Category Archives: Government Oppression

Senator Ron Johnsons political shenanigans have ranged from the absurd (like when he said it may be true that COVID vaccines cause AIDS only to later deny ever believing that) to the potentially illegal (coordinating an effort to serve up fake Donald Trumpsupporting electors to Vice President Mike Pence, allegedly in an effort to overturn Joe Bidens victory in 2020). Democrats are amplifying these issues, but the strategy to defeat the incumbent Wisconsin senator also has another clear target: his record on women. The Supreme Court decision overruling the landmark Roe v. Wade Fridayand Wisconsins 173-year-old state law banning abortions now in effecthas the potential to make this strategy more politically potent than ever, making Johnson a clear test case in Democrats promise to make womens rights a winning issue at the ballot box.

Johnson is an easy target in that respect. The two-term senator said he didnt view the repeal of Roe v. Wade as a huge threat to womens health and that things would be fine. He said anyone who does not like Wisconsins abortion laws can move, has advocated for a federal abortion ban after 20 weeksdespite arguing that the matter was a states issueand supported a Mississippi law to ban abortions after 15 weeks. The Wisconsin Democratic Party regularly blasts out fact sheets highlighting Johnsons work to strip reproductive rights. The states Democratic candidates for Senate have all targeted Johnsons record on women and reproductive rights across various mediums, including paid campaign TV ads (Sarah Godlewski cut an ad outside the Supreme Court in Washington), social media posts, and official statements.

Its a strategy seemingly based on lessons learned from the last three election cycles. In 2018 Democrats energized their base to deliver Tony Evers the governorship, despite Trump winning the state two years prior; in 2020, Biden managed to flip the state from red to blue by siphoning off key votes in Milwaukee suburbsWaukesha, Ozaukee, and Washington counties notable among themand chipping away at historically landslide margins in traditional Republican strongholds like the Mequon, Elm Grove, and Brookfield suburbs. Alex Lasry, a Milwaukee Bucks executive running in the Democratic Senate primary, stressed in a phone call that to win the state, Democrats need to replicate the victories of Barack Obama, Senator Tammy Baldwin, Evers, and Joe Biden by paying attention to places that Democrats neglect and Republicans take for granted.

Republicans concede this could work; one GOP strategist who has run numerous campaigns in Wisconsin explained that Johnson cant win by plucking from the MAGA playbook alone. The people who are going to walk through walls to vote so that they can vote for Ron Johnson, theyre gonna show up anyway. But that isnt gonna be enough to get him elected, the strategist said. They either have to figure out a way to make him passable to those people that probably would vote for Ron Johnson, but might not.

Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barness campaign for Senate said it received more individual donations on Friday than any other single day in the campaign, including its launch and the day Johnson announced his reelection campaign. Lasrys campaign said it has experienced a notable uptick in online campaign donations. And Friday through Sunday, Godlewski, the only woman candidate in the Democratic primary for the Senate seat, had her best-performing fundraising days since the start of her campaigneach day outstripping the previous. The ruling that came out Friday was a very dramatic moment in the fact that now people in Wisconsin have fewer rights than they did even last week, Godlewski told Vanity Fair. I think thats gonna be a centerpiece because we know Ron Johnson; this is exactly what he wanted.

Barnes and Lasry echoed this sentiment. People are frustrated. Women are incredibly frustratedas they should beseeing their rights being taken away in real time. Things that were fought and won 50 years agoto have to go through those same exact fights, people are fired up, especially maybe those who may not have thought they were political before, understanding just how deeply involved politics is in folks daily lives, Barnes said.

We see what happens when Republicans take over, they continue to make sure that they take away rights for women, Lasry said.

Wisconsin Democrats feel they have a credible case to make against Johnson when it comes to his record on women. In addition to his position on Roe, Johnson has suggested that single mothers choose to have more children in order to receive greater welfare assistance. He also suggested that assisting single mothers with government aid turned them into dependents and that mothers on welfare assistance should work in childcare centers as an alternative solution. He is really a true believer when it comes to the oppression of women and disrespecting women. Hes been doing it for a long time here in his political career, Melissa Baldauff, a Democratic strategist based in Wisconsin, told me. (Johnsons campaign did not respond to a request for comment.)

Robyn Vining, a Democratic member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, relied on women voters in 2018, when she flipped a longtime red seat previously held by the likes of former Republican governor Scott Walker in 2018 and held on to it in 2020. We had women who had never knocked doors before, out knocking doors. We had women writing hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of postcards, Vining said. It really matters. Women are fed up. Theyre sick and tired of being targeted, of being unrepresented.

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Women Are Fed Up: Democrats See Ron Johnsons Abortion Record as Their Path to Victory - Vanity Fair

Tensions are rising in Tajikistan as the incidents of violence have been worsening in the past few weeks, with at least 25 people killed this past week by security forces in the autonomous region of Gorno-Badakashan (GBOA). There has been conflict between the central government and the Pamiri, who are the only anti-government protestors who take to the streets. The police reported that there was a planned attack on the police forces, yet witnesses described the man being shot without prior violence.

This conflict is no new concept in the central Asia country as it has existed since their independence in 1991 from the Soviet Union. There were tensions between supporters of government and opposition that developed into civil war. Ever since, there have been phases of violence, nonviolent opposition, oppression, and overall conflict that stem from a deterioration of human rights. Peoples freedoms are massively limited, such as freedom of expression, blocked access to critical public government information, targeting of journalists, extreme violence against LGBTQ groups, and freedom of religion. Specific strands of Islam, such as Salafism, have been banned, and individuals are regularly arrested. With a multitude of rights being impacted, protests are numerous, yet they are consistently met with violence and no substantial change.

There are also significant military issues between the bordering country, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan over resources. With limited accountability for the violence and death that comes from this conflict, it alters not only the positionality between the two but also the safety of the people in each country.

More specifically, in 2022, the parents of men who government actors have killed are calling on international forces such as the UN to hold the Tajikistan government accountable. According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), there was a protest rally of several hundred people in the town of Khorugi Bolo demanding the resignation of two head leaders, Alisher Mirzonabot and Rizo Nazarzoda, the removal of checkpoints in the regional center, and lifting the persecution of Badakhan residents. They were met with rubber bullets and tear gas and no promise of change by authorities.

With these violations recognized in the HRWs 2022 evaluation of their rights record, it is well known that the situation continues to worsen. These violations persist based on the violent response of state actors to active protests of change and the inability of President Rahmon to accept aid from sources such as the UN. Recommendations are made with international urgency, but there is no recognition or response to change.

With the continuing conflict, it is important to allow the protest to occur safely as a right to assemble and advocate for changes that the people being severely impacted want. However, it is the role of international actors to apply more compelling urgency when people are dying. The people are fighting for human rights, and they need support before the violence persists to more drastic measures.

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Tensions are Escalating in the Autonomous Region of Tajikistan - The Organization for World Peace

Since 2021, hard-won womens reproductive rights and bodily autonomy have been rolled back in the US in an alarming fashion. With state bans on abortion past as little as six weeks as was passed in Texas on September 1, 2021 and now the Supreme Courts overturning of the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling, it is easy to imagine that we have slipped and fallen into a Handmaids Tale-style dystopia.

As such misogynist ideology becomes entrenched, it is natural to feel hopeless. A recent surge in activist TikToks suggests, however, a way forward. People have been pairing a sample from the song Paris by US electro duo The Chainsmokers with the hashtag #ifwegodownthenwegodowntogether, messages of solidarity and crucial information.

My research shows that people often think that activism requires a certain type of direct action. But such narrow definitions of activism prevent people from taking part. They also typically harm those who face the biggest structural disadvantages and related barriers to getting involved in direct action.

Instead, remembering that doing something is always better than doing nothing and widening our definition of what activism can be is helpful. Here is a non-exhaustive list of ideas of how we can support our sisters across the pond and further the global fight for womens reproductive rights.

Research shows that the more people are informed about an issue, the more it is possible to shift dominant perspectives. The idea is to destigmatise talking about abortion, so that it becomes normalised as an issue relating to womens health and reproductive rights. This reduces the stigma around abortion and keeps the issue in the public sphere, demonstrating how the personal is political.

Social media has repeatedly been shown to be a good way of sharing information, whether that is via memes that distil key philosophical arguments for abortion into bite-size graphics and words or through linking to news articles, petitions, feminist charities and campaigns.

Having conversations with friends and family can be just as instrumental. Raising awareness and destigmatising abortion enables us to better fight for womens reproductive rights so that they are not hidden out of sight and easier to attack.

I was part of a pro-choice group in Nottingham, UK, which counters anti-abortion activism outside of hospitals and clinics. We positioned our bodies to block out the anti-abortion messages and provided a friendly face and chaperone for any woman seeking an abortion. We also provided leaflets, directing women to neutral pregnancy and abortion advice services such as the British Pregnancy Advisory Service.

Social media can be a good place to look for such local groups but if you dont find one, team up with some friends and start it yourself. Thats how the Nottingham group began ten years ago and it is still going strong with nearly 1,000 local members. Grassroots campaigning from social housing activist group Focus E15 Mothers to the New Era Tenants Association, which fought to keep tenants homes has a direct impact on individuals and can mobilise the wider public, having a significant impact on society and politics.

Anyone can sign parliamentary petitions or write to their local MP to ask that they support womens reproductive rights (find your MP here). There is an all-party parliamentary group on sexual and reproductive health in the UK, comprising MPs and peers who raise awareness in parliament of these issues: you can sign up for news and events here. If youre unsure of how to formulate such a letter, charities often provide template letters for contacting MPs.

You can also sign up to mailing lists of feminist charities and organisations, such as Filia, to be notified of any relevant government consultations. Research shows that citizen involvement in the parliamentary process can affect policy.

During lockdown, a temporary measure was put in place by the UK government, allowing the provision of at-home medical abortion pills. Feminist campaigning saw this crucial service extended: on March 30 2022, the UK parliament voted in favour of amending the Health and Care bill, making telemedicine for early medical abortions permanent in England and Wales.

Grassroots organisations and campaigns often depend entirely on volunteers and private donations for their existence. Fundraising enables campaigns such as Abortion Rights, the UKs only national grassroots pro-choice campaign, to organise protests, maintain pressure on the government to support womens reproductive rights.

Abortion funds provide practical financial support to help women access abortion. You can donate to the National Network of Abortion Funds to support those in the US and to Abortion Without Borders to support women in Europe.

Protest marches have long been a way of expressing dissent on everything from pollution and political oppression to war and racism. They have also consistently been a means of showing solidarity for women, from the suffragist marches of the early 20th century to the 2017 Womens March on Washington.

Four years prior to Roe v Wade, in 1969, radical feminist group Redstockings held what they called an abortion speakout in New York City, which saw women come forward to talk about their experiences of illegal abortion. These speakout events spread across the US in response to government hearings where most of the politicians speaking about abortion at the time were male. American political scientist Erica Chenoweth highlights how fruitful this kind of non-violent civil resistance can be.

It is vital to continue to speak out and show solidarity to our sisters in the US. We must also continue to fight to protect our right to protest and to prevent the encroachment of similarly regressive laws in the UK.

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Five ways you can get involved in fighting for women's reproductive rights - The Conversation

A gathering of thousands of Afghan clerics and elders has ended with a call for international recognition, but silence on the countrys ban on secondary education for girls.

Nearly a year since their surprise military triumph across Afghanistan, not a single country has officially recognised the Taliban as the legitimate government.

Diplomats say the ban on girls education is one of the main reasons the Taliban are still international outcasts. It is resented by many in the movements ranks, who want their own daughters to be educated.

Classes were set to restart in March, until a last-minute reversal, apparently on the orders of hardliners close to the supreme leader of the movement, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada.

The all-male group of religious and community leaders spent three days discussing the future of the country, largely united under Taliban rule after decades of civil war. There had been hope they might offer political incentives or cover for the Taliban leadership to reverse course on the ban. But only two out of more than 4,500 participants called for the reopening of secondary schools for girls, Afghanistans Tolo television channel reported.

And in their final communique, the clerics made only passing reference to the need for religious and modern education and to respect the rights of women. It did not clarify if those rights include schooling.

Its hard to get too excited about vague references to education and womens rights at the end of the Talibans big meeting when the Taliban previously made a very clear promise to reopen all schools only to break that promise, said Heather Barr, associate womens rights director at Human Rights Watch. Donors, diplomats and the UN need to act as though this ban is likely permanent Its far past time for the international community to respond to their gender apartheid in ways more tangible than statements of deep concern.

Akhundzada came to Kabul from his base in the southern city of Kandahar to address the gathering. It was his first known trip to the capital since Taliban fighters seized it last August.

He lashed out at foreign demands on the government, as the UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet called for an end to systematic oppression of women in the country. Women are blocked from working in most sectors outside health and education, require a male guardian for long-distance travel and have been ordered to cover their faces in public.

The meeting was closed to media but in an audio recording Akhundzada, a hardliner whose son was a suicide bomber, warned the international community against interfering in Afghanistan.

Thank God, we are now an independent country. [Foreigners] should not give us their orders, it is our system and we have our own decisions, he said, according to the official Bakhtar news agency.

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Meeting of Afghan clerics ends with silence on education for girls - The Guardian

When I hear some Americans talk about Palestine and Israel, I marvel at how effective the campaign to project a fictional image of that region is, even on liberals, progressives, and leftists. Then, if I must, I read Tom Friedmans articles on the matter and despair at how many people think there is even a hint of reality in them.

But on Tuesday, Friedman outdid himself, topping even his fantasy fluff piece on Mohammed bin Salman in 2017. Friedman painted the past year in Israelthe first Netanyahu-free year since 2008as an icon of democracy, where Israeli Jews and Palestinian citizens of Israel danced together under the blue and white flag, in harmony and happiness.

It is a contemptible piece of fiction which erases apartheid, blames Palestinians for their own ongoing oppression, and praises those who would abandon their cousins under occupation. On top of all that, even if not quite as egregious, Friedman displays a comical ignorance of Israeli politics, a bit of knowledge you would think would be a basic qualification for the New York Times leading Israel apologist.

Friedman wastes no time by launching a flawed analogy between Donald Trumps coup attempt and Benjamin Netanyahus various machinations to remain in office. He warns that the win at any cost mentality could tear apart democracy in both the United States and Israel.

Typically, Friedman ignores the fact that both of those countries, though having certain democratic structures, also have significant anti-democratic systemsapartheid in Israels case, and various limitations that resist democracy like the electoral college and the Senate in the United Statesthat maintain various forms of economic, social, racial, gender, and other discriminations.

Worse, Friedman personalizes the anti-democratic forces in both countries. Contrary to his formulation, Trump in the United States and Netanyahu in Israel are symbols of anti-democratic forces, they do not embody them. Indeed, many of those same forces have turned against the strongmen in both cases, as they value the system, not the particular leader.

Here in the United States, we are witnessing a whole array of people testifying and sitting on the January 6th committee who continue to support Trumps policies, they just dont want him. Similarly, while Israels biggest party, Likud, is keeping Netanyahu at its head, he is being challenged from within that party and from outside it by far-right nationalists, including the outgoing Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Justice Minister Gideon Saar, as well as by more conventional rightwing figures like Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz.

None of this registers with Friedman, who fails to see the irony when he describes his dream U.S. governmentone that includes, Joe Biden, Mitt Romney, Liz Cheney, Larry Hogan, Lisa Murkowski, Charlie Baker, retired admiral Bill McRaven, Joe Manchin, Amy Klobuchar, Mike Bloomberg, Jim Clyburn and Michelle Lujan Grisham. Its a bipartisan group who all have conservative politics, a union of Never-Trumpers and the farthest right wing of the Democratic party, one that is entirely filled with the wealthy and their servants, whose policies are responsible for most of the mess we have been in economically, politically, socially, and internationally for all of American history.

This center-right paradise, according to Friedman, is what Israel has had for the past year. He lauds the recently-collapsed Bennett-Lapid government for passing the first national budget in three years. This was much less of an accomplishment than Friedman imagines, although it is true that it was not certain that the government could do it. But there hasnt been a budget because there hadnt been a government for three years. It was Israels political chaos that created this dysfunction, and it remained in place because even the Bennett-Lapid coalition was based on just one principle: anyone but Netanyahu. Just like the Democrats here in the United States who run almost entirely on Not being Donald Trump.

Friedman portrays Bennett as less right-wing than Netanyahu, an absurd characterization of Bennett, who is, himself, a religious supporter of settlers who has always held to those far-right beliefs. He made the compromises he was forced to in order to get Netanyahu out of the prime ministers office, nothing more. Its fair to say that Bennett does not share Netanyahus affinity for bribes, and shady deals with media moguls, and the various other acts that have brought indictments down on his head. But Bennett had always attacked Netanyahu from the right before, and his political positions have not changed. He merely made a deal with a variety of parties who had one thing in common: anyone but Netanyahu.

Friedman gives the impression that, with Netanyahu gone, the Israeli government was more reasonable, compromising, even liberal. But this was not at all the case. The government was largely paralyzed while in office, but one thing it could and did do was consistently reinforce the apartheid regime.

But Friedman really gets into gear when he starts talking about the Raam party, headed by Monsour Abbas.

He starts by stating, Perhaps more than anything else, the unity coalition was able to demonstrate that Israeli Jews and Arabs can calmly govern together a historic breakthrough.

While its certainly true that Raam was the first Arab party to be part of an Israeli government coalition, it was hardly an example of Arabs and Jews calmly working as one. As Raam sat in the government, the government passed a law forbidding Palestinian citizens of Israel to marry Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip. When it passed, Ayelet Shaked who is well-known for her racism, Naftali Bennetts Interior Minister, and now designated by Bennett to lead their Yamina party tweeted, A Jewish and democratic State 1; A state of all of its citizens 0.

Another Yamina Knesset member, Nir Orbach, quit the government because it included Arabs. So much for calmly governing together.

But this doesnt trouble Friedman, who dismisses the larger Joint Lista coalition party consisting of two Palestinian parties and the Palestinian-Jewish-Communist party, Hadashas irrelevant, although it is their significant success in the Knesset that, given all other parties unwillingness to work with them, is a key factor in the political paralysis that has gripped Israeli elections for years. The Joint List has six seats, Raam has four. Seems relevant.

Nothing changed for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza with Raam in government. The siege on Gaza was as tight as ever, and if anything, Bennett was more aggressive even than Netanyahu on the West Bank, especially in East Jerusalem, with a significant rise in Israeli aggression at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, regular raids, pushing forward with evictions in areas like Sheikh Jarrah and Masafer Yatta. And, of course, there was the recent murder of Shireen Abu Akleh.

Friedman praises Mansour Abbas and Raam for sitting in the government with Bennett and other right-wing leaders from the center-right Lapid to the much farther right Gideon Saar. Friedman writes, Abbas basically told the other Israeli Arab parties to take a hike. He would play in the center of Israeli politics. Although some members of his base resisted, Abbas drew support from many Israeli Arabs fed up with the corruption and drift within the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and the brutality and incompetence of Hamas in Gaza. They wanted to focus on their lives in Israel.

This is a fictional account. Raam, Abbas party, is a very conservative one. It gets support from the religious and most conservative parts of the Palestinian community inside Israel, especially among Bedouin. The dire conditions they often face within Israel naturally causes them to focus more the situation of Palestinian citizens of Israel, although they are still concerned about Israeli actions against Palestinians under occupation and are particularly sensitive to Israels behavior regarding religious sites in Jerusalem.

Abbas didnt really change that. What he did was depart from his always uneasy alliance with the more left-wing tendencies in the Joint List (of which Raam was once a member). It was the desperation of the Zionist parties that led to Raam being invited into the government, and even being courted by Netanyahu to support his bloc (though not as a full partner).

Abbas joined a government that was harshly cracking down on Palestinians, and simply stayed silent, with the exception of his response to Israels attack on Muslim worshippers at al-Aqsa Mosque. That was too much for even Abbas to ignore, and he paused Raams participation in the government for a brief period.

This was not a grand compromise. Raam was able to win some additional funding for Arab municipalities, including recognition of three Bedouin villages (which means they can now get municipal services) and the upgrading of a Druze town to city status. But these came at the price of Raams silence in the face of expanding apartheid. Friedman naturally loves this.

In fact, Friedman wrote, Abbas drew support from many Israeli Arabs fed up with the corruption and drift within the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and the brutality and incompetence of Hamas in Gaza. Again, this is fictional. Abbas himself may have little concern about Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, but his constituents, even if they are more focused than others on their own situation within Israel, remain very concerned and many have been critical of Raams silence.

The discomfort that much of the Bennett-Lapid coalition had with sitting with even this accommodating Arab party was one of the main reasons the weak coalition was living on borrowed time from the beginning. A unique set of circumstancesthe even division between pro- and anti-Netanyahu blocs, the ability to unify a disparate set of parties around ousting Netanyahu and nothing else, the ongoing isolation of the Joint Listcreated a situation where a desperate Israeli group, after three years of futile elections, brought in an Arab party. It was unprecedented, but given the instability Raams presence caused, probably didnt set a precedent, as Friedman imagines.

Friedmans fantasy normalized Israeli apartheid in typical fashion: by pretending it isnt there. He contends that democracy is on the ballot in both the U.S. and Israel, and the way forward is to elect center-right coalitions that do nothing but maintain a status quo that is based on discrimination, racism, inequality, and elitism. Otherwise, he warns, the far right is the only alternative.

Its a false choice. In Israel, the reality is that, when it comes to the Palestinians and Israels apartheid system, the mainstream supports these policies. As we just saw with Bennett and Lapid, getting rid of the authoritarian leaves the government paralyzed except for reinforcing apartheid, which is broadly supported. In the U.S., the majority supports racial justice, greater economic equality and opportunity, womens rights, and many other things that are disappearing even under Democratic leadership.

Friedmans center-right coalitions are his favored groups not because they promote liberal democracy, but because theyre immoderate, conservative coalitions that support regressive policies. They just do it without the blatantly autocratic leaders they just shed.

Over the last year, weve made a conscious commitment to our readers and the entire Palestinian freedom movement:to build a newsroom for all of Palestine.

As we welcome our two new Palestine-based staff, Faris Giacaman and Mariam Barghouti, will you contribute to make sure Mondoweiss can back their work 100%?

Between now and July 3rd, a generous donor has pledged to match all gifts, up to $50,000.

This summer fundraising campaign is going to make a huge difference in how we cover the next big uprisings, the place of Palestinian rights in U.S. politics, and the grassroots movement building an unstoppable campaign for justice.

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Tom Friedman normalizes apartheid in the 'New York Times' - Mondoweiss

The textbook controversy raging in Karnataka shows no signs of subsiding. As details of the changes made become public, the protest against the selective inclusion and exclusion of texts inspired by Hindutva ideology is slowly evolving into a movement against the Brahminical saffronisation of education.

The ruling BJP was defensive in the beginning but is becoming more and more aggressive as the protest intensifies. The party is using the state machinery and also affiliated activists and groups to counter and malign the resistance as inspired by vested interests pursuing anti-national politics. Hence the textbooks controversy has snowballed into a conflict between an establishment wedded to Hindutva on the one side and civil society and various communities on the other.

By itself, the routine revision of textbooks ought not to result in controversy since it is a necessary academic and pedagogic exercise for students to be able to adapt to changing needs and times. But when you have an ideological state pro-actively engaged in rewriting history with the aim of promoting its Brahminical Hindutva politics, the interest of students, of education and, indeed, the nation is bound to be compromised.

Textbook revision as a political exercise

In fact, the textbooks currently under the radar have been revised thrice in the past decade twice by the BJP government and once by the erstwhile Congress government.

Baragur Ramachandrappa, head of the textbook revisions during the Congress government of Siddharamaiah. Photo: Wikimedia

The BJP revised almost all school textbooks according to its guiding principles during the later part of its first tenure from 2008 to 13.

Since numerous complaints were made that the revised textbooks were not in sync with the national curriculum framework (NCF) guidelines and had introduced unsubstantiated averments as facts, the Congress government under Siddharamaiah, which came to power in 2013, constituted a committee under the chairmanship of Baragur Ramachandrappa to look into the matter. Baragur is an educationist and professor who taught at different universities in Karnataka. He is also a famous writer and an award winning film director.

In 2017, the Baragur committee was given the responsibility to look into the textbooks and recommend revisions and corrections according to the changing needs, reflecting the spirit of constitution and also complying with the NCF of 2005. Accordingly, Baragur constituted 27 sub-committees with subject experts to work on the textbooks.

After the BJP came back to power in 2019 by poaching MLAs from the Congress, the then education minister for primary education through an order in September 2021 nominated Rohit Chakrateertha to examine half truths in the textbooks prepared by the Baragur committee, especially the language and social science texts, and submit a report within a month if revisions were necessary.

An all-RSS committee

Rohit Chakrateertha is a famous young orator who came to limelight as a person pursuing extreme Hindutva politics on social media. He is close to the RSSs ideology and suspicious of all progressive and left leaning scholarship and individuals. As per his own admission, Chakrateertha pursued an MSc from a college in Tamil Nadu and later started working as a mathematics lecturer in Bengaluru. He was also working with an education platform, training students for competitive exams such as CET, IIT and Olympiad, among others.

Rohit Chakrateertha, head of the textbook revisions committee appointed by the Bommai-led BJP government in Karnataka in 2021.

Unlike Baragur or his committee of experts, Chakrateertha lacked the expertise that the work demanded. Despite this, the government decided to expand his mandate to make him chairperson of the textbook revision committee and asked him to revise all changes made by the Baragur committee from a nationalist perspective. He was assisted by a committee whose members were all Brahmins except for one person. This expanded mandate came as a surprise to even Chakrateertha, who was well aware about his lack of qualifications. In fact, the education minister was out of his wits when grilled by the press about the academic credentials of the chairperson of the textbook review committee. He made himself a laughing stock when he declared that the chair was a professor of IIT and CET a claim that Chakrateertha himself was forced to deny.

When the Chakrateertha committee gave its report and the government accepted it in totality, the teaching fraternity and student organisation were both curious and suspicious about the nature of his revisions because the draft was never released for expert scrutiny or public debate.

When some of the contents leaked during the printing process, all hell broke loose. People who were in possession of a PDF copy of the textbooks circulated them widely on social media, leading to a protests.

The revisions made by the Chakrateertha committee broadly fall into three categories: inclusions, exclusions and interpretations.

All the revisions are guided by the declared objective of making the textbooks nationalist and inculcating pride in Indias glorious past and traditions by decolonising the thought process corrupted by Western and left leaning perspectives. In reality, the revisions make it clear that the agenda is to promote Brahminical Hindutva perspectives.

Inclusions that give the game away

Let us consider the inclusions. At the outset, according to a study conducted by experts in the field, more than 90% of the inclusion of texts made by the Chakrateertha committee is from Brahmin writers from south Karnataka. Not only that, most of the inclusions reflect the world view and the culture of that community. According to experts, this lack of diversity of cultures in the texts, unlike the earlier texts, reinforces the existing cultural hegemony and hierarchal social order.

The real intent of the inclusions and the BJPs government aggressiveness in pushing for them is illustrated by the inclusion of a speech by RSS founder K.B. Hedgewar, under the guise of facilitating good language. Its a lesson which profess that the real ideals before young people should be good values and not leaders. While this may look innocuous, the real story comes later when the writer says hence the RSS reveres the bhagva flag (saffron flag) and not leaders. As an afterthought, the reference to bhagva was deleted later. Of course, the cat is let out of the bag in the introduction about the author where the textbook says the RSS is a premier nationalist organisation which fought selflessly for Indian Freedom and also against centuries of cultural slavery.

Deleting Dalit-Bahujan India

The deletions comprise a long list of what the RSS-BJP want to erase from history and contemporary India. It starts with deleting a reference to Tipu Sultan as Tiger of Mysore, and his contributions to the states society and economy. The portions retained portray him essentially as a bigot and Muslim fanatic. The committee had also deleted a lesson on Bhagat Singh but after a sustained protest from student organisations another piece written by a Hindutva orator on the martyr was inserted. Apart from this, more than 90% of the lessons deleted by the committee belong to non-Brahmin and Muslim writers who vaguely subscribe to the values of communal harmony, peace and inclusive development and social equality.

An exhaustive lesson on Periyar has been deleted. Replying to a query about this, education minister B.C. Nagesh asked why students should learn about a Brahmin baiter. In the same vein, he also asked why students should read letters written by Nehru to his daughter. In social science subject textbooks, many hagiographical accounts of Hindu rulers and their valour in defeating Muslim invaders have been inserted to inculcate national pride among the students. The same minister even referred to historians like Romila Thapar as part of an anti national brigade working against nationalist ethos of the country.

Along with this, many historical non-Brahminical social reformers and poets who valiantly raised their voice against Brahmanical oppression like Akka Mahadevi, Kanakadasa, Sufi saints and others have been summarily deleted and instead Brahmanical writings have been inserted.

Distortions, from early history to Basavanna

The Hindutva Brahminical agenda behind the revision exercise becomes brazen in the interpretations and misinterpretations of various personalities and facts.

To start with, in social science, references to the oppressive Brahmanical order as the reason for the emergence of new religions like Buddhism and Jainism have been censored and instead the antipathy to growing animal sacrifice is cited as the major reason for their emergence. Justifying this interpretation, the minister and the chairman of the committee said that exploring the non-existent conflict between Vedic and non-Vedic religions is un-Indian, and a colonial and communist construct. Aryans are taught as Indias original inhabitants and the Harappa civilisation which existed before Aryans migration/invasion is collapsed into the enigmatic Sindhu Sarasvati civilisation etc. Even the Arya-Dravida theory which considers Aryans as migrants from Eurasia, if not invaders, is dismissed as a colonial construct.

In the same vein, Basavanna, who founded the Lingayat religion in Karnataka in opposition to Brahminical theological and social orthodoxy, has been presented as a social reformer from within the Hindu religion. His negation of the sacred thread and enunciation of a theology which considers all men and women as born equal has been deleted by the BJP committee. Another BJP leader, C.T. Ravi, who is the partys national secretary in charge of the southern states, has gone on record to say it is wrong to consider Basavanna and the Lingayats as outside the ambit of Hindu religion. He said Basavanna only preached the humanistic ethos embedded within Vedic thoughts through his new sect.

The Lingayats are a dominant community in the state which wields considerable social and political power. Lingayat Mutts are corporate bodies wielding overwhelming influence on the community. Predictably, this belittling of Basavanna and the Lingayat religion has enraged the Lingayat community. Incidentally, Chief minister Bommai also belongs to the same caste and the support of the Lingayat community is a major reason why the BJP is in power in the state. Thus, the state government has now promised that some modifications will be made to the sentences on Basavanna.

Even Kuvempu not spared

Likewise, the Brahminical textbooks revision committee also tinkered with lessons by K.V. Puttappa popularly known as Kuvempu the great Kannada poet and novelist.

Kuvempus celebrated call for universal humanity (vishvamanava) for people to get out of the cocoons of sectarian religions and develop a universal perspective of brotherhood has been the guiding principle of many progressive movements in Karnataka. His poem hailing Karnataka as the daughter of mother India is officially considered the state song and is sung in all schools, colleges and government programs. While the BJP committee has increased the number of poems by Kuvempu, it has attempted to blunt and even censor his political message.

Moreover, Chakrateertha has also been accused of sharing a Facebook post abusing the state song and belittling Kuvempus contributions. Since Kuvempu is from the Okkaliga caste, another dominant community in the state, this allegation against the chairperson of the revision committee drew the wrath of the community and even a strong worded letter from former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda, who also belongs to the same community.

The state government was quick enough to respond to these grievances and has already filed a case with the police to trace the original offensive post, while protecting Chakrateertha by giving him a clean chit even before the investigation by stating that he is not the originator of the post. In the process, the BJP was cunning enough to reduce the whole resistance against its textbook revision and the objections raised against the belittling of Kuvempu to the incident of a Facebook post. It also sought to that the community and the BJP government are on the same page. This was an immediate electoral and political necessity for the BJP-RSS because its base among the Okkaligas is not yet consolidated, unlike the Lingayats.

Belittling Dr B.R. Ambedkar

The textbook revisions do not even spare Dr B.R. Ambedkar a figure the BJP is going out of its way to appropriate so that Dalits are retained in the Hindutva family without demanding radical changes. He, too, has been completely misrepresented, misinterpreted and belittled.

To start with, the reference to Ambedkar as the principle architect of the constitution has been deleted. Even Ambedkars mission for social equality as against the inequality embedded in the Hindu religion based on caste has been rephrased as a mere struggle for social reforms within the ambit of Hinduism. Any reference to his fight for the Untouchables against discrimination by caste Hindus is also sanitised as an abstract reformist enterprise. Even Ambedkars embracing of Buddhism his way of renouncing the hierarchal essence of Hinduism is highlighted as a simple conversion to a religion which is an integral part of Hindu culture. References to the social, economic and political reasons behind this conversion have been deleted.

The resistance, historic but inadequate

The committees recommendations became a bone of contention right from the time they became public. Since them, activist-volunteers and experts have been bust exposing the content and intent of the revisions on social media. Leading Kannada newspapers like Prajavani have taken the lead in exposing the changes and facilitating an informed debate.

The resistance slowly gathered momentum when student organisations and intellectuals in the field started to register their protest against the revisions. They demanded that the corrections be scrapped and that the government use the textbooks prepared by Baragur for this year. Many prominent Dalit-Bahujan and Left intellectuals like Devanur Mahadeva and G. Ramakrishna who had survived the purge issued a statement demanding the government drop their writings from the revised textbooks as a form of protest. Many authors followed suit.

Later when it became known that the revision committee had tinkered with Basavanna and Kuvempu, many Lingayat seers and Mutts and Okkaliga seers and social organisations also wrote letters and participated in the protest. A huge rally on was held in Bangalore on June 18 by left-progressive student and civil society organisations, non-BJP political parties and pro-Kannada organisations along with the seers of different communities, which gave the government an ultimatum to withdraw the textbooks. The Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) also wrote an open letter to the CM calling on him to withdraw the textbooks and continue with the old ones. Thus, the battle line is drawn where all the prominent non-BJP, non-Brahminical, left-progressive forces are on one side and the BJP-RSS and kindred groups are on the other.

The limits of caste as a rallying point

Still, the BJP government is undeterred by this seemingly alarming polarisation against it. The only concession it has made has been to file a case against the Facebook post maligning Kuvempu and agreeing to amend the sentences referring to Basavanna. It has also made it very clear in a recent press conference led by senior Okkaliga cabinet minister R. Ashok, that no fundamental objections pertaining to its rewriting and reinterpretations, inclusions and exclusions even of Kuvempu or Basavanna shall be entertained.

On June 27, the government issued an official corrigendum to carry out some nominal corrections. Out of the eight corrections officially conceded, one is to restore the prefix Architect of Indian Constitution before the name of Ambedkar, two pertain to a nominal correction to Basavannas introduction and the inclusion of another name of a Lingayat Mutt in describing the glory of Karnataka, and three pertain to inclusion of the photo of Kuvempu and the deletion of belittling references made to him, etc.

Thus, these corrigenda once again establish the manipulative hypocrisy of the BJP government where it reinforces the essential core of Brahminical Hindutva while pretending to be inclusive in the form and periphery. Significantly, the BJP-RSS are using the occasion to step up their ideological offensive on progressive personalities and ideologies by hosting seminars all over the state.

Though the resistance is growing and evolving on the ideological plane, it currently lacks the ability to see through the designs of the RSS-BJP leave alone defeat it. That the BJP government has mastered the art of breeding divisions in the ranks of the opposition is once again established when its ministers made multiple visits to the Lingayat Mutts and dissuaded them from participating in the ideological battle waged against Brahminism. It was also successful in dissuading the dominant Okkaliga seers from participating in the protests. The recent visit by Prime minister Modi to these Mutts during his visit to Karnataka has also helped the BJP.

This is also a reflection of the Brahminisation and Sanskritization of the elites of these communities, who serve not only as gatekeepers but also as stakeholder in the empire of Brahminical Hindutva in its present avatar. Thus, how far caste will play a role against neo-Brahminical hegemony when elites from the non-Brahmin dominant castes are beneficiaries of the regime as a class is a serious question.

In spite of all these limitations and the impossibility of immediate success, the textbook controversy has been somewhat successful in exposing the Brahminical-Hindutva ideology of the BJP-RSS regime. Thanks to the debate, more people in Karnataka are aware of the need for a sustained ideological and political battle against this ideology. The controversy and the capitulation of elite non-Brahmins has also highlighted the importance of formulating an alternative, egalitarian vision that can empower the broad masses of the people to take the lead. While this process will take time, the textbook movement can be considered one small step in that direction.

Shivasundar is a columnist and activist in Karnataka.

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Battle Over Textbook Revision in Karnataka Has Helped Expose the Ideology of Brahminical-Hindutva - The Wire

North Texans spent the weekend grappling with the U.S. Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Some took to the streets to protest, chanting abortion is healthcare and hands off my body.

Others rejoiced over the ruling from their church pews.

At First Baptist Dallas on Sunday, the congregation celebrated the Supreme Court's decision and Independence Day.

Folks in the pews sang God Bless the U.S.A with the churchs choir and musical guest Lee Greenwood.

As the stage erupted with fireworks, the crowds cheers echoed across the church. Known as Freedom Sunday, the congregations Independence Day celebration also included stunt men dropping from the ceiling dressed as armed service members.

Dr. Robert Jeffress, the senior pastor at First Baptist Dallas, called the Supreme Court's ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization a victory.

This is not a victory for Republicans or conservatives, said Jeffress, also a Fox News contributor who has close ties to former President Donald Trump. This is a victory for the millions of yet to be born children who will now have a right to live.

Jeffress said the courts decision was a direct result of voting for Trump. On Sunday, he praised Christians for coming together to elect Trump, who nominated three of the Supreme Court Justices that voted to overturn Roe v Wade.

Waving American flags, the church members roared and rose from their pews when Jeffress thanked God for Trump.

Mike Deahl was in the crowd. The corporate attorney said the courts decision had nothing to do with religion. He said Roe was a stretch because abortion isnt explicitly mentioned in the constitution.

Roe versus Wade was a bad decision, Deahl said. And so, I think from a constitutional law standpoint, I wasn't surprised that it was overturned.

Still, Deahl said he understands why there were protests this weekend, even if its hard for him to comprehend why the protesters feel as though their rights have been threatened.

Several protesters who felt their rights were threatened by the courts decision gathered in Fort Worth at the steps of the Tarrant County Courthouse on Saturday.

Olivia Castillo is a recent graduate of Fort Worth's R.L. Paschal High School and former president of the Paschal Feminist Club, which organized the rally the day that the decision dropped. She said the politicians who made the choices that led to the fall of Roe v Wade dont represent the will of the people.

We didn't vote for these elected officials, and they're all making decisions about our bodies and it just feels unfair, Castillo said.

Castillo said just years ago she had once considered herself pro-life but her views evolved as she learned more about reproductive options.

It's not as black and white as life begins at conception. You know, you need to have empathy for the people who get pregnant, Castillo said. I think a mother really does deserve the right to choose and make the most informed decision about her body.

Zoe Seymore, another organizer of the Fort Worth rally, said her lived experience as an adoptee impacted her views on abortion.

There's a lot of like trauma associated being adopted, including like, abandonment issues and trust issues and I think it's something that I wouldn't really wish upon anyone, Seymore said. I don't think that adoption is an appropriate response to an abortion alternative.

Seymore said once the rallies end, she encourages people to vote with the November general election just a few months away.

The only way we're going to move forwards instead of go backwards if we have the right people in the government, Seymore said.

Kawana Scott, whos with the Alliance Against Racism and Political Oppression Dallas, said the politicians who chose to take away the right to an abortion will still access that privilege themselves.

Speaking at the Dallas protest she helped organize Frida evening just hours after the decision was announced Scott said that isnt fair.

You're sitting at the table eating and someone take your plate while they are eating, she said. It's sickening.

Scott, who said she's had an abortion, said she felt called to speak out for reproductive rights as a Black woman.

Black women are three times more likely to die in childbirth than white women, according to theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention. Scott said those racial inequities put women in an impossible situation.

All the burden is put on women to make sure that things like this don't happen, who don't want it, but then there's no resources put into place to make sure that we're successful in doing that, Scott said.

Following the speakers, protesters marched through downtown Dallas from Civic Garden Park to Dealey Plaza, through the West End and back to the park.

Xochitl Miranda, one of the many protesters, said theyre infuriated by the Supreme Court decision and that abortion is a human rights issue.

This is not just affecting women. This is affecting non-binary people, Miranda said. It's not just women's rights. It's all of us.

Got a tip? Email Pablo Arauz Pea atparauzpena@kera.org and Caroline Love atclove@kera.org.

Caroline Love is aReport For Americacorps member for KERA News.

KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, considermaking a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.

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Shock. Anxiety. Elation. North Texans are confronting a new reality in the abortion rights debate - KERA News

Governments tend to define democracy as narrowly as possible. The story they tell goes as follows: you vote; the majority party takes office; you leave it to govern on your behalf for the next four or five years. If you dont like one of its policies, your representative will put their own ambitions, party loyalty and pressure from powerful interests aside to ensure your voice is heard.

We can trust the government to spend our money wisely; to defend minorities against more powerful or larger groups; to resist undemocratic forces such as oligarchs, the media they control and corporate lobby groups. We can trust it to ensure everyones needs are met; workers are not exploited; our neighbourhoods and quality of life are not sacrificed to corporate profits. We can trust it not to abuse the political process; not to wage wars of aggression against other nations; not to break the law. There cannot be many people who have lived in the UK or many other nations for the past few years and still believe this fairytale.

We have seen what happens if we leave politics to governments. Fairly elected or not, they will, without effective public pressure, abuse their power. They will change political rules to favour their party, subordinate public interest to that of corporations and billionaires, beat up vulnerable groups, sacrifice our common future to expediency and impose ever more oppressive laws to bind us.

Trust in governments destroys democracy, which survives only through constant challenge. It requires endless disruption of the cosy relationship between our representatives and powerful forces: the billionaire press, plutocrats, political donors, friends in high places. What challenge and disruption mean, above all, is protest.

Protest is not, as governments like ours seek to portray it, a political luxury. It is the bedrock of democracy. Without it, few of the democratic rights we enjoy would exist: the universal franchise; civil rights; equality before the law; legal same-sex relationships; progressive taxation; fair conditions of employment; public services and a social safety net. Even the weekend is the result of protest action: strikes by garment workers in the US. A government that cannot tolerate protest is a government that cannot tolerate democracy.

Such governments are becoming a global norm. In the UK, two policing bills in quick succession seek to shut down all effective forms of protest. They enable the police to stop almost any demonstration on the grounds that it is causing serious disruption, a concept so loose, it could include any kind of noise. They would ban chaining yourself to railings or other fixtures, and interfering with key national infrastructure, which could mean almost anything. They expand police stop and search powers, an effective deterrent to civic action by black and brown people, who are disproportionately targeted by them. They can even ban named people from engaging in any protest, on grounds that appear entirely arbitrary. These are dictators powers.

In the US, state legislatures have been undermining the federal right to protest, empowering the police to use catch-all offences such as trespass or disrupting the peace to break up demonstrations and make arrests. Proposed laws in states such as Oklahoma and New Hampshire have sought to grant immunity to drivers who run over protesters, or vigilantes who shoot them. In Russia, a new law against discrediting the armed forces has been used to prosecute dissenters engaging in actions as mild as writing no to war in the snow. Similar draconian laws are being imposed by governments in many other nations.

Why do governments want to ban protest? Because its effective. Why do they want us to accept their narrow vision of democracy? Because it makes our power ineffective.

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The protests governments seek to ban broaden the scope of democracy. They permit us to challenge malfeasance and resist oppressive policy. They are the motor of political change, and the early warning system that draws attention to the crucial issues governments tend to neglect. The extraordinary people in these images understand this from suffragettes picketing the White House in 1917 to Patsy Stevenson being manhandled by police at last years Sarah Everard vigil; from relatives of those killed at Amritsar in India in 1919 to those taking to the streets after George Floyds murder in the US.

Almost everything of importance is disintegrating fast: ecosystems, the health system, standards in public life, equality, human rights, terms of employment. Its happening while elections come and go, representatives speak solemnly in parliament or Congress, earnest letters are written and polite petitions presented. None of this is enough to save us from planetary and democratic collapse. Business as usual is a threat to life on Earth. Disrupting it is the greatest civic duty of all.

They will continue to demonise us as a threat to the democracy we seek to protect. They will continue to arrest us and raise the penalties for being a good citizen. And we will continue to come out in defiance, as people have done for centuries, even when facing state violence and repression. Everything we value depends on it.

Pussy Riot was formed in October 2011, because we didnt want Putin to stay in power for ever, and we felt that if we didnt get rid of him, he would bring a great deal of pain to our country, says Nadya Tolokonnikova, a founding member of the Russian protest group-cum-punk band.

On 20 January 2012, eight members of Pussy Riot climbed on to the platform in front of St Basils Cathedral in Moscows Red Square and staged a guerrilla performance of their song Putin Zassal (Putin Has Pissed Himself). Operating anonymously at the time, the women wore brightly coloured ski masks as they sang and set off smoke bombs.

We had religiously rehearsed the whole of January, Tolokonnikova recalls. Coming to the square many times in advance; trying to calculate when there would be fewer police cars; getting climbing equipment for our shoes because the podium was covered in ice; discussing in detail what to do if we were detained.

Immediately after the performance, the women were detained. We spent eight hours at the police station and were let go. Exhausted. But happy.

That day is remembered as Pussy Riots big breakthrough. After their next performance held inside Moscows Cathedral of Christ the Saviour three members, including Tolokonnikova, were prosecuted for hooliganism, and the veil of anonymity was lifted. Yet through multiple arrests and jail terms and as Putin has tightened his grip on power the group remains determined to give voice to the resistance. In the wake of the invasion of Ukraine, the stakes have only grown. Protest activity is becoming increasingly dangerous in Russia, Tolokonnikova says. You face 15 years in jail for calling a war a war, not a special military operation. And still, people protest every day. Not because they want to be heroes: because they cant lie to themselves. GS

In early 1963, Martin Luther King Jr described Birmingham as probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States. He and other civil rights leaders organised a campaign of nonviolent protests, placing students at the centre of the movement. Eugene Bull Connor, the citys commissioner of public safety and a staunch segregationist, directed the use of fire hoses and police dogs to quell the demonstrations. Charles Moores images of a dog attacking a young man on 3 May 1963 drew national attention to the Birmingham movement and led to Connors ousting from office. GS

Around three million people took part in the wave of protests against the government that swept Turkey in the summer of 2013. It began with a small, peaceful protest on 28 May against the planned demolition and redevelopment of Taksim Gezi Park in Istanbul; police then attempted to disperse protesters using teargas and water cannon. This image of activist and academic Ceyda Sungur being teargassed quickly became an emblem for the movement. Images of the lady in red, as she was dubbed, appeared on posters and online graphics, galvanising protests across the country. GS

The artwork Untitled (Your Body is a Battleground) was originally produced by Barbara Kruger as a poster urging people to attend the March for Womens Lives in Washington DC in April 1989. The demonstration was organised in protest against the Republican administrations attempts to overturn Roe v Wade that year. Formerly an editorial designer at Cond Nast, Kruger knew how to create a memorable image: I was able to use the fluencies I developed with pictures and words and transform them into my own engagements as an artist.

Today, Krugers rallying cry for bodily autonomy continues to appear around the world. In this photograph, a Polish version of the poster, first produced in 1991, is shown plastered on a street in Szczecin in 2020. Abortion laws in Poland are among the most restrictive in Europe. Language has power. And the velocity and accessibility of that power is dependent on its readability, Kruger says of her decision to translate the text on the poster in Poland.

How does it feel to see her artwork still circulating so widely especially in the wake of the renewed assault on reproductive freedoms around the world? It is tragic that the war against womens bodies, against their power and agency, and against the notion of a multiplicity of genders, is continuing in the most brutal of ways, Kruger says. GS

This was taken on 21 December 1956, the day of the desegregation of the public transportation system in Montgomery, Alabama. More than 12 months earlier, Rosa Parks had been arrested for refusing to give up her seat for a white man, sparking the 382-day Montgomery bus boycott the first large-scale demonstration against segregation in the US. The white man in this photo was not a random passenger but veteran UPI reporter Nicholas Chriss: the shot was staged by an uncredited photographer to illustrate this important victory. GS

This was the only moment in my career when I instinctively knew it was going to be just fine that I had a great shot, Dario Mitidieri says. It was the Italian-born photojournalists final evening in Beijing, where he had flown to document the protests in the square. He had a return ticket to the UK the following morning.

When he first arrived in the Chinese capital, Mitidieri recalls that the atmosphere had been quite joyful. It was like a massive student party, they were dancing in the streets at night, singing Chinese opera. We knew there were secret police filming everywhere but there was no sense of danger, he says. But then soldiers began assembling around the square. Mitidieris photo of a young boy sitting on the shoulders of a relative, above a sea of helmets, was shot at around 6pm on 3 June 1989, only a couple of hours before the massacre began. In order to get the best angle, he climbed on to the seat of a nearby bicycle, held upright by two student protesters.

The image would become a potent symbol of the innocence of the protesters who were violently oppressed when the troops were sent in that night. Mitidieri, who never learned the name of the boy in the photo, thinks of his record of the events at Tiananmen Square as a true example of the value of the work photojournalists do. He compares it to the current situation in Ukraine: We have this propaganda coming from the Russian government, but the rest of the world is very well aware of whats going on because of the presence of photographers and journalists documenting it all, risking their lives. GS

This photograph was taken by Stuart Franklin, a British photographer, on 5 June 1989, the day after the Tiananmen Square massacre, in which its believed as many as 10,000 pro-democracy protesters in Beijing were killed by troops sent in to quash the demonstrations. A lone protester, dubbed Tank Man, stood blocking the path of a column of tanks leaving the square. Footage of the incident was smuggled out of China, with the still-unidentified man instantly becoming an icon in the western world. As Franklin put it: Here was a modern-day version of David and Goliath. GS

No news picture in history has generated so much emotion around the world as that one, John F Kennedy said about this image of an elderly Buddhist monk taking his own life, on 11 June 1963, in protest against the persecution of Buddhists by South Vietnams largely Catholic government. American photojournalist Malcolm Browne won a Pulitzer prize for his documentation of the shocking event. GS

Aed Abu Amro was among tens of thousands of Palestinians taking part in weekly protests at the Gaza border from 2018-19. Among their demands were an end to the blockade and right of return for Palestinian refugees. This image by Gazan photographer Mustafa Hassona of the young man with the flag of Palestine and a slingshot was seen around the world, drawing comparisons to Eugne Delacroixs 1830 painting Liberty Leading the People. Abu Amro was later shot and injured by Israeli troops at another protest. GS

There arent many student art projects that receive as much attention as Emma Sulkowiczs final-year thesis at Columbia University in New York. For Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight), Sulkowicz vowed to carry a mattress wherever they went on campus until the school agreed to expel a fellow student whom they had accused of rape. The performance continued until their graduation and became a potent symbol of protest against rape culture in universities. That image, Hillary Clinton said in 2015, should haunt all of us. GS

On 28 August 1963, a quarter of a million people marched on the US capital to protest for civil rights in America; this was the day that Martin Luther King Jr made his famous I have a dream speech. Danny Lyon was a staff photographer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and close friends with the activist and later congressman John Lewis, who helped organise the march. I spent the night prior to the march sleeping on the floor of John Lewiss small hotel room, he remembers. It was very hot, and very sunny, just the worst light to make photographs.

This image, of a group of high-school students singing at the march, later became a symbol of the civil rights struggle, and was used as a poster by the SNCC throughout the 60s. The unusual angle was a result of Lyon trying to get other nearby photographers out of the frame: I fell to my knees to shoot, and shot up to the sky.

The picture has had a powerful afterlife. In 2020, as the city of Louisville banned street protests in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, Black Lives Matter artist-activists led by Darius Dennis painted a vast, 45ft-high mural of the photograph on the wall of a government building in downtown Louisville. For Dennis, the image represented the spirit of protest history; by displaying it publicly at a moment when protest was banned, his team wanted to make these moments of black and brown and Indigenous people more accessible than they are in our schools. FB

In 1919 a peaceful crowd gathered in an open area called Jallianwala Bagh, in the Indian city of Amritsar, to protest against the British authorities arrest of pro-independence leaders Saifuddin Kitchlew and Satyapal. The crowd was surrounded by troops from the British Indian army who, under orders from the acting brigadier general, Reginald Dyer, began to fire on the protesters, killing many hundreds of people estimates suggest 370 to 1,000.

A young photographer called Narayan Vinayak Virkar arrived to document the aftermath. These images are very different from the rest of his work, which largely consists of sumptuous portraits of nationalist leaders such as Gandhi and Subhas Chandra Bose; instead Virkar took a series of sparse crime scene pictures, with the bullet holes from the shooting circled in white chalk. Relatives of those killed point to the holes.

For art historian Christopher Pinney, Virkars work is a very significant moment in the history of photography. In the 19th century it had been used as a tool of scientific or political authority, but in the 20th century, photographers such as Virkar began to use it to challenge the power structures around them. Virkar undoubtedly saw his images as involved in a fightback against colonial oppression, Pinney says. He sees a link between Virkar and the citizen journalists of today who document wrongdoing by the powerful. FB

This was taken from my friends balcony, recalls Egyptian-Lebanese photographer Lara Baladi. During the initial 18-day uprising in Egypt in 2011, when thousands gathered to protest against President Hosni Mubaraks authoritarian rule, the flat overlooking Tahrir Square became a meeting place for journalists and activists, always filled with people working, texting, tweeting.

Previously Baladi had been documenting the movement down below, but on 18 February, she wanted to see the view from above. It was the week after Mubarak had been toppled, so that day was named the Friday of Victory. It was a beautiful sunny day, she remembers. As she watched people in the square celebrate, two young men emerged next to her; they had just bought a massive bale of fabric at the textile market, basically 100 metres of the Egyptian flag. Taking hold of either side of the fabric, they threw it down. In no time it unrolled all the way into the crowd. As soon as it reached the square, people caught it. Minutes later it was stretched out and knotted to other pieces of fabric, and Baladi took the picture: It all happened very fast.

Looking back, for her, this photograph marks a turning point in the uprising the victory, the height of the revolution, before reality kicked in and the social divisions and nuances began to surface.

The events of the last 10 years have confirmed for her that change does not begin with the uprising. What happens before and after it is just as important, if not more. Revolution is a continuous process. FB

In May 2018, two-thirds of Irish voters opted to legalise abortion in a referendum pro-choice activists had long called for. A defining image of the campaign was of a march two years earlier outside the Irish embassy in London. We wanted to make a visual statement that might reach decision-makers at home, says Hannah Little (front). We decided 77 women should walk silently with suitcases towards the embassy, the number of women then travelling from Ireland to Britain every week to access terminations.

People who question if a protest accomplishes anything dont see the butterfly effect: strangers meet, swap details, start a campaign. Thats exactly what happened here. The London-Irish Abortion Rights Campaign met with MPs, launched legal cases, raised money for pro-choice causes, held protests and mobilised Irish voters abroad. I dont see myself in this photo at all. Oddly, I never have, Little says. I see young women who are angry and ready to take power back. It resonates with people because we look unstoppable. And we were! GS

Italian photographer Tina Modotti became famous for the images she produced in Mexico in the 1920s of working-class life and political organising. This image of a workers May Day parade in 1926 was reprinted multiple times within her lifetime and reflects her stylistic mixture of art photography and reportage. In 1930 she was arrested and given an ultimatum: she could either cease her communist activities or leave Mexico. She chose to leave. FB

You could have heard a frog piss on cotton, John Carlos (right) said in an interview with Gary Younge in 2012 of the moment he and Tommie Smith raised their fists in a black power salute at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, during the medal ceremony for the 200m race. Theres something awful about hearing 50,000 people go silent. The silence was followed by a torrent of racial abuse and though their protest made them famous around the world, it had grave repercussions for both men, whose careers suffered. Carlos had no regrets, however: I had a moral obligation to step up. Morality was a far greater force than the rules and regulations they had. FB

On 25 March 1965, Martin Luther King Jr led thousands of civil rights protesters to the capitol in Montgomery, Alabama, after a five-day march that started in Selma; 25,000 people joined in across the 80km march, demanding the right to vote. Moneta Sleet Jr covered the landmark event as a photojournalist for Ebony magazine. FB

Is the dystopian future envisioned in The Handmaids Tale, Margaret Atwoods novel turned TV show about a theocratic regime that strips women of their basic freedoms, already here? In recent years, the red cloaks and white bonnets worn by the handmaids of Gilead have become a familiar feature at protests on womens issues around the world. The group of women standing outside the US Capitol in this image from 2017 were demonstrating against a bill that sought to defund the sexual healthcare provider Planned Parenthood. GS

Maidan was the first act in a great historical movement, wrote Jrme Sessini prophetically in 2019. It was just the beginning of a coming confrontation on a much larger scale. The Magnum photographer covered the protests in central Kyiv that led to the ousting of the pro-Russia president Viktor Yanukovych in 2014. Sessini was present during a period of extreme violence, when snipers killed at least 70 people; he captured the events with a series of extraordinarily dramatic and disturbing images. In this photograph, an Orthodox priest blesses the protesters on a barricade on 20 February 2014. FB

Associated Press photographer Julio Cortez captured this image just before midnight on 28 May 2020, the third day of protests after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. With its charged symbolism the United States Flag Code says a flag should never be flown upside-down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property the photograph conveys the deep sense of anger and injustice that would go on to fuel a mass movement of anti-racism protests across the globe. GS

In the early hours of 28 June 1969, a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York, prompted a spontaneous outburst of resistance that lasted for six days and was a watershed moment for LGBTQ+ rights. This photograph of young rioters gathered outside the boarded-up inn after the raid, shot by Fred W McDarrah for the Village Voice newspaper, captures the celebratory atmosphere that prevailed as gay and trans people refused to submit to state-sponsored oppression. The first gay pride march was held a year later to commemorate the event. GS

From April 2016, members of the Standing Rock and other Native American communities began to protest against construction of a pipeline in North Dakota, on the basis that it would affect local water supplies and cross sacred native lands. Barack Obamas administration halted construction, but Donald Trump would later reverse this decision. The pipeline remains in operation today. FB

In November 2020, images of Thai pro-democracy protesters using inflatable rubber ducks to shield themselves from police water cannon went viral. They had originally been bought for protesters to float down the Chao Phraya River near Bangkoks parliament, but after the images were publicised, they became an unlikely symbol of the protest. FB

This enigmatic image by the Japanese photographer Shomei Tomatsu presents a blurry figure caught in the act of throwing a stone in a protest against the Vietnam war. Tomatsu, whose subjects had included the vast changes taking place in postwar Japan, as well as the lingering traumas of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was known for formal experimentation and unusual compositions, which inspired a whole generation of photographers in Japan. FB

On 16 June 1976, thousands of black schoolchildren from the township of Soweto in Johannesburg, South Africa, took to the streets, protesting against a decree that all black schools must teach in Afrikaans what Desmond Tutu called the language of the oppressor. The children were initially hesitant to be photographed the Johannesburg-born photographer Peter Magubane convinced them, he later recalled, by telling them struggle without documentation is not struggle. The images would prove vital when coverage of the brutal police response at least 176 people were killed began to spread around the world, triggering mass outrage and firing up the anti- apartheid movement. GS

In 1960s Japan, a coalition of thousands of leftwing student activists and farmers came together to wage a years-long campaign against the construction of a new international airport in a rural area 40 miles east of Tokyo. The biggest clash at the Narita international airport construction site erupted in September 1971, when 5,000 police were sent in to expropriate the land. The airport finally opened in 1978, after many delays. GS

On the first Earth Day, held in cities across the US on 22 April 1970 to support environmental protection, an estimated 20 million people took to the streets for clean-ups, marches and performances. This photo, of student Peter Hallerman, became an emblem of the modern green movement that was born that day. GS

The Prague spring began on 5 January 1968, when Alexander Dubek took over the Czechoslovakian Communist party from his Stalinist predecessor; he introduced reforms that distanced his party from Moscow and promised socialism with a human face. Seven months later, Soviet tanks invaded and Dubek was eventually deposed. Josef Koudelka took about 5,000 photographs that week documenting acts of resistance by civilians but his identity was kept anonymous to prevent reprisals. After smuggling his film abroad, Koudelka fled the country, revealing himself to be the Prague Photographer only following the death of his father in 1984. GS

A group of artist-activists laid out a vast image of a child in a Pakistani field to pique the conscience of US drone operators who watched the border with Afghanistan from above. The portrait is by Noor Behram, who worked in North Waziristan, an area targeted by drone strikes. The girl pictured lost both her parents to one in 2010. FB

A small neo-Nazi rally in the Swedish city of Vxj made worldwide news when this image of a woman striking a skinhead with her handbag began to circulate. Danuta Danielsson, a 38-year-old Jewish woman whose mother had survived the Holocaust, hijacked the demonstration by the Nordic Realm party on 13 April 1985, in an impulsive counterprotest that has since been memorialised in multiple statues. GS

The Met Gala in New York is known for attracting outlandish outfits and wealthy guests, with tickets reportedly costing around $35,000. In 2021, the Democratic congresswoman caused controversy with her gown bearing the message Tax the Rich emblazoned across the back, created by the designer and activist Aurora James. Critics charged her with hypocrisy; she maintained it was worthwhile because it created a conversation about taxing the rich in front of the very people who lobby against it. FB

Mass protests broke out in Colombia on 28 April last year in response to proposed government reforms, including increased taxes and an overhaul of the healthcare system. Lasting six weeks, the protests were met with violent crackdowns resulting in dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries. But amid the repression, one image of joyful resilience stood out: the moment when three activists ascended the steps of the National Capitol in Bogot and starting vogueing.

We decided to protest because, as LGBTQI+ people, all the government reforms affect us much more, says Piisciis (pictured centre), a non-binary activist who created the music for the performance and invited fellow voguers Axid Ebony and Nova Ebony to collaborate on the steps. There is very little representation at these marches, so I wanted to open this dialogue.

The trio found themselves dancing metres away from the Esmad, Colombias notorious riot police. At that moment, I saw a lot of fear in Nova and Axids eyes; I also felt it, Piisciis says. Everything went well, but it could have been catastrophic. The dancers continued for a few minutes, cheered on by fellow protesters. Initially, the police seemed unsure what to do, but then, It turned into chaos: there were explosives, stones, weapons, and we had to run. The impact of the protest for the queer community in Colombia was, Piisciis says, epic. It was a moment of empowerment, strength and representation. If in the future there are history books, surely well be in them. GS

In the spring of 1963, a sit-in was organised by students and staff of Tougaloo College, at a Woolworth lunch counter in Jackson, Mississippi, which had a whites-only policy. Anne Moody, who went on to become a famous author, is seated to the right, with student Joan Trumpauer and professor John Hunter Gray. Over the course of a few hours, an increasingly rowdy white mob pulled the hair of the women, dumping mustard and condiments over them, and attacked Gray, cutting his face and neck with brass knuckles and broken glass. Gray later recalled the atmosphere as a lavish display of unbridled hatred. FB

Rachel and Rabbi Dr Akiva Posner were a Jewish couple with three children, living in Kiel, Germany, in the early 1930s. As part of Hanukkah celebrations, the menorah must be prominently displayed; but it can be hidden during a time of persecution. Rachel documented the moment just over a year before Hitler took power when the rabbi defiantly lit their menorah in the window, facing a building decked with Nazi flags. The Posners fled Germany two years later. FB

On 18 March 2022, 23 days into Russias war on Ukraine, 109 empty buggies were laid out in a square in Lviv, each representing a child who had been killed. Today the official estimate stands at more than 300. FB

Jan Rose Kasmir, 17, holds a chrysanthemum before a row of bayonet-wielding soldiers. This shot was taken by the Magnum photographer Marc Riboud on 21 October 1967 at the March on the Pentagon, a rally in Washington DC attended by 100,000 anti-war protesters. It would become the defining image of that movement. The soldiers, Kasmir later said, were just as much a victim of the war machine as anyone else. GS

Getty photographer Chung caught the moment a brave woman sat in front of riot police to protect a larger group of protesters, during anti-government protests in Seoul on 24 April 2015. FB

During the pro-democracy protests that took place in Hong Kong in 2014, many protesters used umbrellas to defend themselves from pepper spray. After journalists referred to the demonstrators as the umbrella movement, umbrellas quickly became a powerful symbol of the independence movement, carried by protesters to signal their allegiance and also used in art installations and countless memes. FB

We were seeking freedom, and we were seeking our dreams, and we were seeking a new Sudan, recalls artist and musician Lana H Haroun of the 2019 revolution. Initially, forces loyal to president Omar al-Bashir had cracked down violently on protesters. But then some members of the army began to defend them, creating a safe space outside the presidential palace. People travelled from all over Sudan to be there.

Every day I was there, capturing photos, Haroun recalls. It felt like history itself. One day, she noticed people rushing towards a figure addressing the crowd, a 22-year-old called Alaa Salah. Haroun took four photos, and shared the best one online. It went viral, first on social media, then in newspapers around the world. A lot of things happened after that. Previously it had felt as if there was very little global coverage of what was going on in Sudan, but after Harouns picture it suddenly felt as if everybody in the world was focusing on what is going on in Sudan.

Women played a powerful and visible role in the protests; for Haroun, the picture was a strong message that women can lead. Salah went on to speak at the UN and was a Nobel peace prize contender. FB

This famous chapter of the civil rights movement was captured by African American photojournalist (later revealed to be an FBI informant) Ernest C Withers. On 28 March just days before his assassination Martin Luther King Jr arrived in Memphis to lead a march in support of the citys 1,300 striking sanitation workers. Spurred by the deaths of two garbage collectors due to malfunctioning equipment, the strikers were calling for higher pay and safer working conditions for the citys Black employees. Their slogan was a simple but effective assertion of dignity: I am a man. GS

Prince William and Kate Middleton made an ill-fated visit to the Caribbean earlier this year, where they were met by protesters calling for reparations, an official apology and the cutting of ties with the British monarchy. Around the time of the visit, Jamaica confirmed its plan to begin removing the Queen as sovereign. FB

Today, Greta Thunberg is one of the most famous living activists on the planet. But nobody knew who she was when, on 20 August 2018, the 15-year-old set up camp outside the Swedish parliament and declared that she would not attend school until after the general elections the following month. Her goal was simple: to force action on the climate crisis. The situation we are in is very dire and it seemed like no one was doing anything and someone needs to do something, she recalls. I thought, if this doesnt work, then Im going to try something else until I find something that works. I had no idea it was going to take off like it did.

The School Strike for Climate quickly became a global movement, with children around the world organising walk-outs. The following year, at the UN climate action summit in New York, Thunberg condemned world leaders for their failure to effect any meaningful change. It was like a very weird movie that was way too unrealistic and cliched to be any good, Thunberg says of the seismic public response. But its also quite hopeful, because it shows that the most unexpected things can happen in a very short amount of time.

On why young people have played such a significant role in climate protests, Thunberg says: It feels like our natural state of mind is to rebel. We dont use the excuse that its always been this way. But also its children who will live in this world, experience the consequences much more. Its closer to home.

After taking a year-long break from education to focus on climate activism, Thunberg is about to enter her final year of school and continues her protest by skipping classes every Friday. Looking at the photo from her original demonstration, she says she still has the banner, but now keeps it at home to avoid rain damage. The bright yellow raincoat, which she borrowed from her dad, is also still around Its still his, but I still steal it, she jokes. And if she could say anything to the girl in that image, what would it be? I would probably say: start crocheting and knitting earlier, because its really fun and it keeps you focused, she says with a laugh. But thats probably not the answer you want! GS

In a country where protest is brutally oppressed, the bravery of Russians who publicly oppose the war in Ukraine has not gone unnoticed. The 76-year-old artist and activist Yelena Osipova became the face of the anti-war movement after footage of her arrest by police in St Petersburg on 2 March was seen around the world. In this image, the woman dubbed the grandmother for peace is holding her handmade protest banners while a crowd of supporters can be glimpsed in the background. GS

On 10 January 1917, a dozen suffragists gathered silently at the gates of the White House, becoming the first group to picket the presidential residence. Dubbed the Silent Sentinels, they held up banners calling on President Woodrow Wilson to support a constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote. Two thousand protesters joined the picket, which continued until 4 June 1919, when the 19th amendment was eventually passed. Many were arrested and jailed for their involvement reports of the prisoners mistreatment played a key role in garnering wider public support for womens suffrage. GS

When Susan Meiselas arrived in Nicaragua in June 1978, she had no idea that a popular insurrection was about to erupt. The American photographer stayed in the country for 13 months, documenting the uprising of the FSLN, popularly known as the Sandinistas, against the US-backed Somoza dictatorship. The world didnt know much about what was happening in Nicaragua, Meiselas says. It was a time when we were not seeing images which is unimaginable now.

Meiselas felt compelled to witness the events as they unfolded. This image depicts a funeral procession in Jinotepe for recently assassinated student leaders. The protesters are holding up a large photograph of Arlen Siu, a singer and Sandinista who had been killed by the National Guard three years earlier. Siu went on to become a revolutionary icon.

Meiselas attributes the impact of her photograph in part to the contrast between the monochromatic portrait of Siu and the vivid colour of the surrounding scene. There was a lot of criticism at that time of working in colour very few newspapers published colour, she recalls.

Today, of course, almost everything is shot in colour and Meiselas, who is president of the Magnum Foundation, is widely recognised for her work. But she doesnt see the plaudits as solely for her. Of the long afterlife of the image of protesters in Jinotepe, she says: Now Arlen Siu has more of a profile. I think of it as her getting her honour. GS

Gordon Parks was the first African American staff photographer employed by Life magazine. This image from a protest in Harlem in 1963 spurred by the police shooting of seven unarmed black men outside a Nation of Islam mosque in Los Angeles the previous year is part of his series documenting the black Muslim movement. Parks was assigned the story after several white journalists failed to gain access to the groups leaders. GS

These images are a snapshot of a rich global history of resistance. Which images did we miss? Email saturday@theguardian.com. We will feature a selection in an upcoming edition of Inside Saturday, our email newsletter

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'It felt like history itself' 48 protest photographs that changed the world - The Guardian

Local News

Following the Supreme Courts decision on June 24 to overturn Roe v. Wade, hundreds gathered in downtown Fullerton to join a nationwide protest. These rallys and protests continued on Friday, July 1. Protestors gathered at the intersection of Harbor Blvd and Commonwealth and marched through Downtown Fullerton.

The protest was organized by the Orange County chapter of RiseUp4AbortionRights. The organization is demanded that the federal government reinstate nationwide legal abortion now.

Some performed street theater in the form of a die-in representing those who could die from unsafe abortions.

Another pro-abortion/pro-choice protest is planned for July 16 at 2pm at Fullerton City Hall, organized by Melanated Youth, a BI&POC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Color) youth-led coalition dedicated to mobilizing youth voices to fight against systematic oppression against marginalized identities.

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Protests for Reproductive Rights Continue in Fullerton - Fullerton Observer

By Callista Gingrich and Newt Gingrich

On Independence Day, we reflect on a remarkable moment 246 years ago, when 56 courageous leaders from 13 colonies gathered in Philadelphia to sign the Declaration of Independence.

There, our founders declared with one voice: 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.

This act of political and moral courage changed the course of history. Since 1776, the values and ideals enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution have been exported to democracies around the globe and have lifted millions of people out of tyranny, poverty, and oppression.

Today, however, many seek to devalue Americas founding, rewrite our history, and undermine the spirit of independence that guided our founders to create the greatest, freest, and most prosperous nation on Earth.

Regrettably, the Biden administration has let millions of Americans down this Independence Day. Across the country, hardworking families are struggling due to inflation, receding markets, and rising costs.

So, this year, perhaps more than ever, we must remember and preserve our remarkable American story. The great experiment our founding fathers initiated in 1776 necessitates that each generation safeguards its freedom for the next. As Benjamin Franklin cautioned, we have a Republic if you can keep it.

The lessons of Americas independence were not meant to be left behind in 1776. Our freedom is priceless, and it must not be taken for granted.

Our founders vowed to each other their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor on the principle that government must derive its power from the people. As Americans, we must honor their great courage and continue to defend life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all Americans.

We hope you have a happy Independence Day!

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Callista Gingrich and Newt Gingrich - Reclaiming the Spirit of 1776 - Gingrich 360