I'd respectfully suggest – because of its relevant history, easier tune-keeping (and above all else its long-overdue honor to the those Blacks for whom it was originally an anthem) -- a far better choice is "Hold On," also known as "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfVdY2-aIog
And here to underscore it is another song, this to illustrate the magnitude of disciplined force and determination that must empower our singing if we are to win this war:
I just found your videos on YouTube. They are very informative and give a succinct look at today's political climate. A great way to catch up without having to go to several places online to get the full story. The honesty is also refreshing.
''Undermining the 14th Amendment: The 2025 Trump Regime at Work''
In 2025, President Trump’s second term is marked by aggressive efforts to weaken the Constitution, especially the 14th Amendment. In January, he signed Executive Order 14160 titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” which seeks to eliminate birthright citizenship for children born to undocumented or temporary-status parents. This action directly contradicts over a century of legal precedent, including the 1898 Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Wong Kim Ark.
Federal courts responded quickly. Judges in several districts issued nationwide injunctions, stating that the order violated the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment. The Supreme Court, however, narrowed the power of these injunctions, allowing the policy to take effect unless ongoing legal challenges succeed.
In February, Judge Joseph Laplante ruled that the executive order likely violated the Constitution, reinforcing the idea that citizenship by birth cannot be stripped by executive action alone. Despite that, Trump’s administration continues to pursue this policy, and court battles are ongoing.
Trump and his regime are doing this to reshape the electorate, marginalize immigrants, and rally their base around exclusion and fear. Weakening the 14th Amendment serves their goal of concentrating power in state legislatures and the executive branch, where minority rule can thrive without constitutional checks. This is not about law and order. It is about control.
There is also a “constitutional sheriffs” group who claim the right to override the 14th Amendment as well as others (some claim to not recognize any beyond the tenth). Perhaps this harkens back to “originalism” as if pining for the Lost Cause? Is this loss of both their stolen human capital (stolen by them) and their Liberty to be as cruel as they liked, a motivating factor for the bigotry that is manifest in everything these backsliding renegades have done and plan to do to reverse progress made over the last 161 years (to 1864, and rewrite the books to say that the “ideals and culture of the Confederacy” won the Civil War; it just took them 161 years to get everything in place to declare this). It sounds a bit like Stalin, who was always rubbing out perceived rivals or threats and then erasing their memory. It sounds a bit like Vlad, who after Russia lost the war in Chechnya, was elected in part I think to go back and try again, which they did and in the process destroyed Grozny, the capital city and killed a large part of the population of that country. There were several “terrorist” bombings that appeared to be GRU or FSB sponsored provocations on Russian soil to reopen that war on Chechnya. Just another day in the Fatherland! So after the GOP and Trumpty (actually Stephen Miller, Humpty’s Handler) compromise the 14th Amendment, is that when they unleash the full force of a militarized ICE to round up poor people and set them to work as convict laborers? And, anyone who tries to stop them? Hide all your books!
You’ve nailed something central here: the weaponization of nostalgia. This isn’t just about policy or immigration. It’s about a desperate, dangerous effort to resurrect an imagined past in which cruelty was power, and power was unchecked. The “constitutional sheriffs” movement is part of that effort, a fringe masquerading as patriots, working to nullify federal authority under the guise of “originalism.” It is less about the Constitution than about controlling who counts as American.
What Trump’s team is doing mirrors tactics used by despots from Stalin to Putin, target enemies, rewrite history, stoke fear, then consolidate power. This assault on the 14th Amendment is not isolated. It’s part of a broader rollback strategy that includes voter suppression, state-sponsored labor schemes, and criminalizing dissent.
This isn’t just about reversing 161 years of progress. It’s about stealing the next century too.
Hide your books? Maybe. But also sharpen your pens. Because we are not done writing this story.
Call. Write. Email. Protest. Unrelentingly. About everything ❤️🩹🤍💙
Use/share this spreadsheet as a resource to call/email/write members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Reach out to those in your own state, and those in a committee that fits your topic.
We have been hearing we need to talk about what we want to change. Two on my list: changes in SCOTUS and give people a path to impeach their Congressfolk. Only Congress can impeach Congress? That needs to change.
you are so very helpful especially for me who has little knowledge and understanding of our political history and cutrrent issues. l would like to focus on one issue that has particularly upset me. Laura Loomer said that Alligator Alcatraz could provide 65 million meals for alligators. I believe this is so cruel that makes me so very angry. I have not seen any backlash and haopefully there has been some. This is so disgusting. I just don't understand how DJT is listebing to her and if anyone is listening to her. How can she be so cruel and then there isn't a national outcry of that cruelty. How has she been able to get the "ear" of Donald Trump. I just don't get it. Thank you Heather for helping to explain our history and it's relationshipo to today. You are a true blessing.
This is Germany and Alligator Alcatraz a concentration camp. Fear and cruelty is key to this regime’s strategy … Just as Hitler did, mute the lawyers and destroy the university system of free thinking —- we need to be vocal, persistent and get into congress, senate and the Supreme Court - demanding the honor the rights we’ve already fought for and won rights with,
Like the rest of them, Loopy Laura Loomer is a Kardashian-like social climber and Trumpty Groupie who identifies anyone who ever spoke to or was friends with a Democratic inclined person. Like a SAVAK agent who roots out the deep staters and tells the King who to smite. Queen of Ideological Purity? Counsel to the Orange Queen?
You, dear Heather, are a true American Patriot! Thank you for doing that which you do in keeping all of us up to date with current news and giving us historical context of such.
I think you have gotten right to the very core of what we are facing in this essay. It’s about reinstating the pre-14th (and 19th) power structure. This is the heart of the matter, and it puts most of the mayhem we are experiencing into a comprehensible framework.
BTW, I am not suggesting that anything else is not relevant. It all is. I just believe this is the key to the whole catastrophe.
I cannot begin to tell you how profoundly grateful I am to you for all your work.
What we are witnessing is the work of the foot soldiers, Heritage Foundation, Federalist Society, ELEC, K-Street gang, Right wing members of congress and senate, among others. They are clean sweeping the legalities to facilitate the head of the Trojan Horse to spread muck, devastate institutions of democracy, and make untruth embedded in our vocabulary. The ultimate power 6/3 SC cadre in the dark gowns are bought out and coached to be 'yes sir'. The battle for regaining our democracy is the battle against these foot soldiers who are the artesian, brick layers and builders. For further in-depth, read "Trojan Horse - Democracy Hijacked", out next week.
Thank you for your bravery, Heather. You give us strength to continue the fight against fascism. Let's keep singing this resistance anthem at no kings rallies: https://democracydefender2025.substack.com/p/no-kings-anthem
Great anthem. Thank you. I just shared with fellow local activists and on FB.
I'd respectfully suggest – because of its relevant history, easier tune-keeping (and above all else its long-overdue honor to the those Blacks for whom it was originally an anthem) -- a far better choice is "Hold On," also known as "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfVdY2-aIog
And here to underscore it is another song, this to illustrate the magnitude of disciplined force and determination that must empower our singing if we are to win this war:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkSPBxoX70E
There is also the relevant slogan shouted in mid-chorus, which translates as:
"Stand fast for the truth/Stand fast for the truth of the people"
I just found your videos on YouTube. They are very informative and give a succinct look at today's political climate. A great way to catch up without having to go to several places online to get the full story. The honesty is also refreshing.
Agreed, Heather's videos are "user friendly" for those of us who are not historians!lol
''Undermining the 14th Amendment: The 2025 Trump Regime at Work''
In 2025, President Trump’s second term is marked by aggressive efforts to weaken the Constitution, especially the 14th Amendment. In January, he signed Executive Order 14160 titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” which seeks to eliminate birthright citizenship for children born to undocumented or temporary-status parents. This action directly contradicts over a century of legal precedent, including the 1898 Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Wong Kim Ark.
Federal courts responded quickly. Judges in several districts issued nationwide injunctions, stating that the order violated the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment. The Supreme Court, however, narrowed the power of these injunctions, allowing the policy to take effect unless ongoing legal challenges succeed.
In February, Judge Joseph Laplante ruled that the executive order likely violated the Constitution, reinforcing the idea that citizenship by birth cannot be stripped by executive action alone. Despite that, Trump’s administration continues to pursue this policy, and court battles are ongoing.
Trump and his regime are doing this to reshape the electorate, marginalize immigrants, and rally their base around exclusion and fear. Weakening the 14th Amendment serves their goal of concentrating power in state legislatures and the executive branch, where minority rule can thrive without constitutional checks. This is not about law and order. It is about control.
There is also a “constitutional sheriffs” group who claim the right to override the 14th Amendment as well as others (some claim to not recognize any beyond the tenth). Perhaps this harkens back to “originalism” as if pining for the Lost Cause? Is this loss of both their stolen human capital (stolen by them) and their Liberty to be as cruel as they liked, a motivating factor for the bigotry that is manifest in everything these backsliding renegades have done and plan to do to reverse progress made over the last 161 years (to 1864, and rewrite the books to say that the “ideals and culture of the Confederacy” won the Civil War; it just took them 161 years to get everything in place to declare this). It sounds a bit like Stalin, who was always rubbing out perceived rivals or threats and then erasing their memory. It sounds a bit like Vlad, who after Russia lost the war in Chechnya, was elected in part I think to go back and try again, which they did and in the process destroyed Grozny, the capital city and killed a large part of the population of that country. There were several “terrorist” bombings that appeared to be GRU or FSB sponsored provocations on Russian soil to reopen that war on Chechnya. Just another day in the Fatherland! So after the GOP and Trumpty (actually Stephen Miller, Humpty’s Handler) compromise the 14th Amendment, is that when they unleash the full force of a militarized ICE to round up poor people and set them to work as convict laborers? And, anyone who tries to stop them? Hide all your books!
You’ve nailed something central here: the weaponization of nostalgia. This isn’t just about policy or immigration. It’s about a desperate, dangerous effort to resurrect an imagined past in which cruelty was power, and power was unchecked. The “constitutional sheriffs” movement is part of that effort, a fringe masquerading as patriots, working to nullify federal authority under the guise of “originalism.” It is less about the Constitution than about controlling who counts as American.
What Trump’s team is doing mirrors tactics used by despots from Stalin to Putin, target enemies, rewrite history, stoke fear, then consolidate power. This assault on the 14th Amendment is not isolated. It’s part of a broader rollback strategy that includes voter suppression, state-sponsored labor schemes, and criminalizing dissent.
This isn’t just about reversing 161 years of progress. It’s about stealing the next century too.
Hide your books? Maybe. But also sharpen your pens. Because we are not done writing this story.
Holy Shit! (pun intended).
Thank you Heather! We the people need to stand up to uphold our rights. Don’t fall for Musks new party either
Thank you. As always.
Call. Write. Email. Protest. Unrelentingly. About everything ❤️🩹🤍💙
Use/share this spreadsheet as a resource to call/email/write members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Reach out to those in your own state, and those in a committee that fits your topic.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13lYafj0P-6owAJcH-5_xcpcRvMUZI7rkBPW-Ma9e7hw/edit?usp=drivesdk
We have been hearing we need to talk about what we want to change. Two on my list: changes in SCOTUS and give people a path to impeach their Congressfolk. Only Congress can impeach Congress? That needs to change.
Heather, this episode— like all you write — is so thoughtful, articulate, and helpful. You always make my day! Thank you!!
you are so very helpful especially for me who has little knowledge and understanding of our political history and cutrrent issues. l would like to focus on one issue that has particularly upset me. Laura Loomer said that Alligator Alcatraz could provide 65 million meals for alligators. I believe this is so cruel that makes me so very angry. I have not seen any backlash and haopefully there has been some. This is so disgusting. I just don't understand how DJT is listebing to her and if anyone is listening to her. How can she be so cruel and then there isn't a national outcry of that cruelty. How has she been able to get the "ear" of Donald Trump. I just don't get it. Thank you Heather for helping to explain our history and it's relationshipo to today. You are a true blessing.
This is Germany and Alligator Alcatraz a concentration camp. Fear and cruelty is key to this regime’s strategy … Just as Hitler did, mute the lawyers and destroy the university system of free thinking —- we need to be vocal, persistent and get into congress, senate and the Supreme Court - demanding the honor the rights we’ve already fought for and won rights with,
Like the rest of them, Loopy Laura Loomer is a Kardashian-like social climber and Trumpty Groupie who identifies anyone who ever spoke to or was friends with a Democratic inclined person. Like a SAVAK agent who roots out the deep staters and tells the King who to smite. Queen of Ideological Purity? Counsel to the Orange Queen?
You, dear Heather, are a true American Patriot! Thank you for doing that which you do in keeping all of us up to date with current news and giving us historical context of such.
Thank you for doing this!
Where is the transcript for this? The others have one - so those of us who can read faster than people can talk.
Top of the comments form, right hand. Where it says "transcript."
I received it last night.
And herr we go again....
Thanks, Heather Cox Richardson!
I think you have gotten right to the very core of what we are facing in this essay. It’s about reinstating the pre-14th (and 19th) power structure. This is the heart of the matter, and it puts most of the mayhem we are experiencing into a comprehensible framework.
BTW, I am not suggesting that anything else is not relevant. It all is. I just believe this is the key to the whole catastrophe.
I cannot begin to tell you how profoundly grateful I am to you for all your work.
There are protests all over the country on July 17, Good Trouble.
https://goodtroubleliveson.org/
What we are witnessing is the work of the foot soldiers, Heritage Foundation, Federalist Society, ELEC, K-Street gang, Right wing members of congress and senate, among others. They are clean sweeping the legalities to facilitate the head of the Trojan Horse to spread muck, devastate institutions of democracy, and make untruth embedded in our vocabulary. The ultimate power 6/3 SC cadre in the dark gowns are bought out and coached to be 'yes sir'. The battle for regaining our democracy is the battle against these foot soldiers who are the artesian, brick layers and builders. For further in-depth, read "Trojan Horse - Democracy Hijacked", out next week.
I will try it as long as I don’t have to go to Amazon. I stopped buying stuff through them over a year ago.
...and the beat goes on...GOD, HELP THE USA !!