When social movements need to march in beat, Dick Flacks gives them a song. What follows is a brief tour through influential songs and poems of protest and resistance in U.S. history, many with rural roots, with Flack’s extensive knowledge as a guide
What to the Slave Is the Fourth July? by Frederick Douglass speaks to the frustrations spurred by the gap between the ideals of the United States and the reality we witness every day, and the threat of fascism. Read/listen to his brilliant speech.
Grilling, baseball and fireworks, first replaced by symbols -- and now by a country tearing itself apart. July 4, 2022, falls in the midst of devastation. It is Independence Day in America with independence under current and relentless assault.
This is the perfect time to read the entirety of Frederick Douglass’s famous speech (from 1852), and not merely because of the date on the calendar.(Dave Zirin)
To some, patriotism means "my country -- right or wrong." To others, it means loyalty to a set of principles, and thus requires dissent and criticism when those in power violate those standards. Not enough Americans are aware that much of what we consider our patriotic culture, especially our iconic music, was created by artists and writers of decidedly left-wing sympathies.
Spread the word