The meaning of freedom is always changing.
In ancient Greece, it meant no foreign rulers; in revolutionary France, no local aristocrats; in 1860s America, no slavery; and in 1960s America, no restraints on sex and love.
The year after her husband was assassinated half a century ago, Coretta Scott King wrote, “Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it in every generation. That is what we have not taught young people, or older ones for that matter.”
Today’s generation is getting our chance to earn our freedom after lifetimes of steady progress. We coasted on the arc of the universe, trusting it to bend the right way and send us toward a freer society.
A black man in the White House, marriage equality in the Supreme Court, feminism in vogue, RuPaul in our living room—the arc was on fire! But freedom is never really won.
The year after her husband was assassinated half a century ago, Coretta Scott King wrote, “Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it in every generation. That is what we have not taught young people, or older ones for that matter.”
Today’s generation is getting our chance to earn our freedom after lifetimes of steady progress. We coasted on the arc of the universe, trusting it to bend the right way and send us toward a freer society.
A black man in the White House, marriage equality in the Supreme Court, feminism in vogue, RuPaul in our living room—the arc was on fire! But freedom is never really won.
The stories in Double Issue come in arcs of time. The stories from the past teach us how freedom’s torchbearers kept it alight in their era. The stories from the present inspire us to keep believing in progress and fight for our own freedom. By looking at them side-by-side, we hope we’ll be able to find and share something valuable for the future of the movement.
We’ve learned that the way we fight for freedom is the same today as it was 100 years ago. You could re-create a protest poster from the 1950s and carry it to the Women’s March or a Black Lives Matter rally and no one in the crowd would notice the difference.
We have come so far. And have forever to go.
We’ve learned that the way we fight for freedom is the same today as it was 100 years ago. You could re-create a protest poster from the 1950s and carry it to the Women’s March or a Black Lives Matter rally and no one in the crowd would notice the difference.
We have come so far. And have forever to go.
