4 Free Ways to Celebrate July 4th
Or, This Nation Has 99 Problems and the Library Ain't One of Them
Raise your hand if you’re worried about how wild things seem to be getting.
Keep your hand down if you’re too disenchanted to even care anymore.
I got you.
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Here’s the thing about America: it was founded on slavery, colonization, genocide, land degradation, global capitalism, enforced removal of entire populations, and wholesale cultural destruction.
If you’re still reading, good. Because I believe we are at a turning point in history, and at a crossroads, you must have the courage to face whatever trauma is still affecting you so can begin to heal and integrate the painful parts into a greater whole to move forward with unity.
E pluribus unum.
From many, one.
And I still believe in hope.
If you’re a regular reader of Green Ink or have read one of my books like Beaver Girl or Earth Joy Writing or We Heal from Memory, then you know this: I believe in hope.
And tomorrow is July 4th. Independence Day. What does that even mean now that the Supreme Court has decided that the President is basically a king? Should we ignore the whole thing, or maybe stock up on some red, white and blue plastic from China to celebrate, and numb ourselves with fireworks and processed food and mind-altering substances so we don’t feel anything when we throw all the junk into the garbage to be taken away to the ocean where it will endanger sea turtles for 450 years?
Nah. Take a seat.
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Here are 4 ways you can celebrate July 4th for free
1. Liberate your dreams.
Did you know that the origin of the words “liberty” and “library” are the same?
In Latin, liber means “free.”
Did you know that here in Columbia, South Carolina, you can go to the Richland Library and move forward on your creative dreams for free?
No cap!
You may remember that I participated in the Soda City Poetry Festival a couple weeks ago, which took place at the library, and during the lunch break, in addition to having a veggie arepa from a food truck on Main Street, I also got a tour of the library from Lee Snelgrove, their Arts and Culture Manager.
What I learned is that the library has amazing facilities for people who want to do woodworking or fiber arts or gardening or photography or podcasting or video creating.
For free.
This July 4th, ask yourself: what is it that I have always wanted to do?
Write it down. Because you are running out of time.
2. Liberate your skills.
Dreams are the first step, yes, and nothing gets accomplished without them.
But after that, you have to acquire the skills that will take you from Point Abject to Point Bountiful.
The library can help with this, too.
3. Liberate your family.
So you’re reading this and you’re thinking, “Yeah, I have dreams, and yeah, I need skills, but I also have kids and grandkids and most days, I’m so tired from working and caretaking that I barely have time to read your posts, Cass.”
The library can help with this, too.
Check out the teen space, which, btw, is age-restricted so teens can teen.
Because nothing says liberation to a teenager more than being away from parents and younger sibs.
But wait. There’s more. More than the anime and manga club, jewelry making and tie-dye bandana and bubble tea workshops — and, of course, the huge young adult section of books.
And those younger kids?
They have it best of all, imo.
The children’s area has books for all ages and movies and games and puzzles and crafts and play spaces and tables for gathering.
There’s even a new entrance on the south side of the building so you can take your kids directly into the lower level instead of spending 48 gazillion minutes, as I had to do when my daughter was a toddler, cajoling her to keep going to the main floor and then down the beautiful glass-walled hallway entrance to the rear doors to head toward the parking lot.
And speaking of little things that make parenting easier, you can now also check out books by yourself at multiple places on every floor of the library - simply by scanning your library card and placing the books on a very magical table - voila! - instead of waiting in line at the front while juggling books and bags and big feelings because nap time or snack time or mommy meltdown time was descending.
But of course, some things don’t change, and the children’s area still features the amazing murals from Where the Wild Things Are.
So, after you’ve written down your dreams and made plans to check out all the resources the library offers to make them a reality, may I suggest you take a trip to the library with your family and model for them what freedom really looks like outside of a dark-money funded political slogan.
4. Liberate your wild.
I recently visited Richland Library with my 24-year-old daughter, Lily, after whom the main character of Columbia’s 2024 One Book, One Community selection, Beaver Girl, Livia, is based.
It’s been over two decades since I took her to toddler storytime there and she ran around with exuberant joy. But we found ourselves gravitating back to the cozy ground floor and settled in to a couple super comfy chairs to read — she chose books about bunnies while I, of course, chose beavers.
I also checked out a book that I absolutely loved titled Nature’s Best Hope: How You Can Save the World in Your Own Yard.
Ironically (not?), while I was finishing writing this post at the crepuscular hour, the mama raccoon who, for three years in a row, has had kits under our back porch, decided it was time to teach them to climb the mother-daughter tulip poplar trees in our back yard.
My wife noticed them first, while she was making coffee in the kitchen before working out, and I immediately put down the computer and yelled to Lily to wake up and come see.
We spent the next half hour or so watching them as dark turned to day and we got to live this choice from Nature’s Best Hope:
As readers of Beaver Girl know, the main character, Livia, is the only surviving member of her family and one of the few humans left after a near-future scenario of climate collapse, waves of pandemic, and totalitarianism that led to a violent political meltdown.
This is not yet reality.
And yet.
It could be.
Unless we - I mean you, dear reader - find ways to liberate ourselves and each other and the natural world.
We can do it.
You can do it.
I believe in you.
See you at the library!
Bravo! I appreciate your articles so much. Thank you. I'm heading to the library now....