Dear Future Matriarchs: JULY 2025

This month, we'll encourage Americana while exploring what it means to have freedom! 🇺🇸

Dear Future Matriarchs, 

At the start of every month, I’ll share a new theme with you that will be the “North Star” for each month’s conversations and content. While it will be natural for us to stray (we do have bills we have to pay for around here), I’ll try my best to tie it all together by the end of the month. This month our theme is Americana!! Just in time for Independence Day we’re asking: what does it mean to be an American and what exactly does it mean to be free?

One of your duties as a Matriarch is to foster a love for one’s country. Because if future generations don’t love our country then how could they care what happens to it: physically, morally, or even legislatively?!! And if they don’t have love for their country it’s pretty hard to wake up every morning and choose to be a dedicated member of society; adding to your community not just taking away from it! But being American means having a unique perspective on “love for one’s country” since we’re one big melting pot and (nearly) everyone here has origins in another country.

So who gets to pride themselves in being called an American? My guess: Native Americans (ofc) + citizens (those who were born here, born of a citizen, or someone granted citizenship). But no matter how you become one, being American is a unique experience in that oftentimes being proud of one’s country means simultaneously having pride in both the United States… and the country “your people are from”. 

However, being African-American adds yet another layer of uniqueness since most of our ancestors didn’t make the choice to come here. The origin of the “African-American” is instead, one of violence, oppression, and other heinous acts that showcased man’s natural ability to be inhumane to fellow man. 

Yet, I still don’t think the correct response is to hate America or the place you call home. Instead, I choose to be thankful that the foundations of our country were built on justice… no matter how many times man continues to fail at it… for this is the system that promises freedom of: thought, protest, and prosperity!!

Last month I hosted my first Juneteenth cookout + pool party in Charleston (with a committee of friends that seriously exceeded all expectations). But we didn’t honor this holiday to further separate African Americans from other Americans, instead we wanted to celebrate the moment when our entire community was granted the ultimate American attribute: freedom. And that’s because Juneteenth commemorates the news of the Emancipation Proclamation being signed (guaranteeing the freedom to of all enslaved peoples) finally reached the people in Galveston, Texas. Problem was: this was two years after it had actually been signed and gone into effect. People out West just didn’t know about it!! Can you imagine?

My people, however, are from the Southeast– more specifically South Carolina, so I imagine they knew the status of the war in real time. And once that war ended, for a brief time in history before Jim Crow, I hope my foremothers and fathers felt what it meant to be free. I know at least some of them did because I grew up on land that was purchased around that time; land that watched generations before (and hopefully many after) me grow. Crazy how something as simple as having the freedom to own property has given my family security for nearly 200 years. 

We all know that being an American means you have freedom… but what exactly is freedom in 2025? Is it…:

• Owning land? Owning a home?

• Entrepreneurship?

• Being a housewife?

• Receiving health care whenever you need it?

• Showcasing the culture of your people of origin?

• Justice as a result of due process?

• Trust in the people that govern us?

We’re only half way through the first year of this administration’s second term and we’re watching our government eliminate vital leadership roles without proper evaluation, round up “illegal-looking” people and send them to prisons abroad, add to the overall deficit by providing tax cuts to the top 1%, and intimidate others in positions of power to vote for legislation that only aligns with their private agendas. 

The biggest indication of freedom is choice. And that is what America has every 2 years—CHOICE!!! 

One of your duties as a matriarch is to stress the importance that all American adults VOTE!!!!!!!! But it’s worth noting that democracy can only work if there is a well-informed and well-educated population. So if you want to help inform the public make better choices in 2026 AND 2028 through accurate facts and information, sign up below:

Let’s reflect—

Are you proud to be an American?

What does freedom mean to you?

We’d love for you to share your thoughts in the comments below!

xx MPR