Today, July 5, 2026, we have arrived at the first day of the second 250 years of our experiment testing whether or not “We the people” are capable of self-government.

The great question we must ask is this: To what extent have we realized the inherent promise in Jefferson’s mystical assertion that “all men are created equal”?

Not so long ago, I believed we were swiftly progressing toward an ever fuller realization of all that phrase implies.

Just look at what we achieved!

We decided that “all men” did not refer only to male property-owners.

We decided that women, too, were “created equal” and shaped our laws accordingly.

We proudly proclaimed our country as “the melting pot.” The Statue of Liberty announced it. We decided that those two words -- “all men” -- included persons of all nationalities, all colors and origins and languages and faiths and cultures and sexual orientations. All possessed what we call “rights.”

In the aftermath of a terrible civil war and again in 1965, our representatives made laws that instituted and protected those rights. Voting rights, most notably. When those rights were challenged, our courts stumblingly upheld them.

We welcomed, sheltered and succored the immigrant and the refugee, gave asylum to the oppressed, like my great-grandparents who immigrated here ILLEGALLY from Serbia. Like millions, they made a life for themselves here; their son was my mother’s father.

We extended these humane ideas abroad, too. Compassionated by our beliefs (and, yes, “compassionate” can be a verb as well as an adjective), we spent billions feeding the hungry and fighting deadly scourges around the world. What better thing could we have done with our wealth?

Not so long ago, we were appalled by corruption. When elected persons were caught with their hand in the till, they resigned in disgrace.

Not that we had completed the work. We took two steps forward, then one step back, again and again. There was so much yet to be done. But the American project, like a vast arch, was “under construction.”

Imagine an arch, like the one in St. Louis, but imagine it under construction.

Now imagine what Martin Luther King called “the arc of the moral universe” when he said:

“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

He believed it and I believed it, too. Millions did. The arc, he implied, was incomplete. But the construction was ongoing and always would be.

Two and a half years ago the construction stopped and the demolition began. The half-completed arc has been battered down, almost to its foundation. I wonder if I will live long enough to see it restored to the point it had reached.

So much for the FACTS of our present situation. What about the FEELINGS?

I cannot speak for the feelings of others. I can speak with authority only about my own feelings … and I can write music accordingly.

There is no particular reason why you should be curious about my feelings. But if you are, then you will discern the emotions at play in a piece of music I wrote last December. Recorded just last week, it is titled “The Arc of Justice.” M.L. King’s quotation is on the title page.

It is not a triumphalist expression like Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man” (a piece I greatly admire).

Listen instead for the aural “arc” in the opening four measures, the rising line in the two cellos and the viola’s descending reply. Then follows descending phrases, a few tentatively uplifting phrases, and many wistful sighs. In places, the music almost founders. Still, it finds a way forward.

A dear friend, who is certainly the most intelligent person I know, is convinced that, in politics, the pendulum is already swinging, that the rebuilding of the arc of justice will begin soon and that it will be swift.

Shall the ending of my piece, then, be optimistic or despairing?

As you listen, ask yourself, how will this piece conclude? What message, what emotion, will the final cadence convey?

To discover this new music, recently recorded by violist Rose Gowda and cellists Michael Ronstadt and Nora Barton, click on the link above. There's also a link to a PDF of the score.

I would LOVE to know what you think about this MUSIC; reply if you're inclined. But please don't feel that you are expected to reply. I'm just glad to share my work in this way.

As always, feel free to forward this message to friends who might enjoy it.

If you are a regular reader of these Sunday morning messages, then you know that I rarely take up political issues. This time, because of today’s date, I did. Some of what I had to say might have ruffled some feelings. But, at certain moments, certain things need to be said and not just by pundits. Artists, too, are obliged to speak. A composer’s sensibilities consists of more than F sharps and B flats.

Anyone can be on my little list of recipients for these mpFrees (as I call these musical emails). To sign up, people can email me at rick@sowash.com, sending just one word: "Yes." I'll know what it means.

Rick Sowash
Cincinnati, OH
July 5, 2026
www.sowash.com