Category Archives: Freedom

MARIANNA, Fla. (WMBB) More than 200 triathletes raced at the 2020 Freedom Springs Triathlon at Blue Springs County Recreation Area in Marianna.

I had six races for this year, but everything has been canceled except this one so, very excited, said triathlete Brent Moody.

The race had to be canceled last year as the park was being repaired after Hurricane Michael. Race director, Olga Cemore, was determined to have the Independence Day event happen this year.

We have to respect whats going on, but we have to live, Cemore said.

Race organizers put several practices into place to ensure proper safety measures were met during the triathlon. There were individual water stations, sanitizing stations and wash stations. The athletes also started the event one at a time as oppose to a group swim.

The race offered what they called a rona wave for anyone who wanted to add more distance between themselves and other racers.

All athletes wore a timing chip, so they had a chance to win no matter when they crossed the start line.

If someone wanted to be all the way in the back away from everyone they certainly had that option, Cemore said.

Finishers medals were picked up individually by the athletes as oppose to having volunteers place them around the triathletes necks. The awards ceremony could be heard all throughout the park to ensure social distancing measures remained in place following the race.

Racers said it was great to be back around other athletes.

When you are with people at a race, you up your level no matter what, said triathlete and Panama City Beach resident, David Shearon.

Triathletes said they werent concerned for their safety during the sprint triathlon.

I feel like its a safe place to be, were all outdoors and were all out here because we want to be here, said triathlete, Mindi Straw.

Cemore said she was happy the event could still be held on the 4th of July.

I came from a country that doesnt have all the freedoms that people here do and 4th of July should be celebrated, Cemore said.

Roger Hagues of Georgia came in first place with a time of 52:43.

Panama City Beach triathlete David Shearon placed fifth with a time of 56:18. He said it was great to be back with his community of racers.

Hopefully things will calm down and well have more triatholans to race in, Shearon said.

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Triathletes return to a race course at the Freedom Springs Triathlon in Marianna - WMBB - mypanhandle.com

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Posted: Sunday, July 5, 2020 6:00 am

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Freedom isnt free Suzanne Valla,Odessa Odessa American

Governor Abbott made the right call in requiring face masks in public places. If Texans had been more diligent in following recommendations, this mandate most likely would not have been necessary. Texans like to say how much we cherish the freedom to make our own decisions, but there is an old saying, Freedom isnt free. When our freedom is putting doctors, nurses, health care workers, grocery store employees and other retail workers and their families at risk, then they are paying for our freedom to not wear a mask. Who could blame them all for walking off the job?

Thanks to Councilwoman Mari Willis for having the courage to vote to approve the ordinance requiring face masks at the recent Odessa City Council meeting. Whose freedom was it to not wear a mask that caused the death of her friend? I will not fault the rest of the council for failing to approve what I thought was a no brainer since, much to my chagrin, I was not there to voice my opinion and there seemed to be no support for the measure.

Covad has closed businesses, put people out of work, closed schools, shut down churches, put stress on families, and caused the price of oil which drives our economy to be at an all-time low. And now it is filling up our hospitals. There will be businesses that cannot survive another shutdown. God gave us all a brain and He intends for us to use it. Are we showing love to our fellow Odessans when we refuse to wear masks and do our own small part in stopping this devastating disease? The Bible tells us that if we have not love, we are just a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. PLEASE ODESSA, lets show the rest of Texas we are a city of love for one another and not just a clanging cymbal.

Posted in Letters To Editor on Sunday, July 5, 2020 6:00 am. | Tags: Letter

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LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Freedom isn't free - Odessa American

OUTAGAMIE, Wis. (WFRV) The Town of Freedom faced disruption of power after a pair of power gliders struck a power line and crashed in a farm field on Saturday night.

According to the Outagamie County Sheriffs Office, deputies responded at around 8 p.m. to the area of N3800 Weyers Road in the Town of Freedom for a report of a power glider that had struck a power line and crashed in a farm field.

Upon deputies arrival, it was determined the power glider was operated by an adult man with an adult woman passenger, who are both from the Freedom area.

Officials said the operator of the power glider was not injured and the passenger was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Deputies believe the power to the immediate area was disrupted due to the crash. WE Energies is said to have responded to the scene to restore power.

The Outagamie County Sheriffs Office was assisted at the scene by Gold Cross Ambulance.

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Power glider crash cause power disruption in Town of Freedom - WeAreGreenBay.com

With the overwhelming effects of the pandemic and the racial injustices people are facing and fighting every single day, one common need is emphasized now more than ever: the American dream.

In these trying times, its important to remember what matters most equality. Now more than ever, Americans are tasked with the challenge to speak up, get our opinions heard and spread an important message about equal opportunity.

On this Fourth of July, perhaps we ought to look back at how we got here in the first place. Originally, it was just a dream, then a manifesto, and later, a declaration. The U.S. Declaration of Independence states:

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Natures God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

How is it that we often gloss over one of the most important declarations in our nations history? Let these words sink in for a minute. All men created equal. Unalienable rights. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Isnt that what we all aspire to achieve? I would like to think so.

Between the overwhelming effects of the pandemic to the injustices that many of us face and fight against every single day, one thing remains the American dream.

Last year, I wrote about the American dream and its ties to homeownership. It still rings true today, perhaps even more so, as our very livelihood and personal freedoms are being challenged on the world stage.

No matter how bleak it gets, I still believe in the greater good, in the power of equality and in the strength that comes from aspiring to achieve the very basis of the American dream. This of course leads me to an iconic speech by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. that I am often reminded of, particularly as we near this Fourth of July.

I say to you today, my friends, though, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal

This dream is not only rooted in equality but in the most basic of human needs the freedom to earn a wage, to vote, to own a home. The American dream is not dead. Its alive and well. And if we continue to work together from a place of peace and justice for all, impactful change will come.

Until then, we must continue to fight the good fight. We must listen. We must demonstrate our commitment to making the world a better place.

As stewards of homeownership, we are called upon to ensure that every American, regardless of race, color, gender or creed, has the opportunity to pursue that most essential part of the American dream. Because homeownership is and always will be one of the greatest freedoms of all.

Troy Palmquist is the founder and broker ofThe Addressin Southern California. Follow him onFacebook,or connect with him onLinkedIn.

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Homeownership is the greatest kind of freedom and it should be for all - Inman

From the early 2000s until 2015, before I started making films, I was a community organizer for Black, trans, queer, gender nonconforming, and disabled communities. It was in that context that I learned about freedom dreaming. Freedom dreams are born when we face harsh conditions not with despair, but with the deep knowledge that these conditions will change that a world filled with softness and beauty and care is not only possible, but inevitable.

Freedom dreaming starts with asking questions, often the same questions, over and over, allowing ourselves to get deeper each time. Coming out of the long tradition of Freedom Schools, I focused on these three questions as an organizer: What does the dominant culture have that we want? What does the dominant culture have that we dont want? What do we have that we want to keep? These days, it is the third question that preoccupies me.

The thing is, freedom dreaming isnt just about the big thingsthe huge world changes that we are manifesting in our movements, like police and prison abolition, free universal healthcare, and gender self-determination for all. When I give myself permission to slow down like thisand particularly, when I wonder what we already have that we want to keepwhat I always notice are the small things. (Or I should say: What seem like the small things, but really are the big things! The everyday acts of liberatory glamour, care, and openness that keep us alive.) I notice how much I am already surrounded by the world I dream of.

Tourmaline in a Bottega Veneta dress.

Ive begun to realize that I freedom dream every single day:

When I dye my hair blue at home in my bathtub, reclaiming the color from its capture by racist policeand then do my eyeshadow to matchIm freedom dreaming. I am allowing my very existence to be an aesthetic resistance.

When I take a walk down my block, and slow down to touch and smell the blooming flowers, bursting with vitality, Im freedom dreaming. I am allowing myself to live in a world where nature is a teacher and friend.

When I Venmo my friend $25 with a heart emoji, so that they can safely take a cab home from a protest or a date or a doctors appointment, Im freedom dreaming. I am creating a world in which we can all move around safely, without fear of harassment.

When I stay in bed all day, luxuriating in rest, moving in and out of cat naps, Im freedom dreaming.I am living in the knowledge that I dont have to be productive in the ways capitalism demands of us in order to deserve relaxation and recuperation.

When I write to an incarcerated loved one, on colorful paper, enclosing exuberant childhood photos, Im freedom dreaming. I am reaching through the walls designed to prevent connection and delight, and announcing that they have failed in their intent.

When I walk naked from my bedroom to my kitchen, adorned in nothing but lipstick, Im freedom dreaming.I am communing with Marsha P. Johnson, anti-police activist and sex worker, and her naked walks down Christopher Street five decades ago.

When I sext all my friends, trading sultry photos into the late hours of the night, Im freedom dreaming. I am envisioning a world in which pleasure isnt a scarce resource, but is something to revel in and share.

When I refuse to make myself smaller to accommodate the demands for respectability put forward by mainstream institutionswhen I wear sheer dresses and chokers to art openings and airports alike, when I dont tuck, when I am my fullest and freest self in the most public of placesIm freedom dreaming.I am expanding in the power of my unruliness and refusal to conform to violent and oppressive normativity.

When I post images on Instagram that will inevitably be taken down because they dont abide by the platforms repressive Terms of Serviceimages of sex toys, and trans joy, and futanari animeIm freedom dreaming. I am reminding myself that we cannot be contained by corporations seeking to stifle our wayward expressions of pleasure.

When I care for sick friends, and let sick friends care for me, Im freedom dreaming. I am remembering that we do not have to be afraid of each other, and that contagion has historically been weaponized against us, used to stoke fear amongst and alienate trans people, queer people, sex workers, and disabled people from our loved ones.

Tourmaline in Vaquera NYC top and skirt.

I want you to know that your freedom dreams can be immediate: the DMs you want to receive tonight, the quality of sleep you want to have, the screen break you want to take, the conversation youre hoping to have with a family member or friend. I want you to know that its not frivolous to have dreams about seemingly small or pleasurable things; it is vital.

The world that I dream of is filled with ease. Im not satisfied with Black trans lives mattering; I want Black trans lives to be easy, to be pleasurable, and to be filled with lush opportunities. I want the abundance weve gifted the worldthe art, the care, the knowledge, and the beautyto be offered back to us tenfold.

In the world that I dream of, its easy to move about. Its easy to walk home at night with a bag of Skittles. Its easy to relax in your own house. Its easy to resolve conflict. Its easy to hang out on the street. Its easy to do the work you want to do. Its easy to come together. Its easy to have sex, to seek pleasure and joy, to wear what feels right. Its easy to be soft. Its easy to remember your power. To be in public. To use. Its easy to not have to work. Its easy to be in bed all day. Its easy to be free. Its easy to be alive.

Fashion Editor: Tess Herbert

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Filmmaker and Activist Tourmaline on How to Freedom Dream - Vogue

I dont remember the mileage, but the grill resembled a smiling Charles Bronson, with 330 horses under the hood. When I drove to Toms house to show off, he raised an eyebrow and uttered the magic words: road trip.

I had known Tom since grade school, when he was the starting guard on St. Bernadettes basketball team and I was a reserve. We shared a passion for Sherwoods hamburgers, bass fishing, and Raquel Welch. And now we had both just graduated college, with summer shore leave, before wed enter the adult world. Absolutely nothing was expected from either of us, and we agreed to take off on Monday morning.

Of course, we had no internet, no reservations, and no money for boats or motels. But Tom proposed we head toward Iowa. We could fish all day in the countless farm ponds he had seen where he went to school, which sounded like a plan to me.

Shortly after leaving town, I had the Olds in the left lane of the interstate 75 mph, elbows out the open window, Creedence Clearwater Revival on the radio. I looked at Tom and could tell he felt the same: We owned that blessed road.

Until, that is, I had to abruptly pull off, when it felt like we hit a curb, the steering wheel shaking violently and pulling to the left. I fought the wheel to pull onto the shoulder, where we got out to see the damage: a blowout of the front left tire. Working together, we had the 88 jacked up and the spare mounted in minutes. But a portion of the flats tread was sliced off like an orange peel, so we had to buy a used spare for $5 at the next gas station.

Once we resumed, we talked some about fishing, and then I asked Tom to tell the story of how he once intercepted future pro Ken Anderson while playing cornerback for the Iowa Wesleyan Tigers. Next, we talked about after-summer plans. Tom was intent on owning his own business, and I would teach until I published the next "Great American Novel." As the Olds roared across a suspension bridge, high above a sparkling stream, neither of us harbored a single doubt.

After exiting the interstate, Tom spied a familiar-looking pond glinting in the sun along the side of a hill. It was farther from the road than it appeared, and we plodded through head high grass and patches of deep mud. The fish, however, were starving, and we caught over 40 juvenile bass, managing to cull eight of decent size that we kept on a stringer staked in the water.

I was thinking two more and wed have our limit and our dinner, when I saw a lone black cow making its way down the hill, head hanging low, looking our way.

Let's go, said Tom. Grab the stringer.

I asked what the rush was. We still needed two more fish. But he had already disappeared into the high grass, his fishing rod moving like a periscope above his head. I grabbed the fish and followed him back toward the road. We finally made it to the car, panting, muddy, sweaty.

Bull Pond, said Tom. I just remembered what they used to call this place.

Good and tired, we drove into town and parked in front of Toms former fraternity house. It was closed up for the summer, but we found an unlocked window around back. The water and electric were still on, so I unpacked our gear while Tom found dishes, salt and pepper, and we cleaned and cooked what we had caught: a meal like a sacrament, and the best fish we ever tasted.

Over the next half century, the two of us would slowly, methodically trade many of our freedoms, one by one, in exchange for our careers, for homes and mortgages, for marriage and family responsibility, for cell phones and GPS tracking, for arthritis medicine and 401Ks, and for insurance policies on our houses, cars, our lives, our deaths, and even our tires.

But today we drink a beer on the patio, and commemorate that long ago time of independence, youth, and intimacy with the land.

And we raise a toast on the Fourth of July to the country where , in spite of all its current problems, you can still choose your direction on lifes highway and determine how far you go, by your work, your wiles, and your will.

Former Hayward resident and emeritus English professor for the College of DuPage in Illinois, David McGrath is the author of South Siders and a frequent contributor to the News Tribune Opinion page. He can be reached at profmcgrath2004@yahoo.com.

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David McGrath: Fourth of July is all about freedom and open highways - Duluth News Tribune

TO DO THIS AT LEAST TWICE A MONTH. DOZENS OF PEOPLE HIT THE GROUND RUNNING .. AND WALKING .. AT FORSYTH PARK TODAY FOR THE RUNNING OF THE FLAG .. ALL IN CELEBRATION OF THE COUNTRY'S 244TH BIRTHDAY. THE PLAN WAS TO DRESS IN RED, WHITE AND BLUE .. AND MAKE A CUMULATIVE EFFORT TO CARRY THE FLAG AROUND THE PARK 244 TIMES. 2:26 - ITS OUR 244 BIRTHDAY SO WHAT BETTER PLACE TO DO IT BESIDES FORSYTH PARK THIS IS WHERE EVERYBODY COMES IN THE MORNING AND GETS THEIR DAY STARTED, EXERCISING BEING ACCOUNTABLE, GOVERNING THEMSELVES, GETTING THEIR DAY STARTED ON T

The Savannah Freedom Exchange host The Flag Run to celebrate the 4th of July

Updated: 9:08 PM EDT Jul 4, 2020

SAVANNAH,GA(WJCL): Dozen of people hit the ground running and walking at Forsyth Park today for the Running of the Flag. All in celebration of the country's 224th birthday. The plan was to dress in red, white, and blue and make and an effort to carry the flag around the park 244 times. The organizer of the event, Sarah Thompson says, "It is our 244th birthday so what better place to do it besides Forsyth Park. This is where everybody comes in the morning and gets their day started, exercising being accountable, governing themselves, and getting their day started on the right foot. So we thought this was a great place!" The flag run was organized by The Savannah Freedom Exchange.

SAVANNAH,GA(WJCL): Dozen of people hit the ground running and walking at Forsyth Park today for the Running of the Flag. All in celebration of the country's 224th birthday. The plan was to dress in red, white, and blue and make and an effort to carry the flag around the park 244 times.

The organizer of the event, Sarah Thompson says, "It is our 244th birthday so what better place to do it besides Forsyth Park. This is where everybody comes in the morning and gets their day started, exercising being accountable, governing themselves, and getting their day started on the right foot. So we thought this was a great place!"

The flag run was organized by The Savannah Freedom Exchange.

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The Savannah Freedom Exchange host The Flag Run to celebrate the 4th of July - WJCL News

Fromthe beginning, starting with the Declaration of Independence, there are those ringing words: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal ... That certainly wasnt the truth. If those truths were so self-evident, then why is it that no country in history had deemed its people to be born equal? Not even the signers of the Declaration thought that it was self-evident. Despite their aspirational rhetoric, half of the signers of the Declaration held or had held slaves.

In the interest of compromise, and to have the Southern states join in the union, slavery was enshrined in our Constitution but that same Constitution provided for the end of the slave trade in 1808. As Abraham Lincoln later observed, our Founding Fathers placed that provision in our Constitution to remove the evil of slavery by cutting off its source. Unfortunately, 1808 came and went and slavery remained. At or about the time our Congress was passing the Bill of Rights, it was also passing the first Alien Naturalization Act limiting naturalization to free white persons. The first illegal immigrants were the 50,000 slaves smuggled into the United States after Congress prohibition of the slave trade. It took the Civil War and an amended Constitution to grant them amnesty.

Just before the Civil War, the nation erected a statue to Freedom. It was to be placed atop the dome of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. In his original design, the sculpture Thomas Crawford designeda graceful female figure wearing a liberty cap, a symbol of freed slaves, encircled with stars. The liberty cap symbol enraged then-Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, who was in charge of the construction of the statuary. Davis forced the substitution of a version of a Roman helmet with a bold arrangement of feathers instead of the liberty cap. Getting rid of the liberty cap from a symbol of freedom was another reminder that the equality of all men and women was not self-evident.

While the Statue of Freedom was being erected, Abraham Lincoln was running for the U.S. Senate. During a debate, he spoke of the aspirations expressed in the Declaration of Independence and remarked about the seeming contradiction of slaveholders writing about the self-evidence of all men being created equal.

He spoke of the Constitutions outlawing of the slave trade after 1808 and the hopes expressed by Alexander Hamilton and other of our Founding Fathers that slavery would soon be eliminated that the need to compromise principles wouldultimately be abandoned in the cause of freedom.

Although Lincoln lost that Senate race, he came to reiterate the self-evident aspirations of our founders.

Wise statesmen as they were, they knew the tendency of prosperity to breed tyrants, and so they (Our founders) established these great self-evident truths, that when in the distant future some man, some faction, some interest, should set up the doctrine that none but rich men, or none but white men, were entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, their posterity might look up again to the Declaration of Independence and take courage to renew the battle which their fathers began so that truth, and justice, and mercy, and all the humane and Christian virtues might not be extinguished from the land; so that no man would hereafter dare to limit and circumscribe the great principles on which the temple of liberty was being built.

That should be the prayer of all Americans in these days of strife. French diplomat Alexis de Tocqueville, commenting on our democracy more than 180 years ago said: The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.

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Lets hope that we can.

Sol Wachtler, a former chief judge of New York State, is distinguished adjunct professor at Touro Law School.

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Putting the liberty cap on freedom - Newsday

Independence Day is often seen as a day to commemorate the founding of the country, to reflect on American values and celebrate freedom. But as protests against racial injustices and police brutality continue in Utah and across the country, some are marking the holiday by focusing instead on the progress they hope to see.

A Long Tradition Of Subversion

Writing in the Washington Post, Purdue University history professor Jonathan Lande said that Black Americans have long used the Fourth of July to remind white Americans of their hypocrisy in celebrating freedom and equality.

By the late 1840s, Black abolitionists had developed genius techniques to lampoon and lament American commitments to freedom amid rampant unfreedoms and inequalities, Lande wrote. They understood the day of freedom festivals served as the best moment to challenge Americans, especially white Americans, to reflect on subjects too often ignored: slavery and racism.

Its a tradition Tyeise Bellamy hopes to continue. Shes been helping organize and speak in protests against police brutality since they began in Utah on May 30. On July 4, shell be attending the Celebrating Black Excellence event in Salt Lake City, which she also helped organize.

She said as a Black woman and mother, she and her son have had many experiences with racism and abuse from police. But she said shes hopeful that recent events are helping people understand what minority communities around the country face on a daily basis.

That's the whole goal of this movement, Bellamy said. To get people to stop hating us for our skin color long enough to hear our voices and to hear our hearts.

Ashley Finley, who co-founded the Black Lives Matter Salt Lake chapter, said its been nice to see the movement gain momentum. But she said many people still dont understand how pervasive racism is throughout American society, including the Fourth of July.

We all were indoctrinated to believe that the holiday was this commemoration for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, she said. But those things were only afforded to white men at the time. And those white men who wrote the Declaration of Independence still had slaves.

Thats why she said Juneteenth not the Fourth of July is the real independence day for her and other Black Americans. But she hopes people use the holiday this year as an opportunity to think about what they can do to make sure all Americans are treated equally.

She said shell be celebrating by taking a day of rest, turning off her phone and reflecting on her heritage.

I'm going to just kind of sit in reverence of those of my ancestors who watched the people that own them sign this declaration knowing that none of those words were meant for them, she said.

The Opposite Of Independence

Like Black Americans, some Native Americans have a tense relationship with Independence Day.

Mark Maryboy is a Navajo resident of San Juan County, and he says the Fourth of July is a painful reminder that the United States is built on stolen land.

Living in America is like living in your own house controlled by somebody else, he said.

Some Navajo people celebrate their independence on June 1, or Treaty Day, which honors the signing of the Navajo Nation Treaty of 1868. It was signed at Fort Sumner, New Mexico, where the Navajo tribe was held hostage by the federal government after being forcibly removed from their homelands between the Four Sacred Mountains in the Four Corners region. It established the Navajo reservation and allowed the tribe to return to their homeland.

But Maryboy does not celebrate Treaty Day, he said, to honor the wishes of his grandmother, who went on the Long Walk to Fort Sumner and returned to the Four Corners after the signing of the treaty.

When they left, the family agreed to never, ever talk about what happened there, he said. Because it was the worst thing you can ever experience as an American Indian on your own land.

Maryboy was the first Indigenous county commissioner in the state and has served on the Navajo Nation council. Still, he said his allegiance is to Mother Nature, not any form of government.

Navajo independence occurred when the Earth was created in the beginning, and the deities created that, not men, he said. To live according to the laws of Mother Nature, that is independence.

Jon Reed is a reporter for KUER. Follow him on Twitter @reedathonjon

Kate Groetzinger is a Report for America corps member who reports from KUER's Southeast Bureau in San Juan County. Follow Kate on Twitter @kgroetzi

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Not Everyone Is Celebrating Freedom And Equality This Fourth Of July - KUER 90.1

Michael Warren Published 11:00 p.m. ET June 13, 2020

The streets are awash with protesters. Looting and arson dot our landscape. COVID-19 has killed over 100,000. Unemployment is pounding workers. And we are, of all things, supposed to celebrate the flag on June 14? Once an uncontroversial display of patriotism, you can no doubt envision the histrionic divides that celebrating our national emblem will likely bring. Would we really be surprised if Flag Day is marked by flag burnings?

Before those inclined to torch Old Glory do so, they might consider the origins of Flag Day it is deeply rooted in freedom and equality. On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress approved a resolution establishing a uniform national flag. The Betsy Ross flag was born to represent the freest nation the earth had ever seen. Although it no doubt generated heartfelt feelings of patriotism, it was not revered.

The Civil War changed that. Fort Sumter was attacked, and the flag of the United States was torn asunder.

A visceral reaction of passionate patriotism took hold. Republican Unionist Jonathan Flynt Morris urged Charles Dudley Warner of the Hartford Evening Press to pen an editorial about the need to revere the flag; on June 10, 1861, Warner proposed that America establish a new Flag Day. The editorial sang: This flag is our dearest symbol of nationality. It stands for civil liberty on this continent. To keep it full high advanced is our highest pride; to strike at it is to arouse all the passion of the nation to defend it, and to punish the perpetrators of the outrage.

Flag Day was born in a spirit of saving the Union and freeing the slaves.

Like most holidays, Flag Day slowly grew. Federal recognition waited until May 30, 1916, through a proclamation from President Woodrow Wilson.Wilsons magnificent proclamation explained that Flag Day is a day upon which we should direct our minds with a special desire of renewal to thoughts of the ideals and principles of which we have sought to make our great Government the embodiment.

Finally, on Aug. 3, 1949, President Harry S. Truman signed an Act of Congress designating June 14 of each year as National Flag Day.

An American flag flies outside the Department of Justice in Washington.(Photo: Andrew Harnik, AP)

Flag Day exemplifies unity the brainchild of Republicans and instituted by Democrats. It reminds people of our founding first principles declared in our Declaration of Independence and embedded in our Constitution. The first principles include equality, limited government, the rule of law, unalienable rights, the Social Compact, and the right to alter or abolish oppressive government.

Today we are painfully reminded that America did not fulfill those first principles for all in 1776 or even today. Yet it was the belief in those first principles that inspired generations of patriots to move us closer to their fulfillment. Abolitionism, womans suffrage, and the civil rights struggles all called upon the first principles to push the country toward the arc of justice.

Demands for equality, the equal application of the rule of law, and protecting the unalienable rights of everyone is at the heart of the protests sparked by George Floyds death. Unlike any other country in the world, our flag stands for ideals ideals we should all embrace. Our flag is not a symbol of oppression, but one representing the most free nation on earth an indispensable stepping stone to the expansion of liberty on the world stage.

This is why Patriot Weeks celebration of a different historical flag each day of the week is so vital:Sept. 11, the anniversary of the terrorist attacks; Sept. 17, the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution; the current U.S. Flag;the Betsy Ross Flag;the Suffragette Flag;and the Fort Sumter Flag. They tell the story of America and how the battle for liberty and freedom is an unceasing struggle.

More than ever, this Flag Day we should all proudly display Old Glory and rededicate ourselves to the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and our first principles.

Hon. Michael Warren is an Oakland County Circuit Court Judge and co-founder of Patriot Week (www.PatriotWeek.org) with his then 10 year old daughter Leah.

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Opinion: Flag Day rooted in freedom and equality - The Detroit News