A Pledge (Reimagined)

A Pledge (Reimagined)

I pledge allegiance

not to a symbol

but to the people

standing beneath it.

To the hands that work,

the voices that tremble,

the children learning what safety

is supposed to feel like.

To the idea

that we can belong

without erasing ourselves.

That liberty is not loud,

but lived—

in quiet choices,

in fairness practiced daily,

in dignity not rationed.

I pledge to remember

that justice is not a promise kept once,

but a vow renewed

every time someone is unseen

and we choose to look.

One nation—

not uniform,

but woven.

Many stories,

many truths,

held together

by care instead of fear.

Indivisible

not because we agree,

but because we refuse

to abandon one another.

With liberty

that reaches the margins,

and justice

that does not require suffering

to be earned.

This is my pledge:

to show up awake,

to love without conditions,

to question what harms,

and to protect what heals.

Not just with words,

but with my life.

A Living Pledge

(Call and Response)

Leader:

Why do we gather?

All:

To remember who we are.

Leader:

What do we pledge our hearts to?

All:

To the people, not the pedestal.

Leader:

What does allegiance mean?

All:

To stand with one another.

Leader:

When some are unseen—

All:

We choose to look.

Leader:

When voices are silenced—

All:

We make room for truth.

Leader:

What is one nation?

All:

Many stories, held together.

Leader:

What makes us indivisible?

All:

Our refusal to abandon each other.

Leader:

What is liberty?

All:

The freedom to be whole.

Leader:

What is justice?

All:

Care made visible.

Leader:

How do we keep this promise?

All:

By living it.

Leader:

Not only in words—

All:

But in how we love.

Leader:

Not only in hope—

All:

But in what we protect.

Leader:

This is our pledge.

All:

We show up awake.

Leader:

We speak with courage.

All:

We act with care.

Leader:

For the people.

All:

For each other.

Leader:

For the future.

All:

We are still choosing one another.

— Flower InBloom