Our Ancestors are all Heroes because all of them endured so much and overcame an unlimited number of challenges and obstacles to create the Most Outstanding Country in the World.  

The United States of America.

We owe our highest level of Respect to our Ancestors because if it had not been for our Ancestors, then none of us would be here today.

Throughout our history, our Ancestors have come from Every Country in the World.

Our current society does not pay enough attention to the fact that nearly all of the immigrants who have come to America for the past 400 years, have come here because they had difficulties in their home countries that caused them to seek a New Life for themselves and for their families.

These difficulties included economic problems, job shortages, crop famines, starvation, slavery, religious freedom, political freedom, escape from wars, etc.

Our earliest immigrants were incredibly strong and brave because they had to struggle just to survive in the wilds and wilderness of America 3,000 miles from home in a land they did not know.

The Pilgrims came to America on the Mayflower in 1620, landing in Massachusetts in November because when they left England they did not know that the northern part of America had such cold and treacherous winters.

They had no food, they did not have adequate clothing for such extreme cold, and the snow and ice made it impossible for them to build a house on the land.

Therefore, after enduring a very dangerous three-month crossing of the Atlantic in a small ship, they had to live for the entire winter in the small and very cramped ship that they anchored in the ocean off the coast of Massachusetts, huddled up and trying to survive with very little warmth, food, or water because the ground was too frozen and covered with snow to be able to build any homes.

The conditions were so bad that of the 100 Pilgrims who made the journey, only 53 of them survived this winter on the boat, including only 5 women who survived.  

I am very proud that 3 of these 53 people who survived this incredible ordeal are my direct Ancestors, including one of the women.

I am also equally very proud that I have Ancestors who were African American slaves from Senegal, Africa, who came to America on slave ships.

I feel Very Honored and Very Proud that I have Ancestors who were slaves on slave ships and ancestors who were Pilgrims on the Mayflower.

My ancestors may have appeared on the outside to have slightly different shades of skin from each other, but underneath they were exactly the same, filled with Heroic Courage and Perseverance. 

After the winter, the 53 Pilgrims had to make it to land, build houses, find food, grow crops, find a way to survive, and find a way to Build a Country.    

We do not pay enough attention to the many hardships that our Ancestors had to endure because in addition to slavery that was horribly wrong, between 50% and 67% of our immigrants who came to America from Europe in the 1600’s, 1700’s, and into the 1800’s, came to America as indentured servants.

The reason that most of the immigrants to America came as indentured servants is because these immigrants did not have enough money to pay for a ticket to travel on the boats from Europe to America.

Since they could not afford to come to America, then businesspeople and ship owners in Europe purchased their tickets for them, with the contractual obligation that the immigrants were required to work for free in America for a time period of between 4 years and 7 years.

The European businesspeople and ship owners would make their money by selling these indentured servant contracts to businesses and farms in America, which was really payment for the immigrant’s ship ticket.

The immigrants then had to work without getting paid for the 4 years to 7 years in towns and on farms until they had more than paid back the cost of the ship ticket, and until they had paid back the cost of the minimal food, clothing, and very low-level housing they received while they were working as indentured servants.  

Entire families came over from Europe, and every family member, including the children, had to serve as indentured servants for many years to pay back the cost of their transportation.

Indentured servants were treated like they were below other people, and they were forced to work very difficult labor jobs, usually on farms, for very long hours without getting paid for at least four to seven years.

During their years of working, they had to live in very difficult and low-level conditions, they had minimal food and clothing, and they were not even allowed to get married without permission from their boss who was called their master.

They also were rarely ever shown their indentured servant contract in advance, or ever even shown it while they were working, and so the conditions they were forced to live in were not what they had been told they would be before they agreed to come on the ship from Europe.

The European businesspeople and ship owners always lied to the immigrants in Europe to convince or trick the immigrants to agree to become indentured servants, and these businesspeople and ship owners often kidnapped European people so that they did not even make the choice to get on the boat to America and become an indentured servant.

Once they arrived in America, if they tried to run away, or if their master said they had done something wrong, or if a female indentured servant got pregnant, then the master could add many additional years to the indentured servant’s contract.  And since the indentured servants had no legal help, then the masters were almost always able to do anything they wanted.

The indentured servants were looked down upon by society, and so they often had to deal with and protect themselves from discrimination and bias.  

Any children who were born to an indentured servant could even be taken away by the master for as long as up to 31 years later.   

The African Americans who arrived in America between 1619 and 1660 were not considered slaves.  They were considered indentured servants, also, just like the immigrants from Europe were.

The entire concept of slavery and indentured servants was based upon the fact that America had a very large amount of land, and these farms provided crops that were shipped and sold to Europe.  However, there were not enough people living in America to work on such large amounts of land.

Therefore, farm owners and businesspeople struggled to take care of their farms and harvest their crops unless they found a way to bring in inexpensive labor. 

As a result, slavery and indentured servants had some similarities because they were both paid only in food, clothing, and inadequate housing.  

However, while slavery continued for an indefinite period of time, indentured servants would initially be required to work for between 4 and 7 years before possibly being extended for longer.

In studying our history of America, it is very interesting to realize that up to 67% of our Ancestors who came from Europe had extremely difficult lives.

They first had difficult lives in Europe that caused them to either want to, or be forced to, travel to America on a very treacherous and dangerous boat crossing of the Atlantic Ocean.

Then, they had difficult lives as they worked for free as indentured servants for an average of between 5 and 9 years, while they lived in very difficult conditions with limited food and limited clothing.

At the same time, our Ancestors who were African American slaves had to endure this kind of very bad treatment, and usually even worse treatment for their entire Lives, unless they were freed by someone who deeply cared about them, or until 1865 when the Civil War ended.

There have actually been times throughout American history where slaves and indentured servants felt so closely attached to each other that they fought side-by-side in their efforts to secure a better Life for themselves and for their families. 

After our African American Ancestors and our European Ancestors had survived all of these very difficult conditions as slaves or as indentured servants, if they were given their freedom, then both groups of our Ancestors had to find a way to survive on their own without a house or a job to pay for the food and the necessities that they needed for themselves and for their families.

In today’s political environment, with many politicians trying to divide our Country by race, it is very important for us to study this time period in American history because our African American Ancestors and our European Ancestors came to America in far more similar situations than our current politicians attempt to tell us that they did.

Our European Ancestors did not come to America as the elite class of England and Europe like many of our politicians attempt to portray.

Our European Ancestors were almost entirely what would be considered peasants, who came to America because they were having great difficulties in their home countries.

Most of them did not even have enough money to buy the boat ticket for their dangerous voyage across the Atlantic, but because their situation in Europe was so bad, then they were willing to become indentured servants in America, where they worked for many years for free while they lived in very bad conditions with very little food.

But because they were Heroic for their families who came after them, Our Heroes, then they were willing to endure all the incredible hardships they were faced with so they could give their families to come, us, the opportunity for us to Live a New and Better Life.

Therefore, we who have European Ancestors, are living this New and Better Life because of what our European Ancestors were able to endure and overcome.

Our African American Ancestors endured even more difficult and severe hardships, usually working for their entire Lives for free and living in very bad conditions.

But because they are Heroes to their families who came after them, Our Heroes, then they were willing to endure everything they endured so they could give their Families to come, us, the Opportunity for us to Live a New and Better Life.

Therefore, we who have African American Ancestors, are living this New and Better Life because of what our African American Ancestors were able to endure and overcome.

We All Stand On The Very Broad Shoulders Of Our Ancestors.

Our Country of America has been built by very tough immigrants and slaves from Europe, Africa, Mexico, Latin America, China, Central America, Asia, Canada, Russia, the Caribbean, North Korea, Israel, Palestine, Cuba, the Middle East, Japan, Central America, North America, Eastern Europe, South America, Australia, and from Every Country all over the World.

Therefore, we are not different from each other.  

We Are All The Same.  

Our Ancestors may have started their Journey with slightly different shades of skin, but underneath that Beautiful and Magnificent difference, the hearts and minds and courage and guts and tenacious perseverance that Every One Of Our Ancestors Had, gave them the strength to overcome whatever challenging, strenuous, and painful hardships were put in front of them.

Therefore, we are not different from each other.

We have Always been the Same as each other.

And We Are All Still The Same As Each Other Today.

Our shades of skin are even more similar to each other now than our shades were back then, and our shades of skin continue to keep getting closer to each other Every Day.

One Day in the future we will all have the same shade of skin.

That will be a disappointment because the different shades we have now are far more Beautiful and Magnificent.

Everyone who built America had to be an Incredibly Tough, Strong, and Courageous Person.

That is how our Ancestors built America Together.

Our Ancestors may have had different Journeys to get to America, but inside of each of them Our Ancestors were all exactly the same.  They were All Heroes. 

In fact, our Ancestors have very often even fought side by side to Build a Better Life For All Of Us. 

However, politicians attempt to divide us because they know we are weaker when we are divided.  

These politicians want us to be weaker and divided because they think that gives them more power over us.

One of the primary tactics in any military campaign is to divide and conquer, and now this same tactic is being used by many of our politicians. 

They are trying to divide and conquer us. 

But as we discuss this topic, I am reminded of the “Remember The Titans” movie, when during preseason football camp, in the early hours of the morning, the head football coach took the players for a long run through the early morning darkness, woods, streams, mud, and rain.

He led them on the run to the Gettysburg battlefield and had them stop at the gravesites where soldiers from both the North and the South during the Civil War had been buried following that 1863 battle.

The coach, played by the great Denzel Washington, told his players to “Listen to their souls, men. I killed my brother with malice in my heart.  Hatred.  Destroyed my family.”  

He told his players, “You listen, and take a lesson from the dead.” 

Denzel then said, “If we don’t come together, right now, on this hallowed ground, we too will be destroyed – just like they were.  I don’t care if you like each other, or not.  But you will respect each other.”

Our America needs to hear these words again.

Our Country needs to come together again. 

Our Ancestors were all Heroes.  They are all still Our Heroes today because none of us would be here except for them and except for what they persevered and endured through.

We All Stand On The Very Broad Shoulders Of Our Ancestors.  

And Our Ancestors are speaking to us again.

They are telling us to put aside our differences and to come back together.

They are telling us that they did not persevere through everything they endured for us so that we could throw it all away now.  

We cannot waste all their courageous, undaunted, and magnificent efforts because what they endured and what they did for us is beyond any comprehension and measurement.

Our Ancestors are Our Heroes.

They may have had slightly different shades of skin, but inside and underneath those slightly different shades they were All The Same.

They Were All Heroes Who Built America For Us So That We Can All Live A Better Life Than They Did.

Let Us Continually And Every Day Honor Our Ancestors.

Let Us Create A Government Department Where We Do Everything In Our Power To Honor Our Ancestor Heroes Every Day.  

And In The Process Of Honoring Them, Let Us Become Heroes, too.

So That We Can Build A World For Our Children.

Just Like Our Ancestor Heroes Built A World For Their Children, For Us.

It Takes All Of Us.

There Can Be No More Racism Or Bias.

We Are Going To Show Absolute Kindness, Thoughtfulness, Love, and Total Respect To Each Other and To Every Person Because That Is What Our Ancestor Heroes Worked So Hard To Provide The Opportunity For Us To Do.

We All Stand On The Very Broad Shoulders Of Our Ancestors, and We Are All Going To Become Heroes For Our Children And For Future Generations Just Like They Were And Still Are Heroes To Us.

LET US BUILD A WONDERFUL WORLD FOR OUR CHILDREN AND FOR OUR FUTURE GENERATIONS

FILLED WITH KINDNESS, RESPECT, AND LOVE