A few days after the 2007 celebration of the Fourth of July, I happened upon a nearly year-old copy of Reader’s Digest. On the back cover is a portrait by C. F. Payne entitled “My Space”, with a caption that reads, “OUR AMERICA.” The illustration is of a young woman who appears to be about 13 years old in her room. She chatters away happily on her cell phone in front of thick text books which are obviously being neglected in favor of various distractions. Wrappers that once held sugar-loaded goodies are strewn across her bed, above which hangs a picture of a man who brings to my mind characters like Jean-Wayne van Willis. Television blurring the the background, web-based network utility loaded on her lap top, the scene evokes an urgent call to observe our young people as reflectors of widespread social values and ills. I wonder if the headphones around her neck symbolize a rhythmic slavery to mass media. Maybe I’m carrying leftover neo-patriotic energy around that is now manifesting in thoughts on Independence.

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Michael Jackson – “Man In The Mirror“