Tonight I will be singing at an Irish pub here on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, singing songs of Irish resistance to British oppression. The songs span centuries of Irish history and subjugation at the hands of the English and tell the tales of British invasion, British occupation of Irish lands, the British genocide of the Irish Gaelic people, the theft of Irish Gaelic culture, language, music, and traditions.

I will sing some songs in Irish Gaelic. I will sing about a people’s centuries-long struggle for freedom from its oppressor.

Interestingly, when I talk openly about the “Yes Scotland” vote, many of the dissenters are mostly Americans and have said that freedom from Britain is not a good idea for Scotland. This is shocking to me as these Americans are clearly forgetting their own history, that we went through this exact process over 200 years ago. The difference is that we achieved our freedom from Britain through bloody battle, and all Scotland has to do is vote “yes”. Of course, there will be growing pains as power shifts from the Crown back to the people, but that is no reason not to push for freedom.

The main dissenters in America for Scottish independence from Britain happen to be American economists. Who the hell cares what American bean-counters think about Scottish independence? It is Scotland’s right as a culture and as a people to divest themselves of imperial British occupation and oppression.

On a sidenote, I find it quite the ironic coincidence that the TV show “Outlander” is airing at this time and might even be helping to spur the Scottish independence movement, since it has such a strong storyline of the Scottish fighting the English Crown’s attempt to steal Scottish land and Scottish resources. To say nothing of the movie Braveheart or the older TV show “Highlander”, both of which dealt with the horrors of English invasion and rule in Scotland.

As I come home tonight from singing the tales of the Irish and my ancestors’ quest for freedom from Britain, my distant kinsmen in Scotland will have cast their votes, and the results of Scotland’s vote for independence will be officially announced. The world is watching as yet another nation shakes off the mantle of imperial British oppression. Today feels like a very important day, not only as an activist but as a person of Irish and Scottish descent.

Saor Alba!

trish