Happy Independence Day, America. 🇺🇸
Rog had the honor of speaking to a group of Newly Minted American Citizens who were sworn in at the National Archives in front of the actual Constitution this past Constitution Day.
Here's what Rog wrote in the Raven back in September:
"I type with fingers still buzzing after heading down to the National Archives in DC this week, and addressing a class of newly-minted Americans sworn in front of the actual Constitution.
The ceremony was in celebration of that document’s 235th anniversary on Constitution Day this Saturday, and I found it incredibly moving, watching 25 people from 21 nations have their lives transformed by becoming Americans together. I am not going to lie. I sobbed through my remarks.
Partially because of the memories of my own citizenship process which it unleashed. But also because I was overwhelmed by the symbolic power – of being blessed to stand there in the Rotunda, with the Constitution behind me, and tell the group that the iconic phrase, “We the people” now includes them as part of that “We.”
I was also touched to discover just how many diehard football fans there are amongst the staff at the National Archives. I met Spurs fans, Arsenal supporters, United devotees. What a place it is. And the archivists are true American heroes.
By dedicating their lives to preserving the records that underpin our nation, they ensure that the American stories we tell ourselves about ourselves are ones grounded in primary sources. Without them, we would have no shared truths.
To experience a Naturalization Ceremony at the National Archives – that powerful process in which collective dreams were made real before my eyes – was so unbelievably profound. I truly believe every American should attend at least one a year.
They are all that is good about our nation." 🇺🇸🙌