The Fourth of July offers a grand teachable moment for educators, especially progressive ones. As an assignment for my summer sociology classes, I would typically have students read Frederick Douglas’ “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”; listen to Paul Robeson sing “Ballad for Americans”; and ask them to identify what a citizen’s duty is as explicitly mentioned in the Declaration of Independence. This assignment would likely get me reprimanded, if not fired, today. Yet the liberating truth revealed in these works is more vital today than ever.

Just about everyone is familiar with its opening statement about the self-evident truths that all men are created equal, that they are endowed … with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. But far too few pay attention to, let alone act upon, what follows: that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and institute new Government… Yet the 56 signers this revolutionary Declaration did not stop there, but amplified the urgency to confront tyranny by making it a call to duty:

The world-renowned Doo Dah Parade is returning to the streets of Columbus on July 4, 2025, Rain date July 3rd. The 42nd Annual celebration of Liberty and Lunacy Freedom of Speech through Humor will be satirizing the world LIVE from the Fabulous Short North starting at 1 p.m.

The world needs a good laugh or two. Doo Dah Parade Disorganizers are unplanning for a groups of marchers to wind their way through Victorian Village and along High Street in Short North.  Overseeing it all will be Doo Dah Less-Than-Grand Marshal:  NBC4 News Queen Colleen Marshall.

Disorganizers also emphasize that the best way to experience Doo Dah is to be IN the parade. Get your humor out and create a memorable entry! No registration is necessary; all you have to do is show up. Line up for parade participants begins at Noon on Park Street (Enter from Goodale.) 

The Israeli genocide in Gaza, along with the escalating regional wars it has ignited, has brought two chilling truths into our focus: first, Israel is deliberately and aggressively undermining the security and stability of the entire Middle East and, second, Israel is utterly incapable of surviving on its own.

 These two assertions, though seemingly distinct, are inextricably linked. For if those who relentlessly sustain Israel—militarily, politically, and economically—were to finally withdraw their support, the Middle East would not be the powder keg it has been for decades, a situation that has catastrophically worsened since October 7, 2023.

The devastation embedded in the Trump-Republicans big bad budget bill for lower income families has been a drum that I’ve been beating for weeks now, but as it nears the finish line additional impacts are becoming clear. This bill has become a “whose on first, what’s on second” house of horrors. Like many other initiatives of this administration, most of its consequences are intended when it comes to its war on the poor, minorities, women, and others, but some are even surprising its fanboys, like the former Trump BBF Elon Musk, and not at all because of deficits. Ideology, not common sense or basic prudence is now running the government.