Independence Day: New Citizens for US!
Jen and I went to Seattle Center and watched the ceremony for the newly naturalized citizens--507 of them! Our friend Eduardo Mendonca (who works with Power Of Hope) was awarded the Spirit of Liberty award for being a badass naturalized citizen who works to share his native culture with his new home. He got to make a speech, along with a whole bunch of elected officials including Sam Reed, who urged the new citizens to vote, because it's important.
The oath that the new citizens had to take was hilariously awesome, elicited from them a few words at a time because of the dense and sometimes antiquated vocabulary:
"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."
After the oath Mayor Nickels said that this was a day to be remembered for the new citizens because it would be the last time they would have to use the word "abjure" in a sentence.
Nickels read off the countries of origin one by one, with the soon-to-be citizens from each standing briefly to applause. The crowd managed to keep up the applause for all 90-odd countries mentioned from Afghanistan to Vietnam. Most new citizens: The Phillipenes with 43. South Korea, Canada and Mexico, Vietnam and Ethiopia all had a bunch as well. When the Iranians stood, somebody shouted "Freedom" from the back of the crowd.
The entire experience was extremely inspiring. I think I might show up every year!
Happy Independence Day!
The oath that the new citizens had to take was hilariously awesome, elicited from them a few words at a time because of the dense and sometimes antiquated vocabulary:
"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."
After the oath Mayor Nickels said that this was a day to be remembered for the new citizens because it would be the last time they would have to use the word "abjure" in a sentence.
Nickels read off the countries of origin one by one, with the soon-to-be citizens from each standing briefly to applause. The crowd managed to keep up the applause for all 90-odd countries mentioned from Afghanistan to Vietnam. Most new citizens: The Phillipenes with 43. South Korea, Canada and Mexico, Vietnam and Ethiopia all had a bunch as well. When the Iranians stood, somebody shouted "Freedom" from the back of the crowd.
The entire experience was extremely inspiring. I think I might show up every year!
Happy Independence Day!