MAGA's
War on History
by Lyric Dawson
On December 7th 1941, hundreds
of Japanese bomber jets descended upon the U.S. naval ships posted at
Pearl Harbor in one of if not the most well documented attacks on the
U.S. military. The name Pearl Harbor still rings with the muted tone
one might attribute to the entirety of the war that this attack pulled
the U.S. into. But one man, an African American sailor by the name of
Dorris Miller, awoke on the ship named the “USS Virginia”
that morning, knowing none of this. Dorris had joined the US military
at 19 years old, wishing to travel as well as help support his family.
Packing up his bags and enlisting in the Navy, he left his home in Texas
behind him. The navy at this time was segregated and prejudiced, and
Dorris (as well as all African American men in the Navy at the time)
was assigned to be a messman, and given little to no formal combat training.
That didn't stop this man, who has been accurately described as the
first American hero of the Second World War, from dropping the laundry
he had been collecting, loading a side mounted anti-aircraft machine
gun, and with no firearm training, open fire on the incoming Japanese
bombers.
“I just grabbed hold of the gun and fired. It wasn’t hard.
I just pulled the trigger, and she worked fine. I had watched the others
with these guns. Those Jap planes were diving pretty close to us.”
he later quoted.
Despite his humble words, the USS Virginia had already been hit once
at this point and the captain of the ship was wounded and dying. Chaos
had unfolded and his choice to take a stand, taking up arms despite
the
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misgivings
of the then dubbed “Jim Crow” navy, inspired countless African
American soldiers for the duration of the war and paved the way for
future activists in the field.
While this story is not only inspiring, but incredibly humbling to hear
as a non-service member, I do not bring Dorris' name up now simply to
spread the word of his heroism. On January 29th, 2025, another attack
on the American people occurred. This attack was not one of bombs and
bullets, but instead a domestic attack on the concept of America. Donald
J Trump, six time bankrupt, former and current President of the United
States, announced his war on DEI which he believes perpetuates unfair
hiring practices (although studies have shown the opposite to be true)
and set to work having his assistants build an AI bot to dismantle representation
in official military websites he felt was undeserved. This bot not only
removed several mentions of Dorris, seeming to seek his name out specifically,
but many more historical documents were scrubbed of diversity. This
comes after many controversial attacks on the American information structure,
including things like defunding the Department of Education before promptly
hiring a WWE host to head the DOE. A list of other historical elements
that have been removed from government websites includes but is certainly
not limited to, the Navajo code talkers, Jackie Robinson, and the Enola
Gay, which was a jet, seemingly taken off the pages simply for daring
to have the word ‘gay’ in its name. It is our duty as the
American people to not let these brave men, and historical stories be
forgotten. I personally urge any readers to look up and read these stories,
as I would not have the space in a thousand articles to properly portray
their service and significance to this once great country, that I believe,
despite the efforts of some, can truly be great again.
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GCDP Sign-Makers
Action Squad
by Virgina Savage
The GCDP Sign-Makers Action
Squad first met at the Bullock Center on July 8th. Our thanks goes out
to Charlotte Oliver for turning on the air conditioning and for offering
us a free place to meet. Ten participants made signs & created community
that day. Our CD4 representative Carroll Asseo & her husband Roger
were there as well as Joshua & Megan Grace from the Cleveland County
Dems.
We decided to begin our public protest action on Thursday the 17th as
part of the nationwide Resistance Movement to honor the anniversary
of the passing of a Civil Rights giant, Georgia Representative John
Lewis, who admonished us to "make good trouble."
So yesterday six of us, all women over 65 I dare say, met in the parking
lot of Chickasha's City Hall with our signs & started pacing the
corner of South Fourth Street & Choctaw Avenue, the crossroads of
several state highways. What motivated me & the others was and is
the pressing need to stand up to this Criminal Regime's illegal activities
against our Brown brothers & sisters in California and other states.
This Criminal Regime's Department of Injustice with their paramilitary
branch, ICE/GESTAPO, has been targeting people in Los Angeles &
other parts of California, including farm workers who pick the food
that we eat & for whom we should be giving thanks, not disappearing
them into concentration camps!
Most of the feedback we got while holding our signs was positive with
waves, smiles & honking. Others were stoically looking ahead in
order not to acknowledge our presence. And still others offered hateful
remarks & gestures. One semi-truck driver was either trying to run
us down or seriously needs to go back to driving school as he jumped
the curb by at least 5 feet. Thanks Penny, for the heads up.
By 8:30 AM the traffic had died down and we dispersed, but not before
agreeing to gather again next week same time & same place. It was
energizing for me & others said they were grateful for the opportunity
to do something, to actively show our opposition to this Criminal Regime.
So, because authoritarian regimes such as the one in the Oval Office
right now would much prefer that we simply STFU & sit down in misery
& despair, we are getting active, stirring the pot, and following
John Lewis's advice to make good trouble.
Please tell your friends and family and join our protest action as we
take back our democracy. Same time: Thursdays at 8:00 AM to 8:45 AM.
Same place: the public sidewalk at Chickasha's City Hall, 4th and Choctaw
Ave .
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JUNETEENTH
By John Moroney
Our team had a terrific booth
at the Chickasha Juneteenth celebration on June 21st in Washita Valley
Park. We met some great people and stayed after to help pick up the
park for our June Service Project. Thank you to all the volunteers who
came out to help, and thank you to the event organizers for letting
us participate in your wonderful event.
JULY
SERVICE PROJECT
For our July Service Project we met at Shannon Springs Park in Chickasha
on July 5th and picked up trash from the previous night's festival and
fireworks display. We had a great crew show up and filled several bags
of trash.
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Tuttle's First
Pride
We had a great
turnout on March 1st for our first service project. We assisted Chickasha
Soup Kitchen with setting up three new beds at their community garden,
as well as setting up a new birdbath. We really appreciate everyone
who came out to help make our community stronger.
Meeting notes
from July
Our July Monthly Meeting was a good one. We were all disappointed Cyndi
Munson was not able to speak due to a family emergency, but she has
already rescheduled for our September Meeting. Regardless, we managed
to have some great discussions about upcoming actions and activities.
We will have upcoming booths at Tuttle's First Pride on 08/17, the Grady
County Fair 08/21 - 08/23, and the Rock Island Arts Festival 09/26 -
09/27. If you would like to volunteer for these events, email us a gcdpok2024@gmail.com
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