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Memorial Day America 2017

To America with love from 🇯🇲. Out of many people, one humanity.

This weekend, Americans celebrate Memorial Day, the official start of the Summer season, shuttling in all the BBQs, beach trips, pool parties and summer celebrations across the country. Memorial Day is more than a long weekend however, more than another day for revelers to gyrate in celebration of the summer season. It is an American National holiday of serious significance. It is observed on the last Monday of May in honor of the men and women who lost their lives while serving in the U.S. armed forces . Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War first, by newly freed slaves, and subsequently became an official federal holiday in 1971.
The holiday has historic origins, and its contemporary significance in America can be traced back to Greece, where they also commemorated fallen soldiers. The earliest commemoration in the United States however, can be traced to a post-Civil War commemoration organized by recently freed Slaves. “Three weeks after the Confederate surrender, an unusual procession entered the former camp: On May 1, 1865, more than 1,000 recently freed slaves, accompanied by regiments of the U.S. Colored Troops (including the Massachusetts 54th Infantry) and a handful of white Charlestonians, gathered in the camp to consecrate a new, proper burial site for the Union dead.” (Excerpted from History). 

More than 20 US towns claim to be the origin of Memorial Day the holiday, but only one has received recognition and stamp of approval by the Federal Government. Big up to NEW YORK. “Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, bases its claim on an 1864 gathering of women to mourn those recently killed at Gettysburg. In Carbondale, Illinois, they’re certain that they were first, thanks to an 1866 parade led, in part, by John Logan who two years later would lead the charge for an official holiday. There are even two dueling Columbus challengers (one in Mississippi, the other in Georgia) who have battled it out for Memorial Day supremacy for decades. Only one town, however, has received the official seal of approval from the U.S. government. In 1966, 100 years after the town of Waterloo, New York, shuttered its businesses and took to the streets for the first of many continuous, community-wide celebrations, President Lyndon Johnson signed legislation, recently passed by the U.S. Congress, declaring the tiny upstate village the “official” birthplace of Memorial Day.” (Excerpted from History).  

Though a small and youthful nation, Jamaica joined the ranks of countries that commemorate fallen soldiers by celebrating Remembrance Sunday in November, when the contributions of the Jamaicans forces in WWI and II is recognized. About 4,000 to 5,000 Jamaicans were involved in the wars. Many Jamaicans served in the Royal Air Force, while others joined the ground forces of the British army and the Canadian forces. My own maternal grand uncles, who can trace their family migration to Jamaica from Europe in search of opportunity and against religious persecution, served in the British Army/Royal Regiment and were honored recently in the U.K. (along with other Caribbean forces), for their contribution to the suppression of the forces against freedom and liberty.

So while we revel in the pool parties, BBQs and beach goings, may we remember the historic significance of this day, as a true recognition of the sacrifices of life and limb by our fellow citizens, who answered the call to serve our country and left it all on the battlefields across the world, never to return home to loved ones, asking not what our country could do for them, but what they could do for our country.  

May we take a moment from the reveling to see the humanity in our fellow human beings, appreciate the cost of freedom, the casualties of war in its various permutations, and the value of life. Happy Memorial Day America, from, Jamaica. 🇯🇲 #farinainamibirthland #peacecorpsjamaica #howiseepc.

Published by: Local Lives, Global Voices

I, Chandra Young, ‘the moon that outshines the stars, was born in Kingston Jamaica to an Indian Father whose family migrated from India, and a mulatto mother, whose family, paternally and maternally, trace their history on the island to the 17th century sale of slaves, and slaves themselves. We migrated to the United States while I was a youngster. I later went on to graduate from The City College of New York, with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science; then Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, with a Jurisdoctor degree; and I am currently on hiatus from my doctoral studies in Law and Policy at Northeastern University. After graduating from law school, I successfully sat for both the Florida and New York Bars, and worked in both the Private and Public Sectors. Simultaneously, my role as mother and my passion for education pushed me into Academia, where I have lectured at colleges in the areas of Political Science, History, Business Law, Sociology, Pluralism and Diversity, Critical Thinking, Critical Academic Reading and English Composition. In these capacities, I have mentored inner city/urban college students, and have also served as Guardian Ad Litem to the Seminole County Courts, where I advocated on behalf of children of families in crisis. Being a scholar of Political Science in my collegiate years, I contributed my talents and passions towards championing of the rights of my fellow students, many of whom, like myself, were of Immigrant families. I was instrumental in a student movement that spearheaded a University-wide student boycott protesting tuition hikes in the City University system. The successful protest led to the shutdown of all the University’s colleges in every Borough, and got the attention of the media and politicians of the day. The result of the successful protest was a halt of any tuition increase for several fiscal terms. Today, the City University and State University systems are free to families earning less that $125,000.00, which include most urban, inner-city and immigrant students. While at City College, I was selected as a student ambassador contestant in the Ms. Jamaica-USA pageant, sponsored by the Jamaica Progressive League and the Honorable Una Clarke, the first Caribbean and Jamaican born woman to be elected to the legislature of the City of New York, and mother of United States Congresswoman Yvette Clark. A diligent advocate of affordable housing for New Yorkers, I was committed to the mission of realizing the American dream of home ownership for New Yorkers and I am the recipient of a Proclamation by the City Council of the City of New York, for my efforts in that regard. My dedication to the City of New York and immigrant communities, particularly those of Caribbean heritage, have been unwavering, and I was presented with the Marcus Garvey Award of Recognition by the New York based Jamaica National Movement, for service to Jamaicans and Caribbean people in the City of New York. I continued my passion of being a part of a mission to champion the rights of underprivileged and underrepresented persons in my recent milestone, the United States Peace Corps, where I dedicated 18 months of my life, away from home and family, to the people of Jamaica, as a Literacy Adviser and Community Developer. I am the mother of two children, a writer, blogger and poet. I always loved writing. As a child, I remember finding privacy and solace to write in my garage, where I could hide the written pages amongst the plethora of books our family stored there. I began blogging on my Facebook page and was encouraged by friends who enjoyed by posts, to start a blog. I officially started this blog during my Peace Corps Service, but it is certainly not limited to my service. In fact, it represents an amalgamation of thoughts expressed and lived through the direct and vicarious experiences that being a global citizen can provide. This blog is my way of building a bridge that connects our local lives experienced in our specific localities, with the global voices that unites us in the similar experiences, concerns, pains, passions, etc that joins us together as human beings in spite of geography. You there.......Me here. We....together in one world....one humanity.

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