I  share the same birthday as the signing of the Declaration of Independence, July 4th.  I always believed there was a purposeful meaning behind my birth landing on the most controversial holiday for the African-American race.

Through years of experience and self-reflection, I have concluded the interconnection to be that: freedom must be continually, relentlessly sought after because it was and will never be a birthright.

Moreover, in the words of Nelson Mandela, "To be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom."