Opinion editor's note: Star Tribune Opinion publishes a mix of national and local commentaries online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.
•••
In response to Laura Yuen's June 9 column "It's time for regular Americans (liberals included) to reclaim the U.S. flag":
I love flags. I love driving by someone's house and observing they are a Gopher fan, or knowing that they probably have a story to tell about their Pride flag, or noticing the proud Minnesotan neighbor flying the new state flag. I love that flags can be giant and majestic and they can be printed on a $5 T-shirt sold at the gas station.
I took Yuen's "radical idea" to heart. But I didn't do it alone. With the help of Beyoncé and the small city of Excelsior's commitment to Fourth of July celebrations, I'm reclaiming the flag one patriotic cropped sweater vest at a time.
My favorite way to digest Beyoncé's latest album, "Act II: Cowboy Carter," is via airpods, on a walk in the evening through Excelsior, where I live with my husband and three kids, no dog. This week the flags have been out on every lamppost down Main Street, and the posters are up advertising Fourth of July fireworks, a 10K and a kids bike "parade" to celebrate the best day of the year — outside, together. The boutiques are sporting all the patriotic looks, and I snagged a cute cropped sweater vest to sport on the big day. Beyoncé's "Ameriican Requiem" in my ear calls us not to ignore the past, but to "let love in."
My 8-year-old daughter's favorite way to digest Beyoncé's latest album is in the car on a warm summer night, with the windows down and the bass pumping through the car seat. The other night, about halfway through "Ya Ya" — a multigenre, can't-help-but-dance song deep into the album — I had an epiphany: Beyoncé is doing more to bring the flag back than any politician could accomplish. The album is raw, and sends serious social commentary messages about what isn't right here, who has been wronged. Its fury is almost unhinged at some points, then you're carried back, "salty tears beyond [your] gaze" to love and hope for the future, if we protect it (my personal favorite, "Protector"). Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Jon Batiste, Miley Cyrus and Gary Clark Jr. are all part of the team. It makes everyone want to be a cowboy/cowgirl, no matter where you come from or who you are. Beyoncé is reclaiming the flag, and it's sexy, it's smart and it's stomping for joy in the streets.
Beyoncé is way cooler than I could ever be and I can't compete with her patriotic outfits, but when I pull my knit flag sweater vest over my head, I've got the full range of history behind it and I'm grateful for the artists that make me see our country more clearly. I'm grateful to live in a town where we can walk to a parade and a beach and public park for everyone to gather; I'm all in on the red, white and blue.
Sarah Nelson, of Excelsior, is a sales manager.
