It’s more important than ever to remember and acknowledge the veterans who peacefully organized to tell truths only they knew.
Author Archives: chrislombardi
The wrong kind of dissent
Last fall, I was annoyed that the Oath Keepers were getting so much press while tens of thousands of others were showing up against them. From a news standpoint I guess I was wrong; but so much of the coverage has seemed bedazzled by the military cred these guys claim instead of calling them out repeatedly for the racists they are, Giglio only mentions the Southern Poverty Law Center in reference to the fact that the Keepers’ database was leaked there — not why SPLC finds them so terrifying. And former SEAL Adam Newbold, who stayed behind when his fellow Oath Keepers invaded the Capitol, got to spew his hatred to TV cameras and get profiled in this fawning New York Times piece, which unrolls his growing up in bucolic Lisbon, Ohio without noting that the area was long a hotbed for the Klan and doesn’t bother to explore Newbold’s Facebook networks,
Contagious Courage: Conscientious Objection Around the World
What might an international version of this book look like? Maybe, just maybe, it should focus on where this all began. When people ask me about my next book project, I say a lot of things — my MS memoir, a biography of the long-overlooked Lewis Douglass or Charles G. Bolte. But I also mentionContinue reading “Contagious Courage: Conscientious Objection Around the World”
In which “The Singing Journalist” Explains My Book
It felt right to end November with the song that helped me for so long, by the guy whose first album was entitled “All the News That’s Fit to Sing.”
A week later, still can’t believe this actually happened. Still so much to do.
Writing this exactly a week after the event above. I’m still amazed and honored that Hochschild agreed to do it, and the result was kind of a blast. I couldn’t have asked for a better welcome of the book into the world. The video shows most of the Zoom event, though not the Q&A andContinue reading “A week later, still can’t believe this actually happened. Still so much to do.”
As “Veterans Day” week closes, Honoring Veterans and their Work to End Systemic Racism
From William Apesss in 1813 to Jon Hutto and Aimee Allison in 2020, veterans have been fighting for racial justice as part of the oath they took to defend the Constiution.
Saluting 4,000 vets on the White House lawn
Originally posted on I Ain't Marching Anymore:
No, not in 2003. Not in 1971. In 1932. The data caught up on me Friday, but May 29, 1932 was when the Bonus March arrived in Washington, D.C. — and laid the groundwork for how the U.S. currently pays veterans for their service in war. These were veterans…
For the 50th (?!) anniversary of Kent State
Originally posted on I Ain't Marching Anymore:
Written 10 years ago, and most of the text below didn’t make it into the published book. I’m listening to a program on NPR’s Talk of the Nation about the events of May 4, 1970, at Kent State University. including a survivor of the shootings and a…
Some loose thoughts about Jacob Ritter (1757-1841)
Originally posted on I Ain't Marching Anymore:
He didn’t speak English when he joined General Washington’s army. And by 1790, he was both a combat veteran and a torture survivor. No wonder he became and stayed a Quaker. ? A careful reading of his 1840 memoir (a smash in Quaker circles) yields both facts,…
How military veterans are answering the call to defend Black lives
From marching in the streets to forming human walls of protection around protesters, veterans are playing a quiet but important role in demanding racial justice.
