By Ruth A. Sheets
July 3, 2025
July 4th is nearly here and I can’t help but remember past Independence Days with fireworks, crowds, music, and so much more.
My first July 4th memory was in 1959 when we welcomed Alaska and Hawaii into the union. I didn’t exactly know what that meant, but I heard a lot of people yelling for Alaska and Hawaii and saying there were now 50 states. That was special because Shredded Wheat, the breakfast cereal I loved had little metal flags my sisters and I could collect in each box. Somehow we didn’t get too many over time, but it was fun looking for them.
In 1964, my dad, my sisters, and I went to Elmwood Park for a band concert. The temperature was over 100 degrees but we stayed as long as the band played, then walked home. After that, I measured each 4th of July temperature by that 103 number and saw it as a kind of badge of dedication, maybe love of music too.
The best Celebration was in 1976 when my sisters and I went to Valley Forge. A wagon train had parked there after its weeks long journey from the west. On the 4th, despite the heavy fog, President Ford’s helicopter landed and he signed the order to make Valley Forge a National Park. We met people from all over the country and had so much fun as we walked around in Colonial-style clothing. We had just gotten past a case of presidential corruption and resignation and thought our nation was rising out of the muck of that time.
Here we are 49 years later and We the People are in a crisis. That crisis was set in motion by a bunch of men and a couple of women who don’t like democracy, where people can think for ourselves, speak freely, vote because we are 18 years of age or older. They want those privileges only for themselves and those who look and believe as they do. The intent seems to be to crown a fool moving into dementia as king of America and all his minions crowned princes and princesses who will bow to him whenever he demands it and of course, he will demand it often. That king, of course, is Donald Trump, and his jester, JD Vance who isn’t even the least bit funny and neither has anything positive to offer anyone.
By July 4th, that man who wants to be king demands that Republicans in Congress pass an appalling bill that has nothing good to offer anyone but the already-far-far-too-rich millionaires and billionaires. It seems Republicans are about to do that because their king is threatening or bribing them (both illegal) with “offers they can’t refuse.” If the bill passes in its current form, many Americans and immigrant residents here will suffer and king Donnie (Toddler-Trump) will gloat that he owns them and they are useless anyway, spoken by a man who has not actually worked a day in his life.
So folks, back in 1976 I would never have guessed we would be facing a fascist takeover 49 years later, but that is where we are. We need to ask ourselves and each other, “is that where we want this nation to go?” Do we trust Trump and his minions to do right by anyone but rich mostly white men?” I say “no.” I say, “billionaires and millionaires are rich enough; our kids are precious and deserve better than going to bed hungry and getting a poor education because funds are cut; immigrants are immensely valuable to this nation while ICE is not; no one should be losing health care.”
Let us celebrate Independence Day and remember what people have sacrificed that we have a nation that can grow, learn, develop, and become more inclusive and welcoming. We do not have to settle for the Toddler-Trump formula of threats, lies, gaslighting, fearmongering, hatreds, resentments, targeting groups for violence and dismissal. We can do better. We can plan, rally, protest, march, strike, vote, demand our elections are held fairly, demand better of our courts, vote out senators and representatives who have decided they don’t care what We the People want. Let’s stand together for the sake of our children, our nation, our dreams, immigrants who help make us who we are, and principles that matter. We can make this better!
