What I’ve Learned About Freedom

While watching the January 6th Congressional hearings, I am flashing back to an experience I had as a college intern for CNN’s “Inside Politics” in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 10, 2001. That evening, I was assisting a producer at an event where Coretta Scott King, civil rights leader and Martin Luther King Jr.’s widow, was a keynote speaker. I distinctly remember King affirming to the leaders in the audience that every generation must fight anew for freedom — it is not passed down from one generation to the next. I was struck by her conviction during peacetime.

The next morning, terrorists attacked the United States, thus launching a new global war. Many of my generation soon headed to the frontlines to defend freedom.

In the following years, King’s message has continued to echo in unsettling ways. A few years ago, at another event in Washington, D.C., I listened to author and Yale history professor Timothy Snyder describe “the politics of inevitability” from his 2018 book The Road to Unfreedom.

Here’s how Snyder outlined the concept in a podcast with Ezra Klein in March: “What the politics of inevitability does is that it teaches you not to think about values at all. Because the politics of inevitability assures you that whatever the good things are, they’re being brought about automatically by some invisible hand, right? The market is like Mom. You know, it’s going to take care of you with that invisible hand. And you don’t have to think about what the values might be, what you actually desire. You lose the habit, right? You never perform the mental gymnastics of stretching to figure out what a better world might actually be because you think you’re on track to that better world no matter what happens.”

I think these last few years have made us more aware that things don’t just turn out well automatically. We all have a responsibility to ensure that they do. Like King said, freedom is not a given. Today, we can “perform the mental gymnastics” in many ways, such as:

·      being always alert;

·      thinking critically about everything coming into our purview;

·      seeking out quality information;

·      subscribing to our local news outlets;

·      contributing to other democracy-based causes and campaigns;

·      participating in civically responsible associations;

·      engaging in constructive discourse with neighbors;

·      protesting rollbacks of democracy;

·      preserving the right to vote and count our votes;

·      voting for candidates who adhere to democratic principles, including freedom, equality, and justice.

The January 6th hearings are a clarion call to all Americans — a reminder of democracy’s fragility. We cannot let our guard down. Each one of us must keep fighting for freedom, today, tomorrow, and all the days to come.