B, blues) and music based on them can be heard all over the world. Music in the U.S. is diverse. It includes African-American influences spanning a long time. The first half of the 20th century century is famous for jazz, introduced by African-Americans. According to music journalist Robert Christgau, "pop music is more African than any other facet of American culture." We, who are Americans and others in the world, enjoy listening to Whitney, Mariah, Teena Marie, Amerie, Rakim, and other artists. Music is a universal language, and music is known to being people together. America, at its best, is focused on the ideal of all people being created equal plus making justice the goal of us all. This justice must exist by eliminating structures of oppression and having a radical redistribution of political plus economic power as Dr. King said. You can't reckon with the truth about America without telling the truth about America. The truth is America has a very long way to go in seeking that justice. The evil storming of the U.S. Capitol building is not new. Black homes and businesses were stormed by white terrorists during the Tulsa riot back in the 1920's. In the U.S. Civil War, white racists stormed the homes of black people in New York City. Many bigots caused destruction of the lands of indigenous people via theft, war, genocide, and rape. Even back in years and decades, tons of black men, black women, and black children were killed as a product of police brutality. So, this is America.
America is a multiple centuries-old country with the most diverse people in the history of the world. It has gained more wealth than any other nation in the history of the world, other than European Empires. America has the paradox of being involved in cruel evils like slavery, CIA-sponsored coups along with being involved in many social movements that helped humanity like the Civil Rights Movement and the Abolitionist Movement. The diverse leaders and grassroots activists of the Civil Rights Movement (like Ruby Doris Smith-Robinson, Victoria Gray Adams, Fannie Lou Hamer, Annie Devine, C. C. Bryant, Peggy Jean Connor, and other brave souls who risked their lives for our freedom) show how resilient the souls of freedom-loving humans are. That is why if someone cares about America, he or she will always advocate monumental solutions to improve America. It is not enough to condemn the evils found in America alone. It is easy to figure out the imperfections found in the USA. We also have to develop movements and do action in building America up, so America can grow into what the Dream entails. Do I believe in reparations for black Americans? Yes. This fight for freedom won't be easy as life is never easy all of the time. Yet, it is right and just for us to do right. Also, as long as you are are alive, you can repent and change to be a better human being as God is always real and in control.
By Timothy
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