Independence Day Letter from Ben
A Personal Letter to Citizen Ben Readers from Ben Cable
Dear Friends and Supporters,
This Fourth of July, I will be attending fireworks in Las Vegas. This contradicts the boycott called by The People’s Union USA, which urges a boycott of Target, Walmart, and McDonald's, as well as Fourth of July festivities, including fireworks displays. I would usually join such a boycott, but my personal schedule conflicts with it. My husband, an Army veteran (MASH Unit) who has brain cancer, says he wants to see the fireworks on the Las Vegas strip, and I know it will bring him some joy, so be it.
Personal obligations may often conflict with a boycott, protest, or action. This leads me to the question of how we should be involved and to what extent we should express our American pride.
We need to find things that fit within our agenda, beliefs, schedules, and abilities. We fight in our own ways. The point is to do something. Bring flowers to give masked ICE agents at a protest, go to 5calls.org to call your local representatives on an issue you care about (scripts are available), attend local school board or City Hall meetings, and have conversations with your family and friends, or attend a rally or protest (you can find one near you on 50501, No Kings, or Indivisible.
I also believe in checkbook activism, which I now refer to as "click activism." This means supporting an organization or people you believe in from the comfort of your home. Here are a few of my ideas: the ACLU, Brennan Center for Justice, Operation Homefront, Wounded Warrior Project, Southern Poverty Law Firm, Human Rights Campaign (HRC), The Trevor Project, NAACP, Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC), Amnesty International, HIAS, Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
Please support independent journalism and the free press. I know Citizen Ben needs your support to continue this work. Citizen Ben has free subscriptions in addition to a $5 subscription. Paid memberships and larger tiers, such as Founding Memberships, are greatly appreciated and needed. Please buy me a cup of coffee with a subscription today :-)
The most important thing this Independence Day is to honor our men and women who have served, and are serving. We should also acknowledge and support their diverse backgrounds and the unique challenges faced by military families and veterans.
I am a proud American, a descendant of a freed slave who served in George Washington's Seventh Regiment. I fear for the future of Democracy. My pen is relentless in its pursuit of the preservation of freedom without kings in America. This is how I fight.
I appreciate your support,
-Ben
Powerful!!!