HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA!
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all!
Once again, on America”'s 4th of July Birthday, we are reminded that some Minnesotans have been in the forefront of efforts to ensure “liberty and justice for all.” For example, there were many early leaders of the movement to abolish slavery right here in Minneapolis. Paul Hawken reminds us that, “abolitionists were the first people to create a national movement to defend the rights of those they did not know. Until that time no group had filed a grievance except on behalf of itself. The founders of this movement were largely unknown”¦and their goal was ridiculous on the face of it: at that time three out of four people in the world were enslaved.” And yet there were people right here in Minnesota that we did know who had been denied “liberty and justice for all” as they were devastated by early settlers and whose crimes against humanity are perpetuated today. The recent efforts to redevelop Fort Snelling “unearths” the travesties that happened there on sacred land. It is an opportunity to revisit the dilemma by making historical accounts and depictions accurate because it is the right thing to do and to ensure that we never again allow liberty and justice to be denied “for all.” The articles begin with information and excerpts setting the stage, followed by an opinion article by neighbor Jim Graham, a third about indigenous people as the focus of a new Movies and Music Series, and “Listening, Responding, and Supporting” a positive effort by young people to work for justice.
See also “Bow to Rwanda” in Raise Your Voice on pg 7 about liberty and justice for all in Rwanda
