Freedom is NOT just another word for nothing left to lose

Tuesday, November 17th 2009 -- 20 years after the Velvet Revolution brought freedom to Czechoslovakia and playwright Vaclav Havel to the presidency.

Today's celebration started with a walk re-tracing the steps of the students that marched against the Communist Regime. I joined the march late but managed to end up in the front of the crowd. Thousands of people, all ages, all walks of life, peacefully walking together, waving flags, carrying banners, jangling keys.... the emotions were high and it was contagious.

As I walked I thought about being American, and one born on July 4th.. which has always been ironic as I am not known for my patriotism. I thought about how lazy we have become as Americans, how we take our freedom for granted... while we talk about fighting to protect our freedom and fight terrorism, we don't show up at the polls--- when we don't understand why our children are fat and under educated, but we don't create a government and environment to fight those things... 

As I walked between toddlers and grannies, hippies and businessmen -- I thought about all these things.. When we reached the spot where the students and the police had their conflict, 20 years ago, and they replayed the news footage of that.. with people booing and then setting off a string of Roman candles to cheers from the crowd, it was hard to get swept up in that emotion... when Dan Barta, a leading Czech singer led the crowd in "Kdo Domuv Muj" (where is my home) the Czech national anthem... it was impossible to not cry.

then the crowd pressed on to the stage for the evening's entertainment... Monkey Business, a very popular band, opened the festivities... one of their singers is an American black woman who has been living here for ages.. Tanya Graves... she apologized for her bad Czech (which it isn't) and then sang the Czech version of "Hey Jude" -- -she talked about celebrating freedom... slightly ironic ---- But I felt proud... America has inspired revolutions from the bloody to the peaceful... we have, even if ill-fated, tried to spread democracy around the world.... and now in our own country, we have, through apathy, lost so much of what WE stand for... 

Next Vaclav Havel took the stage.. I am always amazed that whenever he is introduced it is always as OUR president, never 'the former president" -- Havel spoke slowly and humbly saying he was just a citizen working together with the people. He took the stage with a guitar in his hand and joked "don't be afraid, I am not going to play"--- when he finished speaking, he handed the guitar to Joan Baez, who then lead the crowd in 4 or 5 verses of "We Shall Overcome" including a verse in Czech... the emotions I felt I really cannot describe... 

The weather gods were kind for it was a balmy wet night.. perfect for a stroll around the city... 

I feel so blessed to have had this experience.... and all my fellow Americans should stand tall and proud and remember all the GOOD we stand for and all the GOOD we can be.

Comments

Jirka said…
Nice comments, but why are you amazed that we think that Vaclav Havel is our President ? He always will be, he changed our lives for the better.The people we have now are a joke, but I think that Americans should know everything about joke presidents...It is nice you are here, but why cry at our anthem?be proud , as we are proud.We had a long time to cry...and cry...and cry again. Now, we hope, we are ok. Welcome to our country.We are not perfect, but we will always try our best.
November 18, 2009 at 12:26:00 AM GMT+1
Delphine7461 said…
thank you Jirka. my surprise is a pleasant one about Havel. I completely understand WHY he is nase prezident and not byvaly prezident. I love that about how everyone, or most everyone, feels about him. I cried not out of sadness but just the strong emotion of the whole event. No country is perfect :-)

thank you again for your nice comments I have been here 5 years and plan on staying much longer.
November 18, 2009 at 1:00:00 AM GMT+1
Veronika said…
thank you for that nice words about our nation, our really emotive celebrations of 20 years of freedom, I am so proud to be a Czech..I am so proud that our parents were so brave 20 years ago during the Velvet Revolution..Welcome in our country :-) welcome in the independent Czech Republic :-) and I hope you really enjoyed our celebrations as we did :-)
November 18, 2009 at 1:39:00 AM GMT+1
Delphine7461 said…
thank you Veronika! and you should be proud to be Czech... I love living in your country. (the only reason I wrote Czechoslovakia is that is what the country was 20 years ago :-)---- I know the right name even though so many people still say the old one

thank you again, and yes I was caught up in all the emotion.
November 18, 2009 at 7:35:00 AM GMT+1
Betsy said…
Dear Julie,
Your words moved me, also. It is amazing how you can take the words and emotions you were feeling, and 'paint' such a beautiful picture! How amazing that had to be .....to be with all those people that had lived thru that time, and people who weren't even born 20 years ago. Yes, you are proud to be an American born on the 4th of July.....but you are also proud of the Czech people and all they stand for. So glad that you are so happy in your adopted country. Such a beautiful country it is....and the people are very gracious. I treasure each visit I have had....what a treat for me. Had you not moved to Prague, I never would have been able to vist, and for that I thank you and love you. Thank you for sharing such beautiful thoughts.
love, mom
November 20, 2009 at 2:06:00 PM GMT+1
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