Trump: Week 1
Some pictures from in front of the Boston Public Library protesting the anti-immigration executive order.
A little about the Statue of Liberty.
"Fundraising for the [Statue of Liberty] had begun in 1882. The committee organized a large number of money-raising events. As part of one such effort, an auction of art and manuscripts, poet Emma Lazarus was asked to donate an original work. She initially declined, stating she could not write a poem about a statue. At the time, she was also involved in aiding refugees to New York who had fled anti-Semitic pogroms in eastern Europe. These refugees were forced to live in conditions that the wealthy Lazarus had never experienced. She saw a way to express her empathy for these refugees in terms of the statue. The resulting sonnet, "The New Colossus", including the iconic lines "Give me your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free", is uniquely identified with the Statue of Liberty and is inscribed on a plaque in the museum in its base." - Wikipedia
"The New Colossus" in full.
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
From 1892 to 1954 she welcomed in immigrants headed to Ellis Island. Today she still stands there, welcoming all. We are a country of immigrants, but we stand united as one. E pluribus unum. Out of many, one. Once the unofficial motto of the United States, it is still on the Great Seal of the United States. The same seal that is on the back of the 1 dollar bill, the bill that depicts one of our greatest, if not greatest president, George Washington. The Founding Fathers, even if they were not perfect, had great visions for our country. 240 years later we still aren't perfect as a country but we've always been making progress, striving to reach the goals of our Founding Fathers.
The anti-immigration executive order is directly against the ideals of our country. The Statue of Liberty still stands there, still crying out with silent lips.
Give me your tired, your poor
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.
The reason people risks their lives to come here, the reason we all love this country is because here we are free. The freedom of life. The freedom of liberty. The freedom to pursue happiness. The freedom to create. The freedom to love. The freedom to vote. The freedom to protest. Let those who are not free come here, let them find freedom here.