149. Saying Goodbye (& Some Brief Thoughts on The Fourth of July)

This episode is a goodbye, at least for now. (And it's also a few quick words on The Fourth of July, since that feels relevant.) I'll miss ya dearly. 

If you want to keep hearing from Marie each week, head to patreon.com/mariebeech for a new article in your inbox every Friday. 

Related episode: The War Within Antiracism: Why the Movement is Divided on Apple & Spotify

If you're not ready for it to be over yet, here are Marie's top 3 picks from the vault:
Should We Embrace Race or Move Past It?  on Apple & Spotify
The Intellectual Rivalry of the Century: Washington vs. Du Bois on Apple & Spotify
Tone Policing 101: What It Really Is & Why It’s Controversial on Apple & Spotify

Episode Transcript

(00:05):
Hello, and welcome back. I'myour host, Marie Beacham, and you
are listening to the final episode fornow of No Better Do Better Podcast.
I'll just rip off the band aidand get right into the announcement. This
will be the last episode of thepodcast for probably a long while. It

(00:27):
breaks my heart to say it,but I need to pause the podcast so
I can give my time and energyand attention to other work that I'm confident
will serve you even better than thepodcast has. This little podcast baby has
been my pride and joy for along time. It's never been paused.
I've never missed a week, soyou could call it a very long,

(00:51):
continuous season. One very possible thatI'll be back on the podcast, back
to releasing a whole bunch of newepisodes. It's all the same topics you
know and love. But don't holdyour breath, okay. In the meantime,
I'll be working on other projects behindthe scenes, and the one thing
I will be keeping up consistently ismy Patreon. Patreon is the place where

(01:14):
I release an article every single Fridaymorning. I've got an inner circle of
patrons who are signed up, andso those articles arrive in their inbox if
they like the email route, orthey pop up on the Patreon app if
that's what they prefer. But otherthan that, I will be focusing on
other endeavors. I thought about justpeacing out and letting you figure out that

(01:36):
the podcast stopped itself, but Icouldn't do that to you, so I
decided to bring up one more episodefrom the vault. This is last year's
fourth of July episode, and Ireally wasn't going to re release it because
I am well aware that much haschanged in the world and in the country
since July of twenty twenty three.So because of that, we're in a

(01:59):
different context. There are more thingshappening in the world, and I would
have chosen different wording. Added alot of Nuance talked more about the tension
in the present day. I thoughtabout re recording this and doing that,
but I honestly don't have the capacityto do that. So if you notice
that and you're like, oh,I'm surprised, she says that everything's fine
and dandy in the present, buteverything was terrible in the past. Yeah,

(02:23):
that's because the present in which Iwas saying all of these things wasn't
the current present. It was lastyear's present, still thought it was worth
rereleasing because the two broad Strokes picturesI paint I think still hold up.
Essentially. In this episode, I'mtalking about how some people feel great about
celebrating America in the fourth of July, but they can lean a little hard

(02:44):
into nationalism, and other people feelterrible about celebrating America and the fourth of
July, but they can lean alittle too hard into disengaging with America because
they're so maybe anti America. AndI've fallen into that boat, so I
assume that that's the boat that manyof them my listeners, have fallen into
as well. But again, I'mon the fence about even releasing this in

(03:05):
its current form, but I justdon't have it in me to script a
new episode. So with all thatin mind, enjoy one final episode of
No Better, Do Better. Thiswhole podcast was started on a whim.
It was a quick project, anew skill I was hoping to develop,
and it turned into something so muchmore than I could have hoped or imagined.

(03:29):
I am so proud of the episodes, I'm so proud of the catalog
that has grown over the years,and mostly proud of you, the listeners,
who have been so loyal, sofaithful to learning about all of these
different topics. I've loved hearing fromall of you, and how this learning
has actually impacted your real life.That in itself blows my mind. And

(03:52):
that's why I'd love to get backto the podcast in the future when I'm
able. Can't thank you enough forthe support you have shown, and I
hope you love and appreciate the futureresources that I'll be creating. That's the
hope. So without further ado,let's chat for like ten minutes about the
Fourth of July. This is whatI had to say about it last year.

(04:16):
On today's episode, we'll be talkingabout the fourth of July, turning
over some important questions like if weshould celebrate the fourth of July, how
we should celebrate the fourth of July, and if it's even right to celebrate
the good old us of A whenthere's so much messed up stuff in history

(04:36):
and there are still issues today.Let's get right into it. When it
comes to the Fourth of July orany other similar celebration of American history,
we feel this turmoil, we feelthis tension. People were saying that in
twenty twenty, the Fourth of Julystarted to feel to white people how it
always feels to people of color.Like whenever the Fourth of July comes around,

(04:59):
some people of color might be like, this is kind of strange because
we're all happy, but your ancestorswere free and mine were in slaves,
so I feel less happy. LikeThat's how many people of color have felt.
And in twenty twenty, when racialinjustice and oppression and the history of
it all was brought to the forefrontof everyone's minds, then white people shared

(05:21):
in the feeling. They got awhiff of that discomfort. So in order
to talk about what to do withthat discomfort, let's start with what not
to do. I think we canget things wrong by ending up at one
of two extremes. The first extremeis when celebrating America and patriotism spirals into

(05:43):
nationalism. Patriotism might be like,hey, let's be grateful for our freedoms,
and of course America is far fromperfect, but that doesn't mean there's
nothing to celebrate. But when itstarts to feel nationalism ish is when it's
not just we have so much tobe grateful for, but instead it's we're
the best, and we're not justthe best, we're actually better than others.

(06:08):
And then it becomes about seeing usand our nation as superior to all
others in the world. Well,that lends itself to some prejudices. And
the issue with patriotism that resembles nationalismis that your love for America can lead
to hate for any constructive criticism ofhow we can improve America. It can

(06:28):
lead to prejudice against all of thosewho are outside of America, and it
can even lead to prejudice against peoplewithin the United States who don't fit the
all American mold, whatever that means, and then you're left with prejudice and
discrimination all around. We don't likenationalism. Yuck. That's one ditch,

(06:49):
But I would bet money that that'snot the ditch that you go to.
No, I think you probably goin the opposite direction, because I also
tend to veer in the opposite direction. We see how nationalism plays out at
people's expense, and so we wantto avoid that. So that's why I'm
guessing you're not even close to that. So the other ditch is the opposite

(07:13):
of nationalism. It's not we lovethe United States so much, we are
better than everybody. No, theother ditch is like the United States is
awful, it's terrible. There's morewrong than there is right, there's more
bad than there is good. Andthis is what I had sort of gravitated
toward in the past. I feltlike all patriotism lent itself to nationalism,

(07:39):
and so from a young age Ipicked up on this idea from other passionate
people around me that we just kindof don't like America. And I think
this attitude is especially common for peoplewho find themselves trying to create social change.
And trying to create social change isa great thing, but I leaned
hard into this posture of pure dislikefor America that I now see was not

(08:05):
helpful or effective or conducive to helpingthis nation in any small way I can.
I voiced sentiments that were almost antiAmerica, because when everyone around you
seems to be saying America is perfect, America is the best, you go
to the polar opposite extreme just totry to balance the group out, and

(08:26):
so you're like, no, it'sawful, it's the worst. And this
has kind of been my natural bendfor the Fourth of July, because everybody's
celebrating, everybody's happy, and Ihave the thought, how are you all
so pleased with America when there's stillso much that needs to change, There's
still so much injustice. And ifthat's how you feel, I completely understand.

(08:48):
I have personal experience with that perspective. It makes sense, and so
I'm not trying to dismiss it offhand, but I will say that in my
experience that approach where it teetered onlike I don't like America at all.
In hindsight, I see how itreally derailed my efforts to work for change

(09:09):
because I wanted to get so faraway from patriotism and nationalism. I wanted
nothing to do with celebrating the UnitedStates, and I just kind of wanted
to reject it altogether. But whatI think doesn't work about that is that
we are hardly ever truly devoted toworking to better something that we completely hate.

(09:31):
It felt like my moral obligation toreject the US, reject patriotism,
reject nationalism. I didn't want toclean up the messy history. I wanted
us to see it for what itis and seeing things as they are.
That's good, but it's actually mymoral obligation to be invested in engaging,

(09:52):
in participating, in contributing to thevery thing that I want to change.
That's our approach to most anything wewant improved, when we want to see
something get better, we don't rejectthe thing altogether. It's not a lack
of investment altogether. It's engagement andbuy in and accountability. Because accountability is

(10:13):
not approval. Accountability holds space foracknowledging current realities, acknowledging current issues,
and being committed to hope for abetter future. And that actually has a
lot to do with the purest definitionof patriotism. Patriotism is defined as being
devoted to and vigorously supportive of one'scountry. And when I ponder that,

(10:37):
I'm like, I do want tobe devoted to my country, and I
also want to support the flourishing ofevery single human being in the United States.
So if supportive means blind total approvalof every single thing about the United
States, then no, I don'tthink that describes anybody. But we can
think of it as being devoted tothe ultimate good, engaged in making a

(11:00):
change. The best involvement. Itmarries together accountability and contribution and criticism and
appreciation and all those things. Ithink this posture is perfectly captured in a
famous quote from James Baldwin. Hesaid this, I love America more than
any country in the world, andexactly for this reason, I insist on

(11:24):
the right to criticize her perpetually.I'll say that again. He starts with
what sounds like patriotism. I loveAmerica more than any other country in the
world, and exactly for this reason. Then he moves onto accountability. I
insist on the right to criticize herperpetually. So even in his phrasing,

(11:46):
you hear that his accountability and hisdesire to create change is actually grounded in
a patriotism of sorts, a commitmentto America. He loves America, and
he loves it too too much tolet it stay the same. So that's
where I'm at, and I'm convincedit's a good place to be. I

(12:07):
get it. Patriotism is a loadedterm, but plainly it means devotion to
one's country, and that is adefinition I can get behind. Devoting ourselves
to working for the good of ourcommunities and the good of our country as
a whole. That's the posture Itake up each fourth of July. I
love America and I love it toomuch to let it stay the same.

(12:30):
That's good, right, Yeah,you can use that. You can use
that. So that's the zoomed outversion of my attitude. Three hundred and
sixty five days a year. Ilove America and I love it too much
to let it stay the same.But if we want it to get specific
about the fourth of July, ifcelebrating the fourth of July is truly about
July fourth, seventeen seventy six,then like I said, I think there

(12:54):
isn't nearly as much grounds for celebrationcompared to if the fourth July is a
more general celebration of what the UnitedStates is today. It points back to
the origin story independence becoming a country. But I think that if our Fourth
of July celebration is about gratitude forour freedoms today, our rights today,

(13:16):
the progress that's been made, oursafety, our peace, our security,
then I think that's okay, andthat's even good. Gratitude is sustaining,
setting our mind on progress and hopeand goodness that sustains us. The fourth
of July isn't the same as juneteethnot by any means. But similarly,

(13:39):
I think there's a place for reflectionand soberly remembering the good and the bad
of our history, and there's alsoa place for celebration, because we are
not in the same place now thatwe were then, Thank the Lord.
Now, if the fourth of Julyfeels heavy for you and you'd rather just
stay in a place of reflection,I'm not saying you can't do that.

(14:01):
That is fully allowed, totally yourprerogative. But if you want to celebrate
on the fourth of July, ifyou want to know if it's allowed,
then let's return to our guiding quoteas the framework. I love America more
than any other country in the world. That first part, that's the fourth

(14:22):
of July. You can soak thatup that one day a year. I
think it's all right to go allin on that. And then the other
three hundred and sixty four days ayear we need to make good on the
end of that statement. It's notjust I love America more than any other
country in the world. It's alsoand I love it too much to let

(14:45):
it stay the same. That meansI'm gonna play my part. I'm gonna
make whatever positive impact I can,and I'll be devoted to bringing us a
little bit closer to the kind ofworld we want to live in. And
that's a rap. Again, That'swhat I had to say about the fourth
of July last year. If Ihad been redoing that this year, I

(15:05):
would have worded many things differently andaddressed present things going on. But frankly,
I don't have the time to makea new episode and make it worth
your while, so we're just gonnaleave it at that. I'll link an
episode in the show notes from thisweek last year in which I expand on
these ideas, and I talk abouttwo different approaches to anti racism, one

(15:28):
that's very like pro America and onethat's very anti America, and how they
have different philosophies but are working towardssimilar goals, and YadA YadA. That'll
be in the show note. Butthis is goodbye for now. I'm being
a little dramatic because you'll still hearfrom me, you'll still see me,
and especially if you're a patron,nothing's changing. You'll get an in depth

(15:50):
article sent to your inbox every singleFriday. If you would like to become
a patron so you can stay inthe know and still hear from me,
glean hopefully wisdom from my work.You can sign up join the Patreon at
the link in the show notes.I should also say that many of you
have signed up as free patrons,and while that's awesome, I love that.

(16:11):
I'm glad to have your email anda way to connect with you.
Presently, there are no offerings forfree patrons, and that's out of respect
for the paying members. But ifyou want to be a free patron,
knock yourself out, totally do it, and then you'll hear from me.
Whenever big announcements are ready to bemade again, I'd love to return to

(16:33):
the podcast. Who knows, maybesix months, maybe a year, We
shall see. Thank you so muchfor your loyal listening, your support,
your open hearts, your open minds, and sticking with me as I have
learned so much in the past coupleof years. It has been quite the
ride and truly the highlight of mywhole career. This podcast, this thing.

(16:55):
So again, thank you, thankyou, thank you. I mean
it when I say hosting this podcastis truly an honor and a privilege and
a joy, and I am sograteful for every single one of you.
And if you only take away onething from this episode, I hope it's
that change starts with you.