Today, Antigua and Barbuda celebrates Independence Day — a day of flags, speeches, and national pride. But let’s be honest: while we cheer freedom, there’s another kind of independence that often gets overlooked — the independence some claim in their personal lives, careers, and relationships. True independence isn’t a hashtag, a declaration, or a performance on social media. It’s understanding the structures, the work, and the scaffolding that keeps your world functioning.

Women, this is for you.

You have fought for equal rights — and you have earned them. You’ve claimed space at every table, demanded voice in every forum, and celebrated the freedoms you’ve won. But here’s a truth rarely spoken: men built the systems that make your modern independence possible. Every law that protects you, every career that is accessible, every convenience that lets you live freely — these were built, maintained, and protected by men for you.

We didn’t build this with you.

We built this for you.

Yet in today’s society, respect for men has become optional. Independence is often mistaken for self-sufficiency, and gratitude has been replaced with entitlement. Too many now speak as though the scaffolding of society magically appeared — as though independence is something you can declare without understanding the foundation it rests on.

Let’s do a little reality check: imagine if all men disappeared today. Power grids fail, transportation stops, food systems collapse, and chaos would spread faster than any Instagram post. Survival would no longer be a hashtag.

Now flip it: imagine if all women disappeared today. The loss would be devastating — emotionally, culturally, and morally — but the machinery of society would still function. Roads still paved. Flights still flown. Systems still managed. Civilization endures, but reproduction does not.

The lesson is clear: independence isn’t just about longevity, rights, or appearances. True independence is understanding interdependence. It’s respect. It’s gratitude. It’s recognizing that men and women should complete each other — not compete with each other.

This isn’t criticism. It’s reality. Somewhere along the line, men stopped being seen as the builders, the protectors, the sustainers — and started being treated like optional extras. Yet when the lights go out, when danger arrives, when society’s scaffolding shakes, it is still the man who holds it together. So before claiming you don’t need anyone, ask yourself: is it independence, or just selective amnesia?

Today, as we raise our flag and celebrate national independence, let’s also reflect on personal independence — the kind that truly matters. Maybe the freedom worth celebrating isn’t the kind that isolates, but the kind that acknowledges contribution.

Because here’s the simple truth:

We are not your competition.

We are your completion.

And until that balance is understood, every claim to independence is just a flag waving in borrowed wind.