Yesterday at noontime here on the east coast, the Sovereign Wisdom Circle gathered together to write and talk. We spent our time exploring the concept of “wisdom.” Once again (as I do every week), I fell in love with this group of wise, wise women. As their insights intertwine and flow together, I feel like we’re all held by an endless horizon of possibility.
Politics only entered the conversation when I declared we needed to change an upcoming meeting. We always meet Wednesdays, but on Wednesday, January 20, we all needed to see a peaceful transition of power. The Inauguration wanted our attention and we all needed to see Kamala become VP.
And then, once the call was done, my quick check of the New York Times live stream to see how the Electoral College certification was progressing turned into multiple screens showing multiple scenes of the growing chaos in Washington…
As afternoon turned into evening, I didn’t have any public words. I kept saying “did you see this?” to my husband as we watched reports from across the news spectrum. I texted family members and discussed what wine pairs best with an attempted coup (and drank a beer called Warlock to honor Reverend Warnock of Georgia because wonderful historic events happened yesterday before the horrible things happened). I reassured our 11 year-old that it would all be ok, even as we let her see the reality of how bad it all could be. I watched The Muppets with our 6 year-old because she proudly wanted nothing to with “people who don’t want Joe to be president.”
This morning, before I checked to see if our republic had made it through the night, I woke up thinking about the woman who stands on top of the Capitol dome. Beneath her feet, terrorists broke windows, waved Confederate flags, invaded offices, and attempted to destroy the national religion of democratic process.
The Statue of Freedom, US Capitol Building
She is the Statue of Freedom and she has watched over the US Congress since 1863.
Crafted in Italy, calling on symbols from Rome and the French Revolution and even wearing feathers that nod to the native peoples of America (as an honor or a symbol appropriated by gloating colonizers, you decide), she’s very American in her mix of traditions…
And she’s very American in that though she represents freedom, she was completed thanks to the labor of an enslaved man named Philip Reid.
Yesterday, we saw how words that are supposed to be “good” - like freedom - can be weaponized and subverted. Actions in response to a cowardly, delusional man’s words can weaponize a group of people and nearly subvert democracy.
“Words mean what I say they mean and will be used to support the ideology I support” isn’t a new concept, of course. The whole country was built on high-minded ideals and elevated language for all, but it’s also built on the idea of freedom for some, on full humanity for some, on safety and protection for some. Regardless of the aspirational script, the United States has never been all that good at ensuring everyone has the same rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Seeing the contrast in the police response to the Black Lives Matter protests and the law enforcement response to an insurrectionist mob of angry white people shows us this absurd and deadly paradox.
But let me come back to the flash of an image that got me up this morning… I didn’t know the story of that twenty foot statue, but I half-remembered what a tour guide said when I was a high school kid on a field trip. I knew it was a woman who faced east and greeted the rising sun.
I checked the weather in Washington DC this morning. It’s sunny.
So, beyond language, beyond the original intent of the artist, beyond the circumstances of her construction, there was a mighty feminine being standing over our government this morning and she was touched by the light.
Let’s hold on to that image and keep trying to tell a new story of legitimate, full freedom for all and peace for all here on the ground.