Lisa Noël Babbage

Author, Teacher, Philanthropist

Aug. 15, 2018

Years ago, cultural groups in America sang songs to propel their inner most desires to the nation - in congregations, on marches, in the courthouse, and on main street. Today, there is less musical support to these cries to be heard. With all of the noise out there, how can we in this day, make our voices heard?

There are so many competing factors when it comes to getting your message across. Whether you are face to face with your audience or reaching out to those across the globe, our time is precious. Getting someone’s attention, especially about a topic like social injustice, patriotism, or trends in American politics, is even more of a challenge now as people who never had much to say before are suddenly drawn into the conversation. While hearing differing opinions is the essence of America, its being heard over dissenting voices that is the constant cause for struggle.

How are Americans getting their points across in a state of constant contact, communication and updates? That is the one thing the United States Constitution has done eloquently and clearly; that is to stay true to the principles it was destined to share. Every document and article that was written by those we call founding fathers was done so with one sole purpose: to create a nation for the people by the people. And while they certainly took time to debate and hash out what those grand ideals were, they did so as a Republic. They did so with the knowledge for generations to come, Americans would be bound by the protection that comes from the foundation of the nation itself.

That precept is not taught in K-12 classrooms like it ought. Americans today aren’t sure what ‘for the people by the people’ means anymore. But that was the one thing the authors of the Constitution were not confused about. If fact they shouted it on the streets of Boston, through leaflets published in the basements and barns of early patriots, and in the letters written to King George demanding freedom. The message that all men are created equal is the unequivocal premise on which this nation was founded and that message has not changed in the nearly 250 years since the Revolution that led to our founding.

Unfortunately, some see the Constitution as a loose guide for how a nation could be founded, not an all-encompassing pattern that must not be altered. But that idea, the one that belittles the power of our founding documents, is not love for America because America would not exist without the Constitution. Furthermore, there would be no need for the Constitution without a new kind of nation, like America. They are mutually dependent on each other. That’s why it is incumbent upon every American, therefore, to scream if they have too, in order that we uphold what this nation is built on: a love for God and a love for a free country, for all its citizens.