The chimes of freedom

Yesterday, I referenced a famous poem by the 16th Century English poet John Donne called "For Whom the Bell Tolls".  Today, I want to continue along that theme.  The poem's first line says it all, "No man is an island."  We are all connected in this world.  What happens to the people of China has a direct impact on what happens to the people of the United States.  The last line of the poem drives home the message that we all have value, no matter who we are or where we live.

COVID-19 has had worldwide impact, both in terms of the number of lives lost as well as the overall impact of the response to the pandemic on the global economy.  COVID-19 is certainly unique in terms of how much impact it has had on all of us - we are experiencing something that hasn't occurred for over 100 years (at least since the 1918 Influenza Pandemic that killed over 50 million individuals).  COVID-19 has not been unique in terms of how it has disproportionately impacted certain segments of our population.  According to the latest statistics from the CDC, Blacks, Hispanic/Latin X, and Native Americans have significantly higher rates of COVID-related hospitalization and mortality compared to Whites.  Unfortunately, these kinds of data are not new or unique to COVID-19.  Across a number of health-related measures, including life expectancy, infant mortality, teen birth rates, and HIV diagnosis, Blacks and Hispanic/Latin X fare far worse than Whites.

The American singer/songwriter and winner of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature, Bob Dylan, wrote a song called "Chimes of Freedom".  Dylan apparently wrote the song shortly after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.  The song tells the story of how Dylan and a companion sought shelter from a lightning storm in a doorway at sunset, and through the song he expresses solidarity with the downtrodden and oppressed.  It is absolutely one of the most beautiful songs ever written, at least in my opinion, and it has been covered by a number of famous artists, including The Byrds, Bruce Springsteen (who called it, "one of the greatest songs about human freedom ever written"), U2, Youssou N'Dour, and Jefferson Starship. 

Dylan's chimes of freedom toll for the rebel, the rake, the luckless, the abandoned, and the forsaken.  They toll for "the aching ones whose wounds cannot be nursed".  They toll for "the countless confused, accused, misused, strung-out ones an’ worse."  They toll for "for every hung-up person in the whole wide universe."

The freedom bells ring for all of us.  White, black, brown, yellow, and red.  So tomorrow on Memorial Day, please remember that we are all one in this great big world.  And perhaps, as we remember the ones who have died for our country, maybe we will remember that they have died for all of us.  Not just the ones who look like us, talk like us, or live like us.  They died for all of us.