Allegiance

I pledge allegiance not to a flag
But to the liberties that wove it together

I pledge allegiance not to a republic
But to the unity for which it should stand

I pledge allegiance not to a nation under one god
But to one where faith and faithlessness live in harmony

I pledge allegiance not to a country indivisible in words alone
But to one where the outcast and wandering are given a home
Where those who are free are not bound by their skin
Where those who flee are not barred from a refuge
Where love defines law and diversity drives policy

I pledge allegiance not to the idea of liberty
But to its manifestation in the real and the corporal
To its existence in the presence, not its legacy from the past

I pledge allegiance not to the justice we comfortably believe exists
But to righting the wrongs against the struggling
To freeing those enslaved by poverty
To valuing lives more than profit

I pledge allegiance to equality – the “for all” we repeat
For lives lost to weapons
For lovers degraded
For visitors in our shared home
For natives who are cheated
For black lives that matter