Women Whose Stripes are Red and White and Blue

America celebrated the Fourth of July yesterday. Patriotism reigns. Often that patriotism is expressed by quoting great Americans—usually white males. There are voices that have been suppressed for many years. These quotes are from women whose stripes are red and white and blue.

On Freedom

Image of the Statue of Liberty against a pale blue and yellow dawn sky with a quote from one of the Women whose stripes are red white and blue: Coretta Scott King' said, "Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it in every generation."

Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it in every generation.

Coretta Scott King, My Life with Martin Luther King Jr.

I’d like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free and wanted other people to be also free.

Rosa Parks

On Patriot(ism)

A patriot is not someone who condones the conduct of our country whatever it does. It is someone who fights every day for the ideals of the country, whatever it takes.

Kamala Harris, The Truths We Hold: An American Journey,

True patriotism springs from a belief in the dignity of the individual, freedom and equality not only for Americans but for all people on earth, universal brotherhood and good will, and a constant striving toward the principles and ideals on which this country was founded.

Eleanor Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt’s Book of Common Sense Etiquette.

On America

The essence of America, that which really unites us, is not ethnicity, or nationality or religion. It is an idea, and what an idea it is—that you can come from humble circumstances and do great things.

Condoleezza Rice

The fact is, with every friendship you make and every bond of trust you establish, you are shaping the image of America projected to the rest of the world.

Michelle Obama

Our nation has not always lived up to its ideals — yet those ideals have never ceased to guide us. They expose our flaws, and lead us to mend them. We are the beneficiaries of the work of the generations before us, and it is each generation’s responsibility to continue that work.

Laura Bush

In America nobody says you have to keep the circumstances somebody else gives you.

Amy Tan, The Opposite of Fate.

We believe that the American dream is big enough for everyone, for people of all races and religions, for men and women, for immigrants, for LGBT people and for people with disabilities. For everyone.

Hillary Clinton

Celebrating America

Image of soldier, an African American woman whose stripes are red and white and blue.

I stand proud and brave and tall. I want justice for us all. So color me America, red white and blue.

Dolly Parton, “Color Me America”

Whether you love or hate fireworks, apple pie, or other American things remember America isn’t perfect. Our imperfections and injustices are many. But always remember to celebrate the dream of America. Remember the men and women who soldier on for our ideals, for freedom and justice for all. Listen to the men who gave voice to those ideals. And always listen for the voices of women whose stripes are red white and blue.

First Lines Friday with Freedom Fighters

First Line Friday is a blog series posted on the first Friday of every month. The first line of a story, we’re told, must hook the reader. Implied is that the reader will not buy the book if the first line isn’t great. These entries are from Amazon, my personal library, or other online booksellers. Today’s choices honor the U.S. holiday, the Fourth of July with a freedom fighters theme. Do these first lines hook you? Do you want to read more?

Girl Reading a Book while sitting on a stack of books, A First lines friday with freedom fighters theme. Lynette M Burrows

I don’t usually do content warnings. The book’s cover, blurb, and category should get the point across. However, a cover and first line alone doesn’t always convey that type of information. 

Content Warning: Violence with graphic descriptions.


Cover of The Patriot's Grill a novel shows a tall smokestack spewing so much smoke it creates a haze of tall city buildings and even a distant mountain range. It's a title in the first lines friday with freedom fighters post for July.

It was a strikingly unlikely sight, even for a world grown accustomed to unlikely sights. 

The Patriot’s Grill by Steven Day

The cover of rogue cell shows a black and white flag with stripes running up and down and the stripes appear to be dripping or torn. A red star in in a field of white in the upper right corner.

They met behind a warehouse, twice abandoned. 

Rogue Cell (A Grower’s War Book 3) by DJ Molles

The cover of Metal warrior shows a very tall bipedal robot walking into a fiery battle scene

Block, damn you! Dane did his best to raise his metal arms to catch the hammer-blow of steel, brass, and aluminum that was coming his way.

Metal Warrior: Born of Steel (Mech Fighter Book 1) by James David Victor

The cover of Ghost fleet is a pixilated image of the ocean with nearly transparent ship of some kind.

“I’m so sorry.”

What did Vitaly mean by that?

Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War by P. W. Singer and August Cole

Cover of Working Stiffs Shows a man standing in a tall arched doorway looking out a city buildings through a fog

The three dead guys on the freight elevator had a personal odor reminiscent of vomit with an undertone of road kill.

Working Stiffs by Scott Bell

Cover of The Ezekiel Factor shows a skeleton looking out a window at a sunrise over a mountain lake

The severed head plopped into the steel bucket with a gelatinous thump, eyes wide open, as though pleading in vain for a reprieve.

The Ezekiel Factor by Caroline Noe

Clarification

There are no affiliate links in this post. I don’t make a cent off of the books listed on this page. Usually these titles are pulled at random. They are here for your enjoyment. And to entice you to buy more books.

Do You Want to Read More?

Did you enjoy this First Line Friday with Freedom Fighters? Check out previous First Line Friday posts. Please put an enormous smile on my face if you tell me in the comments below— Which ones spoke to you? Did you buy it?

Do You Know These Facts About the Fourth?

Fourth of July is a holiday celebrating the independence of the United States of America. Do you know these facts about the Fourth?

image of the American flag waving in a breeze for Lynette M Burrow's post Do You Know These Facts about the Fourth

The Cost

An estimated 6,800 Americans were killed in the Revolutionary War. Another 8,000-12,000 died of disease while prisoners of war.

Why it’s Important

 For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.

Nelson Mandela

The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear.

Aung San Suu Kyi

You will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make a good use of it.

John Adams (Founding Fathers)

Okay, those aren’t facts, but you should still know them. And now you do.

What’s in a Name?

It could have been called Resolution Day instead. The Declaration of Independence was first called the Lee Resolution, after Richard Henry Lee.

Original Document

Two hundred copies of the Declaration of Independence were made and distributed in 1776. Twenty-six have survived. An archivist discovered the twenty-sixth copy in 2009.

1776 Laptop

Image of a lap desk where Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence-facts about the fourth
By National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Public Domain

Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence on a mahogany laptop. He probably called it a lap desk.

Celebrations

In 1776, some colonists celebrated by holding mock funerals for the king of England.

Parades, speeches, and public readings of the Declaration of Independence were as common back then as they are today.

Bristol Fourth of July Paradeor Bristol Fourth of July Celebration (officially known as the Military, Civic and Firemen’s Parade), founded in 1785. That makes it the oldest annual Fourth of July celebration in the US.

Food

Turtle soup was a common holiday meal in the early days of celebrating Independence Day. The most popular meal today includes hot dogs. This is why July is National Hot Dog Month.


If you liked this post, you may want to read Fun Facts and Trivia About America’s Patriotic Music, Celebrating Freedom and Remembering Freedom Isn’t Free, and Underestimating the Value of Freedom.

Did you know these facts about the Fourth? Whether you did, or didn’t, have a safe and happy Fourth of July celebration.