The Fourth of July is just around the corner. And the spectacle is set: fireworks, military displays, a carefully staged vision of “American Power.”
This vision, defined by Trump and a long lineage of political and cultural narratives, celebrates a simplified and mythologized version of America. And for the 250th Anniversary, things are dialed all the way up, into something even more theatrical and disconnected from the realities most people are living.
But there’s another America worth celebrating and fighting for.
An America built by people — not spectacle — and by movements that have always pushed this country closer to its promises. An America where community power drives change, where democracy is fought for and expanded, where clean air, clean water, and a livable future are non-negotiable. Where reparations, LandBack, and fighting for climate and environmental justice aren’t radical ideas, but necessary ones.
And this is what our new issue of Peace & Riot is all about.
Our “The Real American Dream” issue is a bold and necessary reflection of where the country is at — and what it still has the potential to become.
The stories will be available later this summer at peaceandriot.org. I can’t wait to share them with you. Until then!
P.S. All stories in this issue of Peace & Riot will be co-published with Nonprofit Quarterly as part of the #WeTheCivic national narrative intervention!
Movement News
Indigenous rights organizers and other environmental defenders are some of the world’s most-targeted activists
These activists are often on the frontlines, fighting against mining, oil and gas development, logging, and agribusiness. Read more
Supreme Court sides with pesticide company that the popular weed killer, Roundup, doesn’t require a warning label for causing cancer
More than 100,000 lawsuits have been filed in the last ten years by people who developed lymphoma after using the weedkiller. The 7-2 decision will block thousands of lawsuits against the Bayer company. Read more
Worth Revisiting
Not My Mainland
Inside one Indigenous farmer’s fight to resist the agribusiness industry in Hawaiʻi.