"No! We Made A Promise!"

If you aren't aware, today is April 19th. April 19th was when, in 1775, the American minutemen and an early version of the Continental Army fought off the British at the twin battles of Lexington and Concord, beginning the American Revolution and the eventual creation of this great country- This is an especially important anniversary, as exactly 250 years have passed since the shot heard round the world. To honor this event, the 50501 movement has chosen this day to launch another series of protests across the nation.

Of course, what might otherwise be a day of celebration is saddened by why these protests are being launched. America is currently led by a regime of men with nothing in their heart but hatred. They have no understanding of America's true nature.

What is America? It's not one race, like Japan, or Spain, or another country defined by their culture- We might like to divide ourselves with the broad strokes of white, black, brown, and a handful of others, but each can be divided further to the point of meaninglessness. Religion? Christianity holds a majority, not a monopoly, and even it has divided against itself into a dozen denominations that have tried to tear one another apart at one point of another. What else is there? Being a "native American"- One whose family is from here, when the only true native Americans are a minority?

No. America is a promise- "All men are created equal". Those five words define this nation, and America is a promise to fulfill them- A promise to defend the rights of every man, woman, and child in our and every country. Our whole history is the history of a march towards the fulfillment of that promise.

We saw our laws were dictated by an island an ocean away, when our economy and land was bled like a pig for an empire, and when it demanded we roll over and let it, what did we say?

"No. We made a promise."

And there was Revolution, and war, and it was terrible, yet great, for it took the rules of our land, and gave them to the people of our land!

We saw men, women and children made to wet the soil with their blood, sweat, and tears so a handful of rich men could grow even more rich, and when we saw these men try to carve off a piece of land so the blackness of their hearts could consume luxuries and lives, what did we say?

"No. We made a promise."

And there was war, and it was terrible, yet great, for it liberated the people of this land and saw them made free!

We saw our own people turned against themselves, our own people with nothing but hate in their hearts for their fellow Americans, our own people kill them for the chance of their birth, and when people wanted us to stand aside and let this injustice be, what did we say?

"No. We made a promise."

And there were marches, and bombings, and protests, and killings, and it was terrible, yet great, for it saw the people of this land made equal!

We saw men and women and children reduced to tools in factories for the sake of a line on a chart-

"No. We made a promise!"

We saw American mothers and daughters made lesser for nothing other than their sex-

"No. We made a promise!"

We saw Americans guilty of no sin but who they could not help but love be beaten and jailed and hated-

"No. We made a promise!"

There have been many mutinies on this march towards the fulfillment of the American promise- Men and women returned to near bondage after the civil war, loopholes and caveats in the laws that recognized American equality, reduction of Americans to what they could produce and give to men that already had everything. Now, we see one more desperate mutiny- Years worth of hatred given a voice that chants lies, that claims to Make America Great Again when it hates America for what it is, when it makes an America out of lies and crushes whatever does not conform to its lie. We see equality denied, we see Americans removed from the positions they spilt tears and sweat and blood to earn themselves, we see inequality moved to other lands with the hope that Americans will let it be. But as it was before, there are now people who resist!

This- The years ahead of us where hatred tries to strangle America for the sake of a lie- Is the single most patriotic experience imaginable. The struggle for the American promise, the march towards its fulfillment has been ingrained in American history since its birth. We have always struggled to see it fulfilled, and while there are many in this land who have made it such a struggle, there are more who knew that struggle was worth it! There always have been, and there still are, for what do the people marching in the streets say? What do the people organizing say? What do the people in the town halls and the voting booths say? What does our country shout from the streets, from the windows, from the rooftops?

"No! We made a promise!"