America and Its Glory

By Diana Sanchez Vargas

Discussed: racial injustice and systemic oppression

This piece is about America and how it’s affected my family and others. It may come off strong, but don’t panic, it’s just my thoughts. Thank you.

America and its sweet glory could never be described because no word or sentence could show how, time after time, America proves to fuck up more and more. It gives more reason to the others watching us to push us aside and be seen as a laughingstock as headlines of America dictate the media all over the world, showcasing the failures of our great and open nation. It shows me how the lies about our past and hardships of others have come back to haunt us; karma has finally arrived after all these years.

Could it get any worse, so many ask, especially now in 2021, nearing a whole year of failure to protect its citizens, its weakest, its strongest. What’s the difference between now and back then, when we all lived with our heads buried in the sand, when we all turned a blind eye to the horror happening in our capital? Who could have imagined: from peaceful protests to storming the Capitol. See how fast everything crashed around us? Bodies dropped and continue to drop due to apathy, and I don’t just mean from the government — I look at everyone who chooses to be childish and careless because they don’t have a single ounce of consideration inside them to wear a fucking mask or to stand in front of a person of color and say I will protect you; I will raise my fist and voice for you even if it’s not our burden to carry. This could all be easier if you did your part as a human being because for a country built on justice and independence for everyone, there sure lacks any humanity for life. 

This country was built on the backs of immigrants and slaves — on the blood, sweat, and tears of our third-class members. Descendants of these people have stayed, by choice or lack of other options, in this country even though it has failed them time after time. If survival as a country was threatened, America would throw us all to the wolves. How could anyone describe America and its glory?

Performance

Process

I wrote this piece when I woke up in the middle of the night and felt the urge to write about this country we live in and how it has affected so many. I wrote from the heart and worked with my mentor Kathryn to make it complete.