I’m wearing black on the 4th of July
There will be a parade in my town
On the 4th of July
Boy Scouts and Shriners and realtors
Throwing candy to the kids lining the street
And I can’t help but wonder if some guy
Is going to drive his shiny muscle car into a group of brown people
There’ll be a community picnic in my town
On the 4th of July
Bounce houses, hot dogs, popcorn
Churros
Because we celebrate ethnic food when it suits our tastes
Just not the rights of those that shared it with us
There’ll be a fireworks show in my town
On the 4th of July
My dogs used to cower and whimper
They’re old now, and mostly deaf, so they won’t even notice
I used to kennel them because it made them feel more secure
Now we kennel children because it makes us feel more secure
There will be so much color in my town
On the 4th of July
The bunting on floats
Red white and blue sno-cones
And berry flag cakes
And sparks from the fireworks filling the night sky
And I will wear black
And think about
What has happened to this nation
And those that made it happen
And those that wanted it to happen
And those that were okay with it happening
And those that don’t believe that it’s happening
And those that know exactly what is happening and doing their best to stop it
There won’t be any parades in my town
On the 5th of July
Or picnics
Or fireworks
Or bunting
But there will still be me and my voter registration card
It fights pretty nicely in the pocket of my blue shirt
Right next to my driver’s license
Which I need to vote in my state
And which I will also need
To drive people to the polls
Because November is coming
I’m volunteering for the first time
And I refuse to wear black again next year