250th Anniversary of the American Revolution
Strange timing amid alarming parallels. Where do we go from here?
Last night saw the recreation of Paul Revere riding through the streets of Boston for the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. Looked like quite the event on the streets, from drone imaging in the skies to projections on Boston's Old North Church, including a most fitting edit to “One if by land, two if by D.C.” We are certainly at a crossroads as a nations, or as the AP headline stated, “250 years after America went to war for independence, a divided nation battles over its legacy.”
This week, April 19, 2025, marks the anniversary of the American Revolution
Next year, July 4th 2026, will mark 250 years of country independence
*Fun fact: our family also fought for American Independence in the Revolutionary war
The anniversary comes with the current government and scholars divided over whether to have a yearlong party leading up to July 4, 2026, or to balance any celebrations with questions about women, the enslaved and Indigenous people and what their stories reveal. But urgency over the current danger the United States is under, under the turmoil of a reckless and isolationist government, is the matter at hand. Forget a year from now, what happens now? As professor and historian Heather Cox Richardson said at yesterday’s anniversary of the lighting of the lanterns in Boston’s Old North Church, “And once in a great while, someone will light a lantern—or even two—that will shine forth for democratic principles that are under siege, and set the world ablaze.” Read her full transcript here.
It can certainly feel like we are buried daily by more bad news and senseless acts from this administration, and while many voices are rising up, how do we make effective change against this new tyranny in a modern world?
P.S. Shout out to Massachusetts - and Boston in particular - for always bringing that rebellious, fighting spirit to the forefront.