Patriots 

The double stroller full of American children lined up along the parade route on the first 4th of July celebration since #45 came to power. I felt edgy roaming the scene in the mountains of rural Virginia. I was on the lookout for confederate flags and hate. I felt a vigilance and weary energy, kind of similar to the girl’s expression. It was the first July Fourth since #45 was elected and only two weeks after a white gunman killed nine African American parishioners gathered at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charlestown, S.C.

Independence, VA