Today I want to remember the Americans who have fought for our freedoms.
Not only the Military.
Today I want to remember:
The Protestors. The Union Members. The Picketers. The Marchers. The Glass Ceilings Breakers. The Strikers.
Today I am grateful for all of the Americans who have stood up to corrupt systems in our Nation and demanded the Freedom and rights they deserved.
Today I want to remember those who exercised their right to protest an unfair government.
Or unfair working conditions and evil corporate fat cats.
Today let’s remember:
The May Day Parade. The Coal Strike of 1902. The Southwest Railroad Strike. The Dearborn Hunger March. The Textile Workers Strike. The Harlan County War. The Birmingham March. The National March on Washington. the US Postal Workers Strike. The Stonewall Riots. Fountain House. The Million Man March. The Los Angeles Riots. Ferguson. Standing Rock. The Women’s March. The March for Our Lives. The March for Science.
Sojourner Truth. Mother Jones. The “Rednecks”. The Suffragist. Francis Perkins. Lucy Parsons. Martin Luther King. Rosa Parks. Malcolm X. Ruby Bridges. Kent State. SANE. MADD. Occupy Wall Street. Black Lives Matter. Times Up. Emma Gonzalez.
And all the other groups and unnamed/forgotten individuals who put themselves in harm's way to fight for the rights we deserve.
Freedom isn’t free.
*Sometimes yes that will mean war and the lives lost protecting America*
Sometimes, however, it means using your voice to stand up against the wrongs that our own country is allowing or committing. Freedom then comes at the price of being blacklisted, rubber bullets, tear gas, lives lost, and long nights spent in jail. Do not forget the cost it took to get to where we are today. Even when it feels like we have so far left to go.
Remember protest is patriotic. It’s the very freedom our Founding Fathers wanted to ensure we had when they wrote the Bill of Rights. Even if we have used those rights to grant more freedoms then they ever anticipated. Expanding and evolving the concept of freedom to reach more than just rich, white men.
Protesting is the very reason America exists.
Never forget those who have fought for our rights.
Never forget that you yourself hold this same power.
This Fourth of July educate yourself on the movements, marches, and protests that it took to make America the nation we know today. Then think about the ways you can use your voice to continue to improve America and make it a place we can all be proud to call home. A place where even the most marginalized groups can feel free.
Happy Fourth of July.
Let Freedom Ring.
