When everyone is free

This coming weekend, people around the country will gather around barbecues, beaches and fireworks displays to celebrate our “independence”.

But celebrating without contemplating what it truly means to be American isn’t patriotic. Especially in a time when Republicans around the country are threatening our fundamental rights and freedoms with anti-American legislation. Attacking voting rights is anti-American. Inaction on climate change is anti-American. Anti-trans legislation is anti-American. Overturning Roe is anti-American.

Instead of looking to those waving flags and wearing red, white and blue, we should look to the people who have had to fight the hardest for their freedom to understand what a real American looks like. We should acknowledge the real history (and cost) of how this country was founded. We should do the work to dismantle systems of oppression that continue to hold us back. And we should fight for future that we all deserve.

Because no one is free until everyone is free.

Kerri (she/her)

Art @danifine

1. 'Critical race theory is simply the latest bogeyman.' Inside the fight over what kids learn about America's history

2. Citizens are now more connected to one another, on platforms that have been designed to make outrage contagious. The dark psychology of social networks (and why it seems like everything is going haywire).

3. Rather than winning elections by drawing more voters to their candidates, Republicans are trying to win elections by limiting the number of voters their opponents can get. How Republicans are betting against the vote.

4. Transformative Justice is not just replacing the cops. It’s a completely different worldview. “Think about it this way: Your life is your justice. Look at the life you created for yourself.”

5. Years of denial and delay mean that there’s no non-radical future. Democrats must resist the call to constrain their ambitions. There is no "moderate" position on climate change.

How to be celebrate America this July 4th:

Pay Reparations. The food system was built on the stolen land and stolen labor of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian and people of color. Check out this reparations map to give directly to BIPOC farmers in your area so that we can begin the work of repair.

Defund the Police. There is nothing American about standing by while our city, state, and federal governments continue to fund an excessive, brutal, and discriminatory system of policing. We must fight for a shift from massive spending on police that don’t keep us safe to a massive investment in a shared vision of community safety that actually works. 

Give a Land Tax: Voluntary land taxes recognize our access to stolen Indigenous land and makes a donation to local Native nations and/or organizations in your area. Here’s how to get started.

Teach your kids the real history of the US. We all have a role in raising the next generation to confront racism and build a more just world for all of us. Here are some ways to have meaningful conversations with the kids in your lives.

Recapture the flag. According to Beautiful Trouble, recapturing the flag is digging into our nation’s history to discover “allies” — the people, principles, and stories that speak to our goals of a better world.

Fight for our collective survival and wellbeing. CTZNWELL is fighting to create the conditions where everyone can thrive on their terms. Please consider joining us on Patreon for as little as $2/month so that we can keep doing the work of creating content that matters for CTZNs who care.

Art @theslowfactory

Republicans are freaking out about critical race theory. Fox News has mentioned it 1300 times since March. And lawmakers in 13 states have either adopted or advanced bills that would prohibit CRT (AKA: the truth) from being taught in schools). How the next generation of American’s understand the US’s racist history, systems and culture is crucial to racial progress and a future of wellbeing. Here’s what you need to know:

What critical race theory does:

• Recognizes that systemic racism is part of US society.

• Grapples with the US’s history with white supremacy

• Rejects the belief that we are in a post-racial society where institutional racism does not exist.

• Examines how laws and systems promote inequality

• Educates people on how race and racism function in law and society

What critical race theory doesn’t do:

• Pit different races against each other

• Promote the idea that young children are responsible for racial oppression

• Encourage children to be ashamed of their race

• Aim to divide country

• Aim to start a “war” between races

• Teach that some races are inherently racist.

Art @alex.albadree

Source: @intersectionalenvironmentalist

Freedom is truth. Freedom is practice. Freedom is yours.

Art @intelligentmischief

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