Stars, Stripes, and American Rights

Maybe it’s the fireworks — or maybe it’s because it’s my birthday — but the Fourth of July has always been my favorite holiday. It's always the highlight of summer freedom: sticky popsicles melting, tangled lake hair, the heat from sunburnt shoulders. I wouldn't have it any other way. My core memories are lying on the back of a pontoon, watching beautiful booms reflect over the water. The exaggerated ooo-ing and ahh-ing, listening to my mom try to remember the words to every patriotic song she can think of, seeing if I can write my name with a sparkler before it disappears. It's like the world stops and says, “Hey, happy birthday to you and America.”

But as I get older, I’ve realized the fireworks aren’t the only explosive thing about this day. It’s also a reminder that freedom has always been something we’ve had to fight for. That freedom isn't something that all Americans have.

We're told that the Fourth of July is about celebrating that freedom, that liberty, independence, and justice for all.  I'm not feeling much of any of those this year. American citizens are being kidnapped on the streets by our government. Neighbors are being arrested for speaking out. Police and military forces are deployed against Americans protesting on our own streets. Politicians are banning books. LGBTQIA+ people — especially trans people and kids — are being singled out and attacked by politicians, bearing the brunt of cruel laws and hate. Basic rights we once took for granted — like reproductive freedom, fair elections, and bodily autonomy — are under siege. Court orders meant to check abuses of power are being ignored. This is not freedom. Justice for all has disappeared.

So, I'm choosing to celebrate what the Fourth of July really stands for: defiance against a government that doesn’t listen. When our leaders won’t protect us, we need to protect each other. To revolt against an unjust system. To march alongside each other to show that we are not just the “few.” To push our lawmakers at the Statehouse and in DC to stand up for the Hoosiers here at home.

I'm normally wary when someone references what our forefathers’ intent was. It’s hard to lean on the words of men who didn’t see Black folks or women as equals, yet we’re expected to treat their words as the core pillars of our shared ideals. But even they knew: when your leaders fail you, you have every right — and duty — to stand up.

“That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

“But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

Today, we don’t have a king in a crown, but we do have leaders trying to hoard power, silence dissent, and strip away our freedoms.

Standing up to your government is deeply American. People across the country are doing it every day: voting, organizing, suing for our rights, knocking doors, protecting each other at protests. And still making time for joy, because joy is resistance too.

If you want to celebrate the Fourth of July the most American way this year, here’s your to-do list:

• Check your voter registration. Indiana just went through a voter purge. Make sure your registration is up to date at indianavoters.in.gov.

  
  

• Make sure you know who represents you. Put their phone number in your phone, save their email address. Find your legislators here.

  
  

• Contact those legislators every day this week. Pick a new topic each day, or call about the same one and express your dissent.

  
  

• Get involved with an organization whose ideals match yours. Find groups here.

  
  

• Have one meaningful conversation this week. Listen, connect on shared values, and help someone feel less alone. Refer to the conversation guide here.

  
  

• Do one thing this week that brings you joy, and share that joy with someone else as an act of quiet resistance.

  
  

So what will I be doing this week? I know I'll be laying back somewhere, watching the sky light up, and reminding myself: freedom isn’t something you watch — it’s something you fight for. Happy birthday to me — and to this messy, loud democracy we keep building together.